When we talk about “poker” a lot of people think about Texas Hold'em, but that's just one version of many. There are tons of different poker variants out there with their own unique rules, strategies, betting structures and origins.
The truth is that Texas Hold'em is indeed the world's most popular poker game by a wide margin but there is still a very active and devoted community playing all sorts of other variants in casinos and card rooms around the world, at home or even right now on online poker sites. Knowing which poker games to play is important if you want to stay relevant and interesting in the poker scene!
It’s also important to try learn the top 10 Texas Hold'em tips to become better at the world's favorite card game.
It’s never been easier to jump into a casual home game, high-stakes casino event or even just an online poker tournament. You should definitely consider learning a few new poker games. Being a well-rounded player who understands and can comfortably play multiple poker variations is highly sought after and will make you a more interesting and valuable player in any group of poker enthusiasts.
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Best Social Casinos (2023) - Free-to-Play Casino SitesWhat is the most popular poker game?
If you're looking for the most popular poker variation after Texas Hold'em, it's probably Pot Limit Omaha. Otherwise known as "Omaha" for short, this game has exploded in popularity over the past decade and basically runs second to Hold'em in most major live tournaments these days. Online poker sites also see much higher traffic during peak hours in Omaha games compared to other variants like Razz, Stud, Draw, Mixed Games, etc.
In Omaha each player is dealt four hole cards instead of two in Hold'em. The main rule that separates Omaha from Hold'em is that you must use exactly two hole cards along with three board cards to make up your best five-card hand. There are some other subtle differences between the two games strategically but if you know how to play Texas Hold'em then the basic concepts of Omaha will come quite easily. Check out our dedicated section on if you'd like to learn more.
That said, there are plenty of other fun and exciting poker games out there that don't involve community cards. If you and your friends are getting sick of Texas Hold'em, why not try one of these following poker variations? They might be a bit harder to find at local bars or casinos but most online poker sites have ample selection of games and sometimes even tournament series dedicated exclusively to the following poker games.
Best Poker Variations to Try After Hold'em
2-7 Triple Draw Lowball
Also known simply as "7-Card Stud Hi-Lo", this is actually one of the most popular poker variations in Casino settings (especially in Las Vegas). It's also commonly offered at larger online poker sites. Not only is this game lots of fun and quite strategic but it's also unique in the sense that it's a "split pot" game where half of the chips go to the best traditional high hand and the other half to the best "low hand".
Casino La Vida MobileDepending on the final cards on the board the nut low might actually be a pretty high card hand so you always need to pay attention to what the low end of the pot is. Imagine a final board of Ah 8h 3d 2c 4s. In this case the high winner would be A-high while the low hand would be 2-3-4-5-8. That's the best possible low hand you can get.
Another thing to note is that almost all lowball games, including 2-7 Triple Draw, require an Ace to be counted as a low card. That means the absolute best low hand possible is 2-3-4-5-7 with an Ace as the highest card. Any game with "Lowball" in the title plays for low hands only. These kinds of poker variations are typically played as a 2-7 game meaning the worst hand possible is 7-5-4-3-2 with an Ace. Huge fold!
Learn everything about , including lowball, in our guide.
Courchevel
This game starts similar to Texas Hold'em in that every player gets one hole card. After the first betting round the flop is dealt like normal but then a fourth community card is dealt on top of the flop, making three cards available and two cards hidden. Another betting round ensues and then the turn and river are played out as normal.
Courchevel can be played with Ante bets instead of traditional betting rounds. In this case the size of the pot is contested at the end by the best hand from the flop onward. Because players only have one hole card to begin the hand is often contested entirely by the flop and turn since very few four-card combinations are unique by the time the river falls.
You can start a Home Game with this setup on . Learn more here:
Badugi
Badugi is a draw poker that's played low only. Four uniquely different low cards is the goal here and straights, flushes and pairs all do not count in your favor. As such, the nut low hand is four uniquely suited black cards (2,3,4,5) with no duplicates and Ace Counting.
One of the most entertaining parts about playing Badugi is that it's practically a convention among players to audibly announce their hand as they reveal each card. This gives everyone else at the table a chance to inform their opponents that they've made a nasty bluff (even though they probably didn't) or shout "Badugi!" if they've hit the nut low.
Popular Badugi Hand Announcements:
- Good doggy!
- Bad dugi!
- I have the diggety!
- Gotta quit while I'm behind!
