Table Of Contents
- All Types Of Poker
- Different Types Of Poker Hands
- How Many Different Kinds Of Poker Are There
- Rules To Different Types Of Poker
- Different Names Of Poker Games
Maybe you already know how to play poker. Perhaps you don't.
Either way, this is the perfect time to keep your mind busy trying new things, like playing poker online for the first time or maybe even playing online poker for real money.
Whatever you fancy, whatever your resolution, you should try to find the poker games that suit you. What better way to find out than to learn these five popular poker games!
7-Card Stud poker was a rage before being dethroned by Texas Hold'em poker. In this game played between two to eight players, there is no ‘flop' round and neither are community cards dealt. When talking about playing poker, everyone generally refers to Texas Hold'em.However, there are a number of variations of the game that differ in their gameplay quite substantially. With many people preferring one style over the other.
1. Texas Hold'em
Texas Hold'em is the most popular poker game in the world. If you want to learn to play online poker games, this is a great place to start.
Types (Variations) of Video Poker Games. There are many types of video poker games: Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Deuces Wilds, Joker Wild, All American, and others. The payout schedule can differ for each variation. Some games offer. Solitaire is the perfect card game for one individual. Matching wits against a standard. Different Types of Poker Playing Styles & Poker Personality. Different Types of Poker Playing Styles & Poker Personality. A player is known by how he selects his hands, which cards he folds and which he/she calls or raises – that's the primary difference between an amateur poker player and a professional.
This is especially true because most of the marquee tournaments worldwide (WSOP, WPT, EPT, etc.) use this variation.
In a poker game of Texas hold'em, the dealer will shuffle a standard 52-card deck (but will not play in casinos and card rooms).
In home games, the dealer duties are generally shared among all the players at the table (shifting each hand in a clockwise direction).
In poker games with a dealer, a round disc, or a dealer button, moves clockwise each hand, marking which player would be the dealer if the game was self-dealt.
Each player is dealt two hole cards to create the best five-card hand possible. The action moves clockwise but starts to the left of the dealer button.
The two players to the left of the dealer are generally required to post a small and big blind to start the betting and move into the rest of the action on:
- the pre-flop
- the flop
- the turn
- the river.
Five community cards are displayed in the middle of the table on the flop, the turn and the river and players must make the best five-card combination from their seven cards.
Use this step-by-step guide on how to play Texas' hold'em poker to figure out the blinds and betting rounds before you try your luck in the most popular poker game of all time.
Then, when your mind becomes all poker all the time, you can start looking into strategies based on skill level so that you can explain poker to your friends and rule the online poker rooms.
Some of the best readings to understand how the game works are:
Where to Play Texas Hold'em Online
Texas hold'em is the easiest poker game to find online. You can look at this list of the best mobile poker sites if you want to play from your smartphone, or pick one of our suggested networks.
2. Omaha
If you've learned the Texas hold'em poker rules, buckle your seatbelt. Omaha could be the best poker game for you if you're ready for some bigger swings.
In Omaha poker, players receive four hole cards Poker training software, free download. instead of two and can only use two cards from their hand.
Similarly to a Texas hold'em poker game, Omaha has five community cards with a flop, turn and river.
The betting rounds also play out the same way.
Omaha poker games usually play out in a limit or pot-limit (PLO Poker) format with the most common variations being Omaha High or Omaha 8-or-Better ([URL='https://www.pokernews.com/poker-rules/omaha-hi-lo.htm']Omaha poker Hi/Lo[URL]).
- Omaha High is like Texas hold'em, with players hoping to win the pot with the best high hand.
- Omaha 8-or-Better splits the pot between the best high hand and the best low hand; qualifying for the low hand means have five different cards that are ranked eight or lower.
Omaha High is a fast-action poker game and players make the nuts more often than Texas hold'em. Position tends to be important in Omaha when looking at possible hand combinations.
The next step then is to check out the strategy section for all things Omaha. If you don't know where to start, check out these pages:
Where to Play PLO Poker Games Online
3. Seven-card stud
This is the hipster poker game for those not playing along. This is the game that was popular before Texas hold'em exploded.
So take a second before you look into the top sites that offer online poker for real money, learn how to play seven-card stud and use our strategy articles to win big.
Played with two to eight players and without a flop and community cards, 7-card stud is a poker game that starts with two cards face down and a third face up (the hole cards and the door card).
