Play Poker Games Online: A Guide to Poker Variants

To master Texas Hold’em poker games, start by understanding the deal & wagering process:

• Each player is dealt two cards, face down
• Round of betting 1
• The dealer reveals the first three community cards. This is known as the “flop”.
• Round of betting 2
• The dealer reveals the fourth community card. This is known as the “turn”.
• Round of betting 3
• The dealer reveals the fifth and final community card. This is known as the “river.”
• Final round of betting.

Once all bets are finalized, each player reveals their face-down cards, and the best hand wins the prize pool (known as the “pot”).

While No-Limit Hold’em is the most popular variation of Texas Hold’em, Limit and Pot-Limit are two other popular variations of Hold’em Poker.

Limit Texas Hold’em

In limit hold’em poker games, the size of the bets are determined before the start of the game, and wager sizes increase in the final two rounds. For example, in a $10/$20 fixed-limit Texas Hold’em game, you can wager in multiples of $10 after receiving your cards and the “flop”, but bets increase to $20 following the “turn” and the “river”.

Pot Limit Texas Hold’em

In Pot Limit hold’em, the size of wagers is limited to whatever the size of the “pot” (the prize pool) is. For example, if there’s $50 in the “pot”, the maximum wager would be $50.

Read our full guide to Texas hold’em poker to learn more.

Pineapple

Pineapple is a variant of Texas Hold’em that is played very similarly. Instead of being dealt two cards face down, each player is dealt three face down cards. Every player gets to look at their cards and must discard one of them. Once this is done, the first betting round begins and the rest of the game is played like a normal hand of Hold’em. The winner is whoever has the best five-card hand.

This can also be played as Crazy Pineapple, with the only difference being that players won’t have to discard one of their three hole cards until after the flop (when the three community cards are dealt face up to the table).

Once the rounds of dealing and wagering are completed, players reveal their face-down cards, and the best five-card hand wins. In the event of a tie, the pot is equally divided among the players with the leading hands.

Most games online follow one of three wagering formats: Pot Limit, No Limit, or Fixed Limit. Each of these three game types follow the same rules, with some slight variation.

Pot Limit Omaha Poker

The most popular form of online Omaha, in Pot Limit, wager size is limited to however much is in the pot (e.g. if the pot total is $100, maximum bet size would be $100.)

The minimum bet in Pot Limit, at most poker sites, is the same as the size of the big blind.

No Limit Omaha Poker

In No Limit games, as the name suggests, there are no limits to the bet sizes – players can wager the total amount of chips they have available.

Fixed Limit Omaha Poker

In Fixed Limit, bet sizes & amounts are structured and pre-determined. Similar to Fixed-Limit Texas Holdem, bets & raises are the same amount as the big blind pre-flop and on the flop itself (e.g. if the big blind is $25, bet sizes are $25.)

After the flop – the turn & the river – the bet/raise size doubles (e.g. if the big blind is $25, bet sizes are $50.)

In this game type, players are allowed a maximum of four bets per betting round.

To start, every player is required to ante, and the dealer will deal everyone five cards face down. A player can only open the betting round if they have a pair of Jacks or better. If no players have a pair of Jacks, everyone has to fold, ante again, and will be dealt five new cards. 

Omaha Burn

Each player is dealt four cards face down, and five community cards are dealt face down. After the first betting round, the dealer flips over the first three community cards, and after the second betting round the fourth card is flipped. Instead of flipping the fifth card, at this point, the dealer asks if players will be “burning”. If you don’t burn, you must fold. Then, the dealer will flip the fifth card and the final betting round will begin. The winner takes the pot, and the losing players match the pot for their burn. This becomes the pot for the next round.

While rules and variations may different slightly between each casino, the majority of Omaha Hi/Lo games use an 8-or-better qualifier. This means that, to win the ‘low’ hand, your hand must be comprised of five different cards that are all less than 8. Cards 8-or-better contribute to the ‘high’ hand.

Note that Aces always count as low in a low hand, meaning the best possible low hand would be 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.

Omaha Hi-Lo Poker games usually follow one of three wagering formats: Limit, Pot Limit, or No Limit.

Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Poker

In Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Poker, bet sizes & amounts are structured and pre-determined. Similar to Fixed-Limit Texas Holdem, bets & raises are the same amount as the big blind pre-flop and on the flop itself (e.g. if the big blind is $25, bet sizes are $25.)

After the flop – the turn & the river – the bet/raise size doubles (e.g. if the big blind is $25, bet sizes are $50.)