Four of a kind is actually possible in Badugi but you're not allowed to show the hand. Basically every player would just fold to a bet since four middler cards can't beat anything. Commonly players will simply show one black card and say "Set" if they have four identical black cards.
Also worth noting is that in Badugi straight Flushes don't exist. Since suits mean nothing the only way to make a straight is with five consecutive ranked cards from two different suits. Example: 2♣ 3♥ 4♦ 5♠ 7♠ Would not be a straight because they are all from three different suits.
Badugi is very popular among Korean poker players and is also starting to catch on in the USA. It's frequently offered in Card Rooms throughout Los Angeles, which has a big Korean poker following. Recently the World Series of Poker (WSOP) started offering a official tournament series in Badugi and many other relatively small poker tournaments around the world. See for yourself at PokerStars!
Chinese Poker
Chinese Poker is one of the more popular "Casual Poker Games" that has recently found a home in the online poker realm. It's a very social game that's typically played in groups of four to six players who each take turns playing the role of dealer. Chinese Poker is sort of a cross between poker and card games like Hearts.
Each player is dealt 13 cards (the entire deck minus one!) and then they must organize those 13 cards into three poker hands. Two of those poker hands are conventional in the sense that they must rank higher and lower than each other. One major twist to Chinese Poker is that the bottom hand must always be lower than the middle hand.
The cards on the left are your low hand while the cards in the middle are your medium hand. The cards on the right are your "showhand" and must be the best of the three. Just like in standard poker, a Straight beats a pair, etc. Each card can only be used once so plan carefully!
Once everyone has organized their three hands they must place them face down on the table. After everyone has set their hands the players then swap roles of dealer and begin again. Sometimes Chinese Poker is played for set scoring systems in which players earn points based on the quality of their hands. Other times Chinese Poker is played for a single chip or cash stake where whoever has the worst hands at the end of the round loses.
Check out our comprehensive Chinese Poker Guide below for detailed explanations and strategy advice.
5-Card Draw
Before Texas Hold'em took over as the world's most popular poker game, 5-Card Draw was king. Even today it remains a staple in Casino settings, private home games and on the movie screen. If you already know how to play Texas Hold'em then 5-Card Draw will come very naturally to you.
casino app androidEach player is dealt five cards face down to begin. Players make their pre-flop decisions, a community flushland falls followed by another betting round. The final five cards are turned over and another betting round caps the hand. Given that each player only has five cards in 5-Card Draw it's quite a bit easier to bluff since there are fewer holes for your opponent to peek through.
Check out our complete guide on how to play 5-Card Draw poker below:
Strip Poker (Yes, THAT Strip Poker)
You knew this was coming eventually, right? As the name suggests Strip Poker involves clothing being removed at some point. Unlike popular belief Strip Poker isn't actually a poker variation unto itself. Instead it's more of a setting in which any number of poker games could be played.
Best Real Money Gambling Apps in 2023-24In Strip Poker whomever loses a hand is forced to remove an article of clothing. Depending on the players involved this can either be a funny party game or a very steamy one. Be sure to establish the strip poker betting limits before beginning and agree on what constitutes an Article of Clothing. Does "Gloves" count? What about underwear? Make sure you and your partners have the same definition or things could get awkward.
Check out our guide on :
Pineapple Poker
Technically Pineapple Poker is just and three-card limbo. On each hand in Texas Hold'em you'll receive three hole cards instead of two. After the first betting round both players left in the hand will have one three-card hand and one two-card hand. Similar to when players have to discard a card after the pre-flop round in in Pineapple you must keep only two cards and discard the extra.
The biggest difference between Texas Hold'em and Pineapple is that in Pineapple you must decide which two cards to keep and dispatch the third before the turn is dealt. This allows you a brief window to make adjustments to your hand based on the flop alone.
Pineapple Poker is a fairly new concept that has risen in popularity thanks to the explosion of online poker. Some players love having the extra information provided by a third hole card but others prefer to stick with the classics. If you'd like to try Pineapple Poker yourself, and all their Twister games, offer Pineapple in their Jackpot Sit & Gos.
Rolling Six / Sic Bo Poker
Sic Bo is a popular Asian casino game that is based entirely on chance. You are given the option of Discarding any number of cards and receiving the same number of new ones. Three cards at a time are dealt on the table and you make your decision before then.
Rolling Six is a variant that was allegedly created by "Captain Proackness" himself, Ed Miller, while staying in Macau, China. He noticed that in Sic Bo you can order three new cards for the price of one so he came up with Rolling Six, in which each player begins with six cards and is allowed to toss back any number up to six and replace them with an equal amount of new cards.
