Poker is a multi-faceted game that has acquired a number of interesting directions during its existence (since the middle of the 19th century). There are thousands of them, but only some variants of card disciplines have gained world recognition and popularity. This article describes all types of poker and their rules.
Hold’em and Omaha are flop games
Before considering current trends in poker, it is necessary to study their differences in the structure of bets. There are three options:
Fixed Limit. A poker format in which the highest bet is limited to a certain value. This reduces to zero the probability of losing a large number of chips in one hand.
Pot Limit. The maximum rate is limited by the current bank. Gives the player more freedom than Fixed Limit, but prevents going all-in if the stack exceeds the pot. A similar restriction is often applied in Omaha.
No Limit. The most common format of the game with unlimited bets. A poker player can go all-in at least preflop. Even in one hand there are chances to get a huge number of chips. However, this is also where you can lose most of your stack per game.
Now let’s look at the rules of flop games. Texas Hold’em is the most popular type of poker, accounting for about 90% of the room’s traffic. According to the rules, each participant is dealt two face-down and five common cards.
There are four rounds of trading: preflop, flop (after opening 3), turn (after 4), and river (after all 5). The players task is to put together the best possible hand using any of their 2 cards as well as the 5 community cards.
Omaha is the second most popular poker discipline.
Its rules are identical to the rules of Hold’em. The only difference is that instead of two pocket cards, four are dealt. You can use them and 3 cards from the board to make a hand.
There is also such a direction as Omaha Hi-Lo. Here the bank is divided between the strongest and weakest hands (not always). The worst option is considered to be the option in which there are no matches and cards older than eights. At the same time, a flush and a straight do not act as a combination, and an ace counts as one.
One poker player can collect both combinations. The condition is if he uses two cards for one and the other two to make another combination. When the oldest hand is collected in each hand, there may not be a weak one. The entire pot will then go to the player with the highest hand.
Hold’em 6+
Hold’em 6+ is a new and dynamic variant of classic Hold’em. In it, a deck of 52 cards is reduced to 36 by eliminating all denominations below six.
Difference in rules with classic Hold’em:
- There is only one blind.
- Poker players ante.
- A flush is stronger than a full house.
- Players are more likely to get pocket pairs preflop.
- A full house closes more often than in classic Hold’em.
Another important difference from the usual Hold’em concerns the denomination. In Hold’em 6+, a flush is higher than a full house. Also, only one poker player on the stick makes a blind – the rest make an ante of a similar size.
On the flop, it is more often possible to collect a set here (17% of cases against 11.8% in classic Hold’em). It is easier to get it than a straight. But there will be more chances of getting a hand on the river before a straight than before a set.
Stud: seven-card varieties of poker and their rules
The overview of poker varieties and their rules does not end there. Next comes Stud, which comes in three formats: four-, five-, or seven-card. The last option is quite common in online poker. Here, participants receive 7 cards – 3 closed and 4 open – and must collect the best combination of 5 units.
Usually the game has a fixed format. One hand involves five rounds of trading. The first two of them have smaller stakes than the next three. The deal begins when all poker players ante and are dealt two pocket cards face down and one face up.
First round of bidding. It begins with a bring-in (the amount of the ante) or a raise to a small bet by the player with the youngest open card. If several participants have the same suit, the one with the lowest suit goes first.
Second round. It starts after handing over the fourth card (the second face up). The poker player with the best combination of two open hands starts the bidding.
Third and fourth rounds. They take place according to the principle of the previous one, where the player with the best combination of open cards has the first word.
Fifth round. It starts after the 7th card (3rd face down) is dealt. In case of their shortage, the last street is laid out in the center of the table as common for all participants. The first word, as always, goes to the poker player with the best hand on the board. In the case of a showdown, suit seniority is not taken into account.
The seven-card Hi-Lo Stud has the same rules as the regular Stud. A small difference is that the pot here is divided between the strongest and weakest hands (the latter is not always the case). The principles of the Hi-Lo game are identical to those of Omaha Hi-Lo (see above).
Raz — Seven Card Stud Law. It is similar to 7-card, but without taking into account the best hand, and only taking into account the worst (limited to eight). As established in the rules of high-low combinations, straights and flushes are considered middle cards.
To make it easier to understand, let’s note how Raz differs from the usual Herd:
- There are no straight and flush combinations.
- In a showdown, the pot goes to the player with the weakest hand.
- When players are dealt the fourth card, the minimum raise is equal to the small blind.
Another difference between Raz and Herd is the right of the first move. The first word in the opening round of bidding remains with the poker player with the worst open card. In Raza it is the king. Accordingly, in subsequent rounds, the player with the best hand of the lowest cards will have the opening word.
Stud is a fairly young and complex poker discipline and is less common than Hold’em or Omaha. Most often in the lobby you can find tournament variations of Razu – on leading online rooms and even on live series. Mastering this subspecies of Herd is desirable for those people who choose poker for mixed games – this discipline is also included there.