In this game type, players are allowed a maximum of four bets per betting round.

Pot Limit Hi/Lo Poker

The most popular form of online Omaha Hi/Lo poker, in Pot Limit, wager size is limited to however much is in the pot (e.g. if the pot total is $100, maximum bet size would be $100.)

The minimum bet in Pot Limit, at most poker sites, is the same as the size of the big blind.

No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Poker

In No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Poker, as the name suggests, there are no limits to the bet sizes – players can wager the total amount of chips they have available.

In seven-card stud, players are dealt a total of – you guessed it – seven cards of the course of each game. The cards are dealt sporadically, with rounds of betting in between each.

At the beginning of the game, each player will be dealt three cards – two face down, and one face up. The player showing the lowest face-up card is nominated as the first player to go, and a betting round commences. This step is known as third street.

After the betting round commences, each player receives another face-up card, which is called fourth street. After this deal, the first player to go is the one whose two face-up cards have the highest value.

This process of dealing and betting continues until each player has seven total cards, at which point the remaining players showdown and the best 5 card poker hand wins.

Read our guide to 7 card stud poker to learn more and find where to play.

Razz Poker

Razz is a variation of stud poker where you play for the lowest hand instead of the highest hand. It is also sometimes known as “lowball poker” or “seven-card stud low”. It has the same betting and dealing structure as 7 card stud.

The typical “worst” hands are now considered the best, with the best possible hand being A2345 of any suits.

To learn more about razz, read our full guide to razz poker.

While 3 card poker seems – and is – relatively simple, there are further layers that can complicate the game, and all of which are worth learning. There are three primary points we recommend keeping in mind if you’re considering 3 card poker:

• If a player wants to “play”, they must place a bet, and this bet must be equal to the ante
• For a dealer to qualify for play, they must have Queen-high or better. If they do not, and the player made a “play” wager, the player wins.
• Depending on the casino, some additional wagering options are present, such as Pairs Plus, or Ante Bonus. Make sure you know the rules of your game type before you start wagering.

To learn more about bet types, how to master the game, and where to play, read our guide to 3 card poker.

5 Card Draw Poker

As we said above, 5 card draw is a simple & classic game.

2-7 Triple Draw Poker

A slightly more complicated version of draw poker, three drawing rounds give you additional betting opportunities. This is what’s known as a ‘lowball’ variant of poker, in which the winning hand has the lowest five unique cards.

2-7 Single Draw Poker

Another variant of 2-7, single draw is played in a no-limit betting format, rather than fixed limit. Single draw only has – you guessed it – one round of drawing, meaning bet sizes play a huge role in strategy.

Badugi Poker

This is a quirky draw game. The idea is to make a ‘Badugi’ – four cards of different suits. The lowest hand wins, meaning A-2-3-4 of different suits is the best possible hand.

Learn more about 5 card poker by reading our guide in order to learn winning hands, strategy, and where to play.

Fixed limits and hole cards remain consistent throughout all five games, but things like community cards, high hand rankings, and blinds vary depending on which round/game you’re on. 

In a typical game of HORSE, each player will deal one round of Hold’em before moving on to Omaha. If there are six people playing, that means you’ll play six rounds of Hold’em before moving on, then six rounds of Omaha, and so on. In Live Dealer HORSE, the dealer will call out when the game switches, and in online casino HORSE the top of the screen will show which round and game you’re on.

Be sure to study up on the five types of poker in HORSE before playing! Being unfamiliar with any of them is an easy way to lose your bankroll.

To learn more tips and tricks, check out our full guide to learn more about HORSE poker.

For example: If player 1 is dealt a Queen and player 2 is dealt a 10, both Queens and 10s become wild cards and can represent any card you’d like. Only one card other than Queen can be wild at a time, so in the following round if player 2 is dealt a Queen and player 3 is dealt a 4, Queen and 4 become the wild cards, and all 10s are no longer wild.

If no Queens are dealt face-up, only the Queens that are face down will be considered wild. If a Queen is the last card to be dealt, there will be no wild cards. Any previous wild cards will no longer be wild, and Queens won’t be wild either. 

The winner is whoever can make the best 5 card hand in the end.

If someone is able to open with a pair of Jacks or better, the hand will be played as 5 card draw. The player with the best 5-card hand wins. The next round will be played as Queens or better.

This version can be played in a few different ways. To get the game going faster if nobody has a pair of Jacks, you can play the hand as lowball and resume with Queens or better on the next round. You can also add “legs”, which makes it so a player has to win X number of hands before they can take the pot.