After getting seven cards dealt – three face down and four face-up – you choose the best five-card combination (with the same hand rankings in Texas hold'em or Omaha). No deposit bonus codes for rich palms casino.
Seven-card stud is most often played as a limit game. Pay attention to the cards of your opponents in this game so as not to underestimate or incorrectly estimate the odds.
To know more about this poker game, have a look at these pages:
Where to Play 7-Card Stud Poker Games Online
4. 2-7 Triple Draw
Once you feel you've tackled the world's best online poker sites, or you're just ready for some advanced poker games, 2-7 Triple Draw will be waiting for you with inverse hand rankings and all.
The goal of a poker game like 2-7 Triple Draw is to make the lowest possible five-card hand as possible in a four-round betting game with three draws a game.
Each round, players choose cards to discard anywhere from zero to five cards, and the dealer will give out replacement cards.
There is one last round of betting after the third and final draw and then the dealer button determines the order of betting and discarding.
Aces play high, and deuces play low.
Straights and flushes play against you, so the best hand is 23457 with no flush.
This six-max player game uses a dealer button and the same betting structure as Texas hold'em.
Check out the five tips for success for draw poker or Justin Bonomo's strategy for this poker game once you're feeling comfortable.
Where to Play 2-7 Triple Draw Poker Games Online
5. Open-Faced Chinese Poker (OFC Poker)
There's a special rule in Chinese poker called 'Fantasyland.' Need we say more?
Well, I guess we do if you want to beast this new and exciting form of poker.
This newer poker game, open-faced Chinese poker (OFC Poker), was invented in 2011 and evolved from closed-face, 'regular' Chinese poker.
Chinese poker has players drawing cards from a single deck while trying to make the best hand possible.
Instead of rounds, players play for points, similar to other card games like heart or gin rummy.
After all the card-replacement rounds are complete, players arrange 13 cards into three hands: the top, middle and bottom.
Once you see how your hand measures up in this game, poker aficionados compare their regular poker hands.
The top contains only three cards but is scored as a regular hand; the bottom and middle are regular five-card hands.
Max four players, this poker game is most commonly played heads up.
Intrigued? checkout the articled listed below and learn more about the rounds, the scoring, scoring bonuses, and yes, Fantasyland.
Where to Play OFC Poker Games Online
So take a chance! Try your hand at these basic mixed poker games that you can play online or in person.
The best poker online is the poker you spend the most time mastering.
Most online poker sites will give you a quick free lesson if you're looking to play poker live and understand the mechanics of the game and who knows?
You could win some of the best tournaments around!
This article was first published by Katie Callahan in January 2017. Last update, March 2020.
Tags
7 card StudBeginner strategyOmahaOnline PokerOpen Face ChineseTexas Holdem
- General principles
- Betting limits
- Principal forms
- Stud poker
- Community-card poker
- House-banked games
All Types Of Poker
Our editors will review what you've submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
Join Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work! Albert H. MoreheadSee All ContributorsPoker, card game, played in various forms throughout the world, in which a player must call (i.e., match) the bet, raise (i.e., increase) the bet, or concede (i.e., fold). Its popularity is greatest in North America, where it originated. It is played in private homes, in poker clubs, in casinos, and over the Internet. Poker has been called the national card game of the United States, and its play and jargon permeate American culture.
Although countless variants of poker are described in the literature of the game, they all share certain essential features. A poker hand comprises five cards. The value of the hand is in inverse proportion to its mathematical frequency; that is, the more unusual the combination of cards, the higher the hand ranks. Players may bet that they have the best hand, and other players must either call (i.e., match) the bet or concede. Players may bluff by betting that they have the best hand when in fact they do not, and they may win by bluffing if players holding superior hands do not call the bet.
General principles
There are forms of poker suitable to any number of players from 2 to 14, but in most forms the ideal number is 6, 7, or 8 players. The object is to win the 'pot,' which is the aggregate of all bets made by all players in any one deal. The pot may be won either by having the highest-ranking poker hand or by making a bet that no other player calls. The following principles apply to nearly all forms of poker.
Cards
Poker is almost always played with the standard 52-card deck, the playing cards in each of the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs) ranking A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low only in the straight [a series of five cards numbered consecutively] or straight flush [a series of five cards numbered consecutively within the same suit] 5-4-3-2-A and in certain variants described below).