Given that each player begins with six cards the pre-flop betting rounds can take a very long depending on the number of players involved and how long they take to decide on their disposals. The hand then continues as a conventional five-card draw hand.
Poker Monster/Millionaire
During each round in Poker Millionaire/Monster/Boss a random number of cards will be dealt face down on the table. The exact number is randomly generated between three and nine in most cases. Each player is able to grab and inspect as many of these cards as they'd like before putting them back one at a time.
Players are only allowed to use the knowledge they gained from studying the communal cards to bet/raise or fold. It's strictly against the rules to refer back to the cards so you'll need a very good memory or a photographic one to participate in Poker Millionare. After all players have made their decision the remaining players will see three cards on the board for a conventional showdown.
Try this game out next time you have a big group of poker friends and a large clean table. No external cards or special equipment required!
Deuce-to-Seven / Seven-Card Stud Hi-Control
While Seven-Card Stud is a very popular poker game in its own right one slightly lesser known variation of that game is Deuce-to-Seven. Also known as Seven-Card Stud Hi-Control, this game requires players to use their best 5-card high hand without using the Ace. That's right - aces are still high but you can't use one to complete a straight or flush.
Here's an example of a potential showdown between five high hands in Deuce-to- Seven:
- 5H 6H 7H JD KD has nothing, or "Nothing" in Poker lingo
- 7S 8S 9S 2D 3D has Nothing followed by
- 5C 6C 2H 3C KC has Nothing followed by
- 3S 4H 8C 6S has Nothing followed by
- 2S 4S 9C 5H has Nothing followed by
- **(2S 4H 9C 5H 6S) beats (2D 3D 3C 5C 6C)**since 9-5-4-2-6 is better than 2-3-5-4-6
When all you're going off of is high cards sometimes Suits can come into play. In Deuce-to-Seven the highest Suited hand possible is 6-5-4-3-2. This is called a "Straight Flush with one gap" or more colloquially a "Solid Wrap." See what we did there?
Best Casino Promotions That Don't Require a Deposit in 2023As you can see in the above example the winning hand is 9-8-7-5-2, also known as "Nines-up" or "Naked Nines." Pretty sweet. With Suits in play the strongest flush possible is called a "Cracked Wrap" and looks like this: **9S 8H 7C 5D 2CLast but not least we have Poker SwAP. **As the name implies there's a healthy dose of Rummy and War thrown into the mix with Poker. Before the flop each player gets 10 cards and must discard as many as they'd like and replace with an equal amount.
This process can be repeated a number of times determined by the players before the game begins. Once the flop is dealt it follows the conventions of any other game of Texas Hold'em. You can learn all about Swap, find the craziest home game software out there, at .
More Poker Game Variations
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SV: Bullshit (or Bullsh*t) - Also a popular party game, BS can be considered as Draw with one simple "trick": Every player has to throw one card in the pile facing up, and every player has to lie about his/her hand. Sounds silly, but it's hilarious.
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Poker Chess - Created by and inspired by the ancient Indian game Tshipese, this original poker format features a combination of skill and luck, with an added strategic element. The game sees players start with five cards each and one card on the community stack facedown (the “Chess piece”) which can be moved and swapped with any of the cards on the stack at any moment, but only outside of a hand.
Casino Table Games You Need To Play At Least Once -
Pineapple Ultimate Deepstack Open -- This one is self-explanatory! Just like regular Pineapple except this was a massive poker tournament held in Toronto in late 2014. 5-Card Draw is also a popular event type for large poker tournaments due to its faster structure compared to Texas Hold'em.
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Cutthroat Poker -- Cutthroat is similar to three-player Pineapple but with a twist. Since there are less chips in rotation than players, no ante is used and the blinds are brought in early (similar to ). Players may, and usually will, steal from the blind every time around. Additionally, because players are constantly needing to discard a card after pre-flop, there are fewer cards in the deck in rotation. This results in a smaller pool of cards that can make a difference in the hand, leading to even more stealing.
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Is Poker a Game of Skill or Chance?
Combinations of both; obviously, the more you play, the luckier you get! Well, better decisions lead to better outcomes...
But in terms of poker specifically being a game of 'skillEnough so that the laws governing poker designating it a “game of skill” have stood up in courts across North America, allowing legal poker sites to operate.
