If the words 'stud' and 'pai gow' conjure up images of a strapping young man and a Vietnamese ritual – think again – these are popular
online poker games!
Types of poker games
Poker has steadily grown in its popularity and today accounts for more than 200 million dollars in revenue each month for the United States! Poker games are fun, addictive and offer a great way to connect and network with other players. Many sites offer great earning potential via bonuses and incentives too.
There are several popular variations of online poker games such as:
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Texas Hold’em:
This is the most common poker game and is often just abbreviated to be known as Hold’em. In this game, each player is dealt only 2 cards and shares the remaining 5 cards among themselves. The player who manages to stay on until the end will combine his own card with the community cards to make the best valued hand possible. However, in case someone calls his bet, then the only the remaining hand wins. Texas Hold’em can be played limit, pot limit or no limit. Limit refers to the total amount a players either opens with or raises to. Pot limit means that the player will raise to an amount exactly equal to the pot amount. No limit means each player can raise to any amount at any point of time.
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Omaha Hold’em:
In this game players are dealt four cards each and get to share five community cards. This can be played in eight or better high low split. In a high low plit, every player aims to make 2 separate hands – one of high value and the other of a low value. The low value hand will usually comprise ace to five sequence of cards. An eight or better high low split means a player can make a high or low value hand using the card having numerical value of 8. An eight low hand will comprise the following – 8-7-6-5-4. Even in Omaha hold’em, the game can be played either in limit, pot limit or no limit.
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Pineapple Hold'em:
In this game, each player is dealt 3 cards which they need to combine with 5 community cards. However, this game is different from the Texas and Omaha versions in that, each player needs to discard one of their 3 cards. This game is most frequently played in high-low split.
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Stud poker:
In stud poker, each player is provided a mix of face-up and face-down playing cards. The face-down cards are also known as hole cards. The stud card game usually adopts a non-positional approach in that the player who bets first in each round changes from one round to the other. The seven card stud poker begins with each player being dealt 2 cards face-down and 1 card face-up. The game can be played with a bring-in, in which case the player having the lowest value face-up card pays half of the low limit bet size on the pot. Betting proceeds after this in a clockwise order. In case two players happen to have the same low value face-up cards, a tie breaker happens by judging the suit of the cards. The highest suit value is spades, followed by hearts, clubs and finally the diamonds. After the first round of betting finishes, another face-up card is dealt to each player. At this stage, the players are judged based on the value of the hand the face-up cards make. Since at this point, each player has less than 5 face-up cards, there is no question of a straight, flush or even a full house happening.
There are many other types of
online poker games such as draw poker, lowball, Razz, Badugi etc. Give them all a try and see which is best for you!