Types of Poker

Texas Holdem, Omaha Hi, Seven Card Stud, Five Card Draw and Caribbean Stud Poker are the five most popular poker games around the world.

Texas Holdem tops the list, as it is the most played poker game around the world. It is played widely in all casinos as well as online. The game is simple and fast paced. A minimum of two and a maximum of ten players can play the game. All bets, which are either blind or ante, are placed in the pot. Then each player is dealt two hole cards, face down, by the dealer. Five community cards are dealt face up on the table. These cards can be used by all players. The first player who makes the highest five-card poker hand is the winner of the pot. After that a next person in a clockwise sequence, becomes the dealer and a new game is started.

Omaha Hi is a variation of Holdem which is gaining in popularity. Here also two to ten players can play. The game has four betting rounds. Here four hole cards are dealt face down for each player. Community cards are five in number, dealt face up for all to use. The winning player should have made the best possible five card poker hand, by combining two of his hole cards, with three community cards. A variation of this game is Omaha Hi-Lo, wherein the player can also choose to make the lowest five card poker hand.

Seven Cards Stud is played between two to eight players. It begins with an ante followed by three betting rounds. Each player is dealt three cards face down and four cards face up. The aim is to make the best five card poker hand with the seven given cards. This game also has a variant where you can choose to either make a high hand or a low hand, and is called Stud 8.

Two to five players can play Five Card Draw; which by the way is the oldest variation of poker game. An initial ante is followed by two rounds of betting. Each player gets five cards face down. As the betting round begins after the initial ante, each player can choose either check, fold, bet or call. After the first round, the player has the option of discarding a maximum of five of his cards, and exchanges them for new ones. After the final round of betting, the players remaining have to show their cards. The winner of the pot is the player with the best five-card poker hand. If two players show identical hands, then the pot is split between them equally.

Caribbean Stud Poker does not involve betting against other players. This is a casino game and the betting is against the casino, which acts as the bank or also called the dealer. The casino pays the winning player. The players do not compete against each other. The individual player has to beat only the dealer's hand.