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 ]
