Poker variants

Poker Variants
Poker is a very popular pastime, these days. There are lots of poker games, though, so they can be confusing. Luckily, the most popular kinds can, for the most part, be sorted into three families.

The first group is community poker games. In community poker games, players receive a certain number of hole cards. However, there are also community cards that are dealt face up. Each of the players must use some combination of their own cards and the community cards to make their best hand that contains 5 cards.

The next group of poker games is called stud games. 7 Card Stud is the most common form of stud, these days. All stud games involve players getting dealt a hand of cards in a pattern of face up and face down cards. Not all cards are dealt at once. Betting takes place between the streets, or times when cards are dealt to the player. In 7 Card Sud, for example, players get 7 cards. Three are face down and four are face up. The player must make their best 5-card hand from the 7 cards.

The final major category that some poker games fall into is draw. In a draw game, the player is dealt their own complete hand of cards. The cards are hole, or face down, cards that only the player can see, not the opponents. Once everyone has their cards, bets are placed. Then, players can exchange some of their existing cards for new cards, in an effort to get the best hand. Of all the draw games, 5 Card draw is the most common.