When you look at the poker games list of an online casino, you will see countless variations of poker. Here are the most popular poker games today.
When you look at the poker games list of an online casino, you will see countless variations of poker. Here are the most popular poker games today.
Casino poker games are no doubt one of the most thrilling and exciting casino games in the world. That is why when you look at the poker games list of an online casino, you will see countless variations of poker. If you want to play poker but do not know which game is best for beginners, this blog post was written just for you. We will cover the most popular poker games for you.
When someone asks about what are your favorite poker games, what first comes to your mind?
Is it Texas Hold’em?
Well, there is no doubt about it. Texas Hold ‘em is the first variation of poker and certainly one of the most popular on the poker games list. However, you should not overlook the other varients that offer a different level of excitement and thrills.
Hold’em is no doubt the most popular poker game today. If you will look at the different poker rooms of a casino site, you will surely see that they featured Texas Hold’em on every table.
Have you been playing poker since the early 2000s?
Whether you are an amateur or pro poker player, then you will say that No-Limit Texas Hold’em is the best variant of poker. It is because the hand rankings of Hold ’em are very easy to understand. Aside from that, you can follow the rules of the game easily. Not only that, this first poker variation is heavily televised during the early 2000s. In addition, Texas Hold’em is available in multiple formats such as:
If we are to rate the popularity of Texas Hold’em, it is a blazing 10/10. All thanks to Chris Moneymaker who turned his $86 entry into $2.5 million when he won the WSOP Main Event. Thus, he makes everyone yearn to experience the money, fame, and glory Chris came across.
Texas Hold’em poker is very much easy to learn. Thus, beginners can easily improve playing it. The sheer popularity of these poker variants causes many informational sources like:
You can easily gather strategic insights about the game as well as learn the basics. Hold’em uses forced bets called blinds.
To play, the two players to the left of the button need to put forward a forced bet. This forced bet is referred to as a blind bet. Then, the poker player to the left of the dealer will be the small blind while the next player to the left will be the big blind. Each player needs to deal with 2 hole cards facing down.
The action will then start with the player on the left of the big blind bets. Afterward, the action will continue in a clockwise manner. During this 1st betting round, the players can either raise, fold, or call. After this round, the dealer burns one card facing down before putting the community cards facing up. The players will be dealing 3 cards onto the table.
All players can use the community cards to make their best poker hand. After each betting round, the dealer will then burns. Then, each player will be dealing their 4th community card (the “turn”).
Another betting round will follow dealing with the final community card (the “River”)
After one more betting round, all the remaining player must show their cards. Also, the players can use none, one, or both of his hole cards together with his community cards. A player with the best 5-card poker hand will be the winner.
Omaha Hi is the second most popular on the poker games list. The word “Hi” refers to the highest hand awarded on the entire pot at showdown. Usually, you can play Omaha Hi in Pot-limit game format. This is why Omaha Hi is also commonly known as Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO).
Omaha Hi plays the same as Hold’em. The only difference is that instead of 2 cards, each player is dealing with 4 hole cards. With this, the player must try to make his best 5-card poker hand. To do this, the player must use 2 of his 4 hole cards and 3 of the community cards during the showdown.
Furthermore, it is much easier to make a good poker hand because the player is dealing with more cards at the beginning.
Not all online casino and poker rooms will have Omaha Hi tables unlike Texas Hold’em. However, you can still find many casino sites that offer this second poker variant.
If you have already know how to play Texas Hold’em, then there will be no problems playing PLO. It is because there are many similarities between Omaha Hi and Texas Hold’em.
Strategically, PLO gives you more opportunities to make a good poker hand. Normally, the poker hands during showdown will be higher than the Hold’em.
The poker actions are similar to Hold’em but with two distinct differences.
1. The players are dealing with 4 cards instead of 2 cards
2. The bet sizes and raises depends at the size of the pot. (Pot-Limit Omaha variant)
This is another poker variation of Omaha Hi. The only difference is that the pot at showdown will be equally divided into two. This will be between the highest ranked 5-card hand and the lowest 5-card hand.
Furthermore, you can use different combinations of hole cards in Omaha Hi-lo. However, you need to meet certain conditions for you to get the “Low” half of the pot.
In this case, the “8 or better” part of this poker variation comes into play. Thus, all 5-cards making up the “low” hand should be ranked 8 or lower. It is important to note that flushes and straights are not counted against a hand in Omaha Hi-lo. Thus, the lowest possible hand that you could make is A-2-3-4-5. While the highest “Low” hand would be 8-7-6-5-4. Moreover, the lowest hands are rank from the highest card value downwards.
While Omaha Hi-lo is certainly nowhere near the PLO, you can still found it at large Poker tournament events.
With Omaha Hi-lo, you need to think about the high and low hand combinations that you could make. Thus, this poker variation is slightly more complex than Omaha Hi. Furthermore, you need to understand combination will qualify as low hand and how to rank these hands.
The gameplay of these poker variations is similar to Hold’em and Omaha Hi. You will be dealing with 5 community cards. It has multiple betting rounds namely:
At showdown, the pot will be equally divided between the highest and lowest hand. If there is no qualifying low-hand, then the highest hand wins the entire pot.
Before Texas Hold’em become popularize, Stud poker is the most common form of poker game. 7-card stud poker much differs from the one we have mentioned. Here, each player will receive their hands face-down while some are facing up.
Nowadays, 7-card stud poker is only played in certain poker tournaments. It is either the tournaments are featuring stud poker only or it encompasses an array of poker variations.
The nature of 7-card stud poker is to create the best 5-card. So, it will be easy for you to learn the game although it is difficult to master. It is due to the reason that some cards are exposed to other players. Therefore, you need to know how to read your opponent’s potential strength hand.
While all players are dealing a hand, they also must put forward an ante bet. After this, all players will be receiving two cards facing down and one card facing up. Then, the player with the lowest card facing up will act first. He/she need to make either a small “bring-in” bet or a complete bet. Then, the betting round will continue in a clockwise manner.
After the betting hand round, then the remaining players will be dealing another card facing up. The player who got the highest value of cards facing up will act first. He/she should make a small bet. Afterward, the fifth and sixth streets will both ensue. Per street, the players will be dealing with one extra card facing up.
After both streets, the player who got the highest combined value of cards facing up will act first. Moreover, the larger betting increments are used in both these betting round.
On the seventh street, all players will be receiving their one final card facing down. At this point, each player must be able to make their best 5-card poker hand since they are dealing with seven cards already.
After the final betting round, the player will show their hand during the showdown. Thus, the one with the best hand will win the pot.
Iron Cross, Elevator, 7-27, Russian, Anaconda, Criss Cross, and Position Poker are also one of the most popular poker games online. It also includes poker variants like Follow the Queen, Sevens Take All, Jacks or Better, and Three-Legged Race. You can also play Connect Four, Guts, Pirhana, and Outhouse Poker.
In addition, you can try your poker skills in No Holds Barred, In Between / First Past Post, Burn the Biffle, Baseball, or The Good, The Bad, The Ugly. If you want to try all these poker variations, then check out the best casino in Singapore.
Badugi is another special poker game that you can play in an online casino. It uses a completely different hand ranking system compared to the classic poker games.
If you know how to play stud poker, then it will be easy for you to understand razz. Your goal here is to make the “Worst” possible hand based on the traditional poker hand ranking. Notably, the Straights and flushes are not counted on Razz and the Aces are low too. The gameplay also works the same with 7-card stud poker.
In Poker games, two types of community cards are used. First, players are dealing with their cards. These cards are referred to as hole cards. Second, the community cards are dealt with and usable to every player in the poker game.