According to PokerListings pro Matthew Ashton, "Every decision you make in a No-Limit Hold’em game is influenced by every previous decision. Who acted first or last, what kind of player they are, what choices they made previously, what position they were in, etc.
"Then you add in the math, figuring pot odds, outs, and calculations on what your opponent likely holds.
"And that’s only No-limit Hold’em. Each variation of poker introduces its own nuances, complexities and strategies.”
Essentially this means that someone who knows the ins and outs of poker will consistently outperform someone who is merely leaving decisions up to pure chance, like closing their eyes and guessing.
Find out more in our article on .
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What Is the Most Profitable Poker Variation to Play?
Generally the most profitable poker games to play are the ones with less popular / less proficient players at the table.
For example, if you spend your day job analyzing stock trends and human behavior, and apply that same logic to a poker table - you’re probably going to be a more profitable player than the guy who just got lucky climbing ranks on a mobile game.
So logically then, if you’re better at the game than your opponents, and the game you’re playing is one they’re less familiar/comfortable with, the more profit you’ll accumulate.
Best Online Casinos in Pennsylvania for 2023This is why professional poker players tend to dominate during high stakes tournaments - because they’re playing against the same pool of players over, and over again. Which leads to everyone getting better, and more familiar with their competition, hence tougher games and fewer profits.
Trying a new poker variation or game type (tournaments, cash games, etc.) can give professionals and amateurs alike a leg up against opponents who haven’t learned how to adapt to their new strategy.
Best Poker Sites in the United States (2023) - PokerListingsThe most unprofitable game you can play, however, is an obviously-rigged one, like on a cruise ship or on an alcohol-fueled night out with strangers.
Find out more popular poker destinations in our guide to the
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What Are the Least Popular Poker Variations?
Although data is difficult to collect, safe to say 8-Game is pretty rare these days (despite being a fav among pros), as are lowball games like Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw.
Deuce-to-Seven also strays away from the average poker room, although it does have a cult following of its own.
Of course if you put the question to any random sample of poker players, you’d get a long list of less popular poker variations starting with: “The ones I win at the least.”
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WHAT ARE SOME GOOD POKER VARIATIONS TO TRY AT HOME?
Obviously, 5-Card Draw, but we just schooled you on 5 poker variations that you can implement for your next home game.
Pineapple Ultimate Deepstack aside, games like Pineapple, Rolling Six, Poker SwAP, Chinese Poker and Deuce-to-Seven are easy to teach and even more fun to play with a friendly, competitive group.
And with various available for download or free play on your smartphone, tablet and/or desktop PC, you can practice your skills until the in-person-again.
Meanwhile in the city, the underground poker scene is experimenting with Community Poker - essentially Texas Hold’em with an extra card dealt face up in the middle, which players can use in their hand to make the best five-card hand.
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WHICH POKER VARIANTS ARE BEST FOR BEGINNERS?
For someone brand new to the game, it makes more sense to learn Texas Hold’em first as it’s the most common, and thus, easiest to learn and master.
However if you already know how to play Texas Hold’em, and are looking for a change, 5-Card Draw, Pineapple and Courchevel are great alternatives to try out.
Reasons to Play Slots for Free before you Play Real Money Casino Slot Games OnlineFour-card games such as , Stud and Draw are all very similar in terms of difficulty learning the ropes so if you can understand one, you can understand them all.
As you can imagine, understanding a game with more cards and options - like Badugi, takes a little longer to grasp.
That said, chances are, if you understand the fundamentals of poker, and you understand how to win, it won’t matter what game you play, there’s strategy in every hand.
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WHAT IS ZOMBIE POKER?
Zombies are officially the newest craze in poker - at least for the kids. Zombie Poker, or Boar Fighting as it’s known in China, is credited for saving poker machine manufacturer from bankruptcy.
The concept of Zombie Poker is the same as regular poker, but instead of holding cards, you’re trying to line up the surviving soldiers to kill the zombies.
Needless to say, has picked up significantly in China over the past two years and is expected to remain a hot ticket item in casinos around the world for kids of all ages who are terrified of impending zombie apocalypses.
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WHAT IS PASS THE CARD POKER?
Pass the Card Poker is Pineapple without the fanciness of discretionary card replacement. Player must pass the single additional card facedown to the next player who gets the choice of keeping it or passing it along to the next player who gets the choice to keep it or pass it along to the button who must take it.
Once everyone has either chosen to keep a card or let one slide from another player the regular showdown ensues. It’s a fun gimmick game that’s fast paced and easy to follow.