In social play, especially in 'dealer's choice' (i.e., a card-playing session in which each player takes a turn at dealing the cards and selecting the game), certain cards may be designated wild cards. A wild card stands for any other card its holder wishes to name. There are many methods of introducing wild cards into the game. The most popular are:
- Joker. A 53-card pack is used, including the joker as a wild card.
- Bug. The same 53-card pack including the joker is used, but the joker—here called the bug—counts only as a fifth ace or to fill a flush [a series of five cards of the same suit], a straight, or certain special hands.
- Deuces wild. All four deuces (2s) are wild cards.
- One-eyes. In the standard pack the king of diamonds, jack of spades, and jack of hearts are the only cards shown in profile. They are often designated as wild cards.
Rank of poker hands
Different Types Of Poker Hands
The rank of standard poker hands is determined by their odds (probability). Two or more identical hands tie and divide any winning equally. The suits have no relative rank in poker. When there is any wild card in the game, the highest possible hand is five of a kind, which beats any straight flush. When there are several wild cards, there may be identical fours of a kind or threes of a kind, in which case ties are broken by the highest unmatched cards or secondary pairs (in a full house [a five-card hand made up of three of a kind and a pair]).
poker hand | number of ways the hand can be made | approximate odds of getting the hand in five cards |
---|---|---|
royal flush | 4 | 1 in 649,740.00 |
straight flush | 36 | 1 in 72,193.33 |
four of a kind | 624 | 1 in 4,165.00 |
full house | 3,744 | 1 in 694.16 |
flush | 5,108 | 1 in 508.80 |
straight | 10,200 | 1 in 254.80 |
three of a kind | 54,912 | 1 in 47.32 |
two pairs | 123,552 | 1 in 21.03 |
one pair | 1,098,240 | 1 in 2.36 |
no pair | 1,302,540 | 1 in 1.99 |
Deal
At the start of the game, any player takes a pack of cards and deals them in rotation to the left, one at a time faceup, until a jack appears. The player receiving that card becomes the first dealer. The turn to deal and the turn to bet always pass to the left from player to player. For each deal, any player may shuffle the cards, the dealer having the last right to shuffle. The dealer must offer the shuffled pack to the opponent to the right for a cut. If that player declines to cut, any other player may cut.
A professional dealer is used in poker clubs, casinos, and tournament play, where a round disc (known as a dealer button) is passed clockwise each hand to indicate the nominal dealer for betting purposes. Also, such environments almost invariably charge the players either by setting an hourly rental fee for their seats or by 'raking' a small percentage (say, 5 percent) from each pot.
- Omaha High is like Texas hold'em, with players hoping to win the pot with the best high hand.
- Omaha 8-or-Better splits the pot between the best high hand and the best low hand; qualifying for the low hand means have five different cards that are ranked eight or lower.
Omaha High is a fast-action poker game and players make the nuts more often than Texas hold'em. Position tends to be important in Omaha when looking at possible hand combinations.
The next step then is to check out the strategy section for all things Omaha. If you don't know where to start, check out these pages:
Where to Play PLO Poker Games Online
3. Seven-card stud
This is the hipster poker game for those not playing along. This is the game that was popular before Texas hold'em exploded.
So take a second before you look into the top sites that offer online poker for real money, learn how to play seven-card stud and use our strategy articles to win big.
Played with two to eight players and without a flop and community cards, 7-card stud is a poker game that starts with two cards face down and a third face up (the hole cards and the door card).
After getting seven cards dealt – three face down and four face-up – you choose the best five-card combination (with the same hand rankings in Texas hold'em or Omaha). No deposit bonus codes for rich palms casino.
Seven-card stud is most often played as a limit game. Pay attention to the cards of your opponents in this game so as not to underestimate or incorrectly estimate the odds.
To know more about this poker game, have a look at these pages:
Where to Play 7-Card Stud Poker Games Online
4. 2-7 Triple Draw
Once you feel you've tackled the world's best online poker sites, or you're just ready for some advanced poker games, 2-7 Triple Draw will be waiting for you with inverse hand rankings and all.
The goal of a poker game like 2-7 Triple Draw is to make the lowest possible five-card hand as possible in a four-round betting game with three draws a game.
Each round, players choose cards to discard anywhere from zero to five cards, and the dealer will give out replacement cards.
There is one last round of betting after the third and final draw and then the dealer button determines the order of betting and discarding.
Aces play high, and deuces play low.
Straights and flushes play against you, so the best hand is 23457 with no flush.
This six-max player game uses a dealer button and the same betting structure as Texas hold'em.
Check out the five tips for success for draw poker or Justin Bonomo's strategy for this poker game once you're feeling comfortable.
Where to Play 2-7 Triple Draw Poker Games Online
5. Open-Faced Chinese Poker (OFC Poker)
There's a special rule in Chinese poker called 'Fantasyland.' Need we say more?
Well, I guess we do if you want to beast this new and exciting form of poker.
This newer poker game, open-faced Chinese poker (OFC Poker), was invented in 2011 and evolved from closed-face, 'regular' Chinese poker.
Chinese poker has players drawing cards from a single deck while trying to make the best hand possible.
Instead of rounds, players play for points, similar to other card games like heart or gin rummy.
After all the card-replacement rounds are complete, players arrange 13 cards into three hands: the top, middle and bottom.
Once you see how your hand measures up in this game, poker aficionados compare their regular poker hands.
The top contains only three cards but is scored as a regular hand; the bottom and middle are regular five-card hands.
Max four players, this poker game is most commonly played heads up.
Intrigued? checkout the articled listed below and learn more about the rounds, the scoring, scoring bonuses, and yes, Fantasyland.
Where to Play OFC Poker Games Online
So take a chance! Try your hand at these basic mixed poker games that you can play online or in person.
The best poker online is the poker you spend the most time mastering.
Most online poker sites will give you a quick free lesson if you're looking to play poker live and understand the mechanics of the game and who knows?
You could win some of the best tournaments around!
This article was first published by Katie Callahan in January 2017. Last update, March 2020.
Tags
7 card StudBeginner strategyOmahaOnline PokerOpen Face ChineseTexas Holdem
- General principles
- Betting limits
- Principal forms
- Stud poker
- Community-card poker
- House-banked games
All Types Of Poker
Our editors will review what you've submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
Join Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work! Albert H. MoreheadSee All ContributorsPoker, card game, played in various forms throughout the world, in which a player must call (i.e., match) the bet, raise (i.e., increase) the bet, or concede (i.e., fold). Its popularity is greatest in North America, where it originated. It is played in private homes, in poker clubs, in casinos, and over the Internet. Poker has been called the national card game of the United States, and its play and jargon permeate American culture.
Although countless variants of poker are described in the literature of the game, they all share certain essential features. A poker hand comprises five cards. The value of the hand is in inverse proportion to its mathematical frequency; that is, the more unusual the combination of cards, the higher the hand ranks. Players may bet that they have the best hand, and other players must either call (i.e., match) the bet or concede. Players may bluff by betting that they have the best hand when in fact they do not, and they may win by bluffing if players holding superior hands do not call the bet.
General principles
There are forms of poker suitable to any number of players from 2 to 14, but in most forms the ideal number is 6, 7, or 8 players. The object is to win the 'pot,' which is the aggregate of all bets made by all players in any one deal. The pot may be won either by having the highest-ranking poker hand or by making a bet that no other player calls. The following principles apply to nearly all forms of poker.
Cards
Poker is almost always played with the standard 52-card deck, the playing cards in each of the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs) ranking A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low only in the straight [a series of five cards numbered consecutively] or straight flush [a series of five cards numbered consecutively within the same suit] 5-4-3-2-A and in certain variants described below).
In social play, especially in 'dealer's choice' (i.e., a card-playing session in which each player takes a turn at dealing the cards and selecting the game), certain cards may be designated wild cards. A wild card stands for any other card its holder wishes to name. There are many methods of introducing wild cards into the game. The most popular are:
- Joker. A 53-card pack is used, including the joker as a wild card.
- Bug. The same 53-card pack including the joker is used, but the joker—here called the bug—counts only as a fifth ace or to fill a flush [a series of five cards of the same suit], a straight, or certain special hands.
- Deuces wild. All four deuces (2s) are wild cards.
- One-eyes. In the standard pack the king of diamonds, jack of spades, and jack of hearts are the only cards shown in profile. They are often designated as wild cards.
Rank of poker hands
Different Types Of Poker Hands
The rank of standard poker hands is determined by their odds (probability). Two or more identical hands tie and divide any winning equally. The suits have no relative rank in poker. When there is any wild card in the game, the highest possible hand is five of a kind, which beats any straight flush. When there are several wild cards, there may be identical fours of a kind or threes of a kind, in which case ties are broken by the highest unmatched cards or secondary pairs (in a full house [a five-card hand made up of three of a kind and a pair]).
poker hand | number of ways the hand can be made | approximate odds of getting the hand in five cards |
---|---|---|
royal flush | 4 | 1 in 649,740.00 |
straight flush | 36 | 1 in 72,193.33 |
four of a kind | 624 | 1 in 4,165.00 |
full house | 3,744 | 1 in 694.16 |
flush | 5,108 | 1 in 508.80 |
straight | 10,200 | 1 in 254.80 |
three of a kind | 54,912 | 1 in 47.32 |
two pairs | 123,552 | 1 in 21.03 |
one pair | 1,098,240 | 1 in 2.36 |
no pair | 1,302,540 | 1 in 1.99 |
Deal
At the start of the game, any player takes a pack of cards and deals them in rotation to the left, one at a time faceup, until a jack appears. The player receiving that card becomes the first dealer. The turn to deal and the turn to bet always pass to the left from player to player. For each deal, any player may shuffle the cards, the dealer having the last right to shuffle. The dealer must offer the shuffled pack to the opponent to the right for a cut. If that player declines to cut, any other player may cut.
A professional dealer is used in poker clubs, casinos, and tournament play, where a round disc (known as a dealer button) is passed clockwise each hand to indicate the nominal dealer for betting purposes. Also, such environments almost invariably charge the players either by setting an hourly rental fee for their seats or by 'raking' a small percentage (say, 5 percent) from each pot.
Betting procedure
In each deal there are one or more betting intervals according to the specific poker variant. In each betting interval, one player, as designated by the rules of the variant being played, has the privilege or obligation of making the first bet. This player and each player in turn after him must place in the pot the number of chips (representing money, for which poker is almost invariably played) to make his total contribution to the pot at least equal to the total contribution of the player before him. When a player does this, he is said to be in the pot, or an active player. If a player declines to do this, he discards his hand and is said to drop or fold, and he may no longer compete for the pot.
Before the deal, each player may be required to make a contribution to the pot, called an ante. In each betting interval, the first player to make a bet is said to bet, a player who exactly meets the previous bet is said to call, and a player who bets more than the previous bettor is said to raise. In some variants, a player is permitted to check, which is to stay in without betting, provided no other player has made a bet in that betting interval. Since a player cannot raise his own bet, each betting interval ends when the betting turn has returned to the person who made the last raise or when all players have checked.
At the end of each betting interval except the last, dealing is resumed. At the end of the last betting interval, there is the 'showdown,' in which each active player shows his full hand, and the highest-ranking hand wins the pot.
Betting limits
There are 'no-limit' or 'sky's-the-limit' games, but in practice most poker games place some limit on what one may bet in any game. There are three popular methods.
How Many Different Kinds Of Poker Are There
Fixed limit
In fixed-limit games, no one may bet or raise by more than the established limit. In draw poker the limit is usually twice as much after the draw as before—for example, two chips before the draw, four chips after. In stud poker the limit is usually twice as much in the final betting interval as in previous betting intervals. (The higher limit applies also when any player's exposed cards include a pair.) These respective forms of the game are described below. In a fixed-limit game a limit is usually placed on the number of raises that may be made in any betting interval.
Pot limit
Rules To Different Types Of Poker
In pot-limit contests, a player may bet or raise by no more than the amount in the pot at the time the bet or raise is made. Adjustable shelving brackets metal. When raising, the player may first put in the pot the number of chips required to call the previous bet and then raise by the number of chips in the pot. When pot limit is played, it is customary also to place a maximum limit on any bet or raise, regardless of the size of the pot.
Table stakes
This method most closely approximates the no-limit game. Each player's limit is the number of chips he has on the table at the beginning of the deal. He may not bet more, but for this amount he may call any higher bet (go 'all in') and compete for the pot in the showdown. Other players having more chips may continue to bet, but their further bets go into one or more side pots in the manner decided among the players who contributed fully to the side pot. When a player drops out of any side pot, he drops out of the original pot as well, in effect surrendering his rights in the original pot to the player whose later bet he did not call. Thus, there may be different winners of the main pot and various side pots.
Different Names Of Poker Games
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