Poker Variants
The popular card game of poker has a great many variations and, though historians will disagree on exactly how and when poker first got started, most variations were created within the United States during the middle of the 1900’s. Although the majority of poker game variants follow the same basic set of steps, there are differences which must be understood. The list of poker varieties is extremely long, but understanding the way that most games work can give players a solid concept of which game they might want to get involved in themselves. To get specific, each type of game will have certain hand values that are standard to it, a set number of rounds for placing bets. Which cards get dealt and actions taken between rounds also vary from one type to the next. To get started understanding the basics, it is helpful to know that poker games fall into 3 basic categories.
Firstly, there is draw poker, quite a popular choice for many. In this style of play, players will be dealt an entire hand in a way that keeps the values of the cards hidden from the other players at the table. Next, they will attempt to better their hand by replacing it with new cards they choose to draw in an effort to be the player with the most valuable hand. Of the varieties of draw poker, 5 Card Draw is the most well known.
Second, there is a type of poker known as stud poker – a popular choice for those who play video poker game machines. In this version of the game, players will receive some cards that are laid face up and some cards which are face down on the table’s felt. There are multiple betting rounds as players attempt to create a valuable hand. Seven Card Stud and Five Card Stud are two of the more well known types of this version of poker.
Third, there is a type of the game known as community card poker. This is by far and away the most popular form of poker today both in online poker rooms and in land based casinos. Most people know about Texas Holdem and Omaha poker, two of the biggest names of the community card variant. Players have an incomplete hand that they keep hidden from the rest of the table’s players and they will combine cards from a shared set of cards visible and selectable by everyone at the table when their turn comes. Again, the goal is to have the most valuable hand at the table and thereby win the pot.
Some other, lesser known variants of poker include Billabong and Shanghai, versions of a poker game type known as Manila. Players are dealt 2 cards that will be face down on the felt and one that is face up. After betting takes place, 2 community cards are put on the table and another round of betting follows this. After 4 rounds, a show down takes place and the player who can use the 3 cards they hold in combination with the community cards is the one that wins.