The card game of poker has many variations, most of which were created in the United
States in the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. The standard order of play applies to
most of these games, but to fully specify a poker game requires details about which
hand values are used, the number of betting rounds, and exactly what cards are dealt
and what other actions are taken between rounds.
Popular poker variants [ edit ]
The
most popular poker variants can be divided into three broad groups:
Some common rule
variations include:
Wild cards are added. This can range from adding jokers as wild
card, to making certain low cards such as deuces wild to the 7-card stud variant named
baseball.
Lowball: The lowest hand wins the pot. There are different rules about
whether or not aces count as low, and the effects of straights and flushes. The most
common variants are Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw
High-low split: the highest and lowest
hands split the pot. Generally there is a qualifier for the low hand. For example, the
low hand must have 5 cards with ranks of 8 or less. In most high-low games the usual
rank of poker hands is observed, so that an unsuited broken straight (7-5-4-3-2) wins
low (see Morehead, Official Rules of Card Games). In a variant, based on Lowball, where
only the low hand wins, a straight or a flush does not matter for a low hand. So the
best low hand is 5-4-3-2-A, suited or not.
Players can pass cards to each other. An
example of this would be Anaconda.
Kill game: When a fixed-limit game is played and
some condition triggers the stakes to double. A common version is if the same player
wins two plus in a row.
A twist round in which players can buy another card from the
deck. If a player does not like the purchased card, the player can purchase another one
by adding money to the pot. This is sometimes called a "tittle."
Mixed poker games [
edit ]
Poker can be played in a mixed game format in which each variant will usually be
played for a fixed number of hands or time and then the players will move on to the
next game. There are many types of mixed poker games. The most notable mixed poker
variation is HORSE poker, a mix of Texas hold 'em, Omaha high-low, razz, seven-card
stud and seven-card stud eight-or-better.
Specific poker variant games [ edit ]
Some
poker games don't fit neatly into the above categories, and some have features of more
than one of these categories. These variants are most often played in home games,
usually as part of a dealer's choice format.
High Chicago or Low Chicago [ edit
]
Either of these two versions can be played in any stud high game. In High Chicago, or
sometimes simply called Chicago, the player with the highest spade face down (referred
to as in the hole) receives half the pot. In Low Chicago, the player with the lowest
spade in the hole receives half of the pot, with the A♠ being the lowest. If the player
with the highest hand also has the highest/lowest spade in the hole, then that player
receives the entire pot - having won both sides of the bet.
Follow the Queen [ edit
]
This 7-card stud game uses a wild-card designated as whichever card is immediately
dealt (exposed, or face-up) after any queen previously dealt (exposed). In the event
that the final card dealt (exposed) is itself a queen, then all queens are wild. If no
queens are dealt (exposed), then there are no wilds for that hand. Betting is the same
as in normal 7-card stud games. Follow the Queen is a typical game variant in Dealer's
Choice poker games.[1][2]
Countdown [ edit ]
A variant of 5-card draw with four rounds
of betting. After the first round of betting, each player may choose to replace up to
three cards. A second round of betting follows and then players may opt to replace up
to two cards. Upon completing another round of betting, each player may replace one
card of the cards in their hand. After a final round of betting, any remaining players
show their hands, and the highest 5 card hand wins. When players draw cards to replace
ones in their hand, they add the cost of the cards in the pot. The cost of cards
doubles each round. For example, if the dealer says each replacement card costsR$10 in
the first round, then each card costsR$20 in the second round, andR$40 in the final
round.[3]
Guts [ edit ]
Guts is a family of games that are cousins of poker rather than
poker variants. They usually involve hands of 3 or fewer cards, ranked similarly to
hands in poker, and multiple successive rounds of betting each of which consist of the
decision to be "in" or "out", and each with its own showdown. The losers of rounds of
guts generally match or double the pot, which grows rapidly.
Five-O poker [ edit
]
Five-O Poker is a heads-up poker variant in which both players must play five hands
of five cards simultaneously. Four of the five cards in each hand are face-up. Once all
five hands are down, there is a single round of betting. The winner is determined by
matching each hand to the corresponding hand of the opponent. The player with the
stronger poker hand in three (or more) out of the five columns, wins, unless a player
folds on a bet that was made. If a player beats their opponent with all five hands,
this is called a “Five-O” win.
Chinese poker [ edit ]
Chinese poker is a 2 to 4 player
poker game with thirteen cards. The idea is to make three poker hands with increasing
rank: two with five cards and one with three cards. If one of the hands does not adhere
to increasing rank (i.e. is mis-set), the hand is declared dead and results in some
sort of penalty.
Kuhn poker [ edit ]
Kuhn poker, using a three card deck, is more of
game theory problem than an actual game people play, but it can be played by two
players.[4]
See also [ edit ]
