5 Most Popular Poker Games

So many people love playing poker and many play variations of popular games. These games are played by a massive amount of people and are some of the ones that are the most understood. There are so many variations, and while these are some of the most popular, even some of the biggest names in poker, such as Paul Phua, didn’t master them all straight away. The now master Texas Hold Em’ player Paul didn’t start playing Texas Hold Em’ until his 40’s!

Keep reading to see 5 of the most popular poker games and a little bit of information that will help you understand the game.

7-Card Stud

With 7-card stud, you