by Over the years, poker gained itself a reputation as the most famous card game in the world. And if we think of a poker game, immediately high-tension scenes from hundreds of iconic movies come to mind. All or most of the characters in these movies are playing Texas Hold’em. This variant is so famous that it has now almost renamed the game itself. Texas Hold’em gradually became the most popular variation of this classic game.
The only other variant that seems to have endured in notoriety, albeit in a minor role, is classic five-card poker, also called “Italian style.”
It may not be obvious that there are numerous poker variations besides Texas Hold’em. How many are there? Hard to say, some say 13 or 14. Each of these variants then can be customized in turn, determining the betting mode, whether the highest or lowest score wins, and many other factors. If you would like to explore this further, there’s an interesting article on rookie road.
Community Card Poker
The first family is also the one with the best-know version. In fact, Texas Hold’em belongs to this family. Everyone knows this game. But what are its characteristics?
Community Card Poker groups all those variants that involve a certain number of cards common to all players, and a certain number of personal cards (hole cards), which each player will have to combine with the common ones to make points.
To this family, however, belongs also the second most famous variant. Indeed, in this set we also find Omaha, the second most popular poker variant in the world. In Omaha each player receives 4 hole cards and must combine two of them with those in the pot to make the best score. Of interest is the high-low subvariant where the pot at the end is divided between the person who made the highest and lowest point. All these sub variants can completely change a game.
Mixed Games and other poker variants
There are some variants that do not fit into any other family, despite the fact that they are very popular and practiced. For example, you find 3 card Poker, where you play one at a time against the dealer and cannot change cards. If you are interested and want to know more, you can learn how to play 3 card poker.
Then there are Mixed Games where more than one variation is played. Pretty well known is H.O.R.S.E. where you can play Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Stud and Eight or Better in order. But there are also other versions where as many as 8 or 10 variants are put together.
But the particular variants are not finished. We find for example Polish poker, a very special variant where there are no card changes or community cards. Players declare a point to be made by combining the private cards of all players, and may raise by declaring a higher point. Another challenging variant may be Chinese poker, where you have to put together 3 strong combinations with 13 cards. If you were interested in the rules of this variant, I leave you with this detailed article about game rules
Draw Poker
In Draw Poker, on the other hand, there are no cards common to all players. To this family also belongs the so-called “Italian-style poker” or classic poker, or more technically Five Card Draw. This variant is so famous that it is featured in several movies on the subject.
We cannot fail to mention also the California Lowball or Badugi, variants united by a peculiarity: in these games players try to make the lowest possible score.
Stud Poker
Then there is the Stud Poker family, where to be common to all players is not cards in the middle of the table, but the knowledge of some of their cards. In Stud Poker variants, in fact, some cards are handed to the player face down, others face up.
Seven Card Stud, its most famous variant, before it was supplanted by Texas Hold’em was the most widely practiced poker cariant in the world. Cards are dealt alternating between face-down and face-up cards, with a total of 4 cards face-up and 3 face-up cards (the last one dealt is always face-down). Many consider this type of poker to be more refined and difficult to play.
Five Card Stud, a somewhat lighter version, was very popular and we even find it in some old movies such as 1965’s “Cincinnati Kid,” where Steve McQueen gives us a clear idea of what the dynamics of this variant are.
