Poker News
Poker Variations - Learn to Play Poker Online
By Poker Man
Oct 15, 2008

It’s hard to imagine getting tired of playing poker, but if you do get bored, there are plenty of variations to try, either online or with your poker buddies.

There are various categories of poker variations – it’s easier to understand them this way. Poker variations can be categorized as shared card or poker variations, draw poker variations, stud poker variations, miscellaneous poker variations and even what are called non-poker variations.

Let’s look at each of these categories of poker variations in some detail.

Stud poker variations are games in which each player receives a combination of face-up cards and face-down cards in several betting rounds until five or seven cards have been handed out. Such games include 2 to 7, where Aces are high, and straights and flushes count; Black Mariah, which is similar to 7-card Stud; 7s Take All, where the 7 plays a key role; Baseball, where 3s and 9s are wild cards; Auction, where the tuned up cards on the table equal the number of players, and Baltimore or Low Chicago, where the high hand and low spade in the hole share the pot.

Draw poker variations are games where each player is dealt a full hand, and can then discard some cards, replacing them with new cards from the pack. Some draw poker variations which you will find enjoyable are 5 Card Draw, where a betting round follows the deal, and then players can exchange cards; the similar DogButt; Anaconda, where the high and low hands share the pot; All for One, where play continues until there are less cards in the pack than there are players at the table.

Non-poker variations are games where the standard hand ranking for poker is not followed. There are some good games in this category, such as Boo Ray, where the top card of the deck determines the trump; 13 / 33, where there is one card down and one up to each player; and Numbers, where there are five cards to each player and seven cards on the table. Try Screw Your Neighbour and 7 / 27.

Shared card poker variations are also called community card variations. Here, players get a few individual cards, and some cards are placed on the table – all players can use these cards. Interesting community card variations such as Bush League, similar to Omaha Hold ‘em; Elevator, where table cards are turned up one at a time, with betting rounds in between; Church or Iron Cross, where there are five cards down to each player and five cards on the table, arranged like a cross; and Diana’s Game, where there are two cards down to each player and three cards on the table, are fun to play. You can also try variations like Cincinnati, Crazy Pineapple and Cool Hand Luke, but the most popular ones in this category are Texas Hold ’em and Omaha Hold ’em.

Miscellaneous poker variations all use the standard hand ranking, but the hands are not dealt like they are in the other categories of variations. Miscellaneous poker variations include games like Arkansas Guts, where the 2 of clubs is the best card and the Ace of spades is the worst card possible; Baseball Guts, where 3s and 9s are wild cards; Roller Coaster, where players are dealt one card at a time, and betting is held after each card dealt; Bid Poker, where cards are auctioned, and the highest bidding player gets the card. There are scores more miscellaneous poker variations, such as Buddha’s Folly, Cohones, Fifty-Five, Double Revenge, Guts, High / Low Pig, Indian, Liar’s Poker, Full Monty, Guts, and the interestingly named Kenosha Cheese Porn.