Five Great Texas Holdem Poker Options

If you'd like to start playing poker, you aren't alone.  Millions of people are now seeing poker being played on TV or on the Internet and taking up some version of the game.  However, a lot of people are really limiting their poker fun by sticking only to the most popular poker type, Texas Holdem poker.  So, here are five great poker options that you may want to think about playing instead of, or in addition to, Texas Holdem poker.

Texas Holdem poker- Number One Tip:

Version number one is Draw.  There are a lot of different versions of Draw, but 5-Card Draw is one of the most popular.  In the case of 5-Card, five cards are dealt to each player.  Then, there are rounds of drawing and betting and everyone tries to make the best hand.  During a drawing round, you can trade in some cards and draw new ones to replace them.  It's a simple game for beginner poker players.

There are fixed-limit, pot-limit and no-limit versions of Draw poker.  Some Draw games even include wild cards.  So, although it's an easy poker type to learn, you can play more complex versions of it, if you like.

Number Two:

Version number two is called 7-Card Stud.  It's a Stud game, meaning that each player gets their own cards, but some are dealt face up and some are dealt face down.  That means that you can see some of your opponents' cards and they can each see some of yours, too.  So, you get some information about what kinds of hands everyone has.

7-Card Stud is most often played as a fixed-limit game.  Although, you can sometimes find pot-limit versions of it, especially on the Internet.  However, it can be just as exciting as a no-limit poker game, since there are five betting rounds in each hand.  That can mean some pretty large pot increases, as the hand progresses.

Number Three:

Version number three is called Razz.  Razz is almost like the reverse of 7-Card Stud.  Each player still gets seven cards and those cards are still dealt with some being face up and some face down.  Four are shown to everyone, while three are hidden.

Straights and flushes don't count in Razz.  That's one big difference between it and a game of 7-Card Stud.  Another big difference is that the object in Razz is to make the lowest possible hand, not the highest.  Since flushes and straights don't count, any A, 2, 3, 4, 5 hand, no matter what the suits are, counts as the lowest possible hand, which is the best.  It's also sometimes known as a “wheel”.

Numbers Four And Five:

Version numbers Four And Five are quite similar.  Version four is called Omaha High.  In it, the object is to make the best possible 5-card hand out of the cards available.  It's a lot like Texas Holdem poker, except for a couple of major differences.  The first difference is that each player gets 4 hole cards in addition to the 5 board cards, not two.  The other huge difference is that each player has to use exactly 3 board cards and two hole cards to make their best hand, rather than using any five cards like in Holdem.

As for version five, it's called Omaha Hi/Lo.  It plays just like Omaha, with one big difference.  Both the best and worst hands win a share of each pot.  That, of course, means that it requires a more complex strategy, if you want to come out a winner.