Poker has many different variants that have grown up over the years, from Texas Hold’em to Stud Poker and 5 card draw. In the original game of poker, each player received 5 cards face down, did not show any of them until the showdown and there was no chance to improve his hand beyond the 5 cards he’d been dealt. This was called ‘Straight Poker’
Here are a few of the many variants and a basic description of how they are different from Straight Poker.
Draw Poker
Draw Poker was thought up and designed to allow more betting and to speed the game up a little. Each player is given 5 cards as in Straight poker, but unlike in Straight poker the players have the opportunity to discard as many of their initial 5 cards as he might choose and receive new cards to replace them. After this betting is as normal in Straight Poker, and the Player with the highest 5 card hand takes the pot.
Stud Poker
Stud Poker has had various versions over the years, but the two most common are Seven-card Stud and Five-card Stud. These two games are quite similar in terms of how they are played, apart from the fact that in one game each player is dealt their own face up cards, and in the other game the face up cards are shared as community cards from which any player can score. Because of this The latter version is often used when there are larger numbers of players involved.
Seven-card Stud
2 cards are dealt to each player face down and then one card face up. Several rounds of betting then begin with an extra card being dealt in between each betting round, with cards 4, 5 and 6 being dealt face up, and card 7 being dealt face down. A final betting round is given and then the showdown. Player with the highest 5 card hand takes the pot.
Five-card Stud
Five card stud is also known as Hold’em or Texas Hold’em. Each player is dealt 2 cards face down, then a round of betting takes place. Three cards are then dealt face up into the centre of the table as Community cards or a flop. Another betting round takes place, then a forth card is added to the flop, followed by another round of betting, and a fifth card being added to the flop before a final betting round and then the showdown. The Player with the highest 5 card hand made up of their own 2 cards and any 3 from the community cards takes the pot.
These three variations are the most common ones to be found in poker tournaments; however there are many others which have sprung up over the years, from Low Poker or Lowball to High-Low Stud, Seven Card Stud, Cincinnati, Mexican Stud or Flip, Knock Poker and many others, you may be able to learn these at a poker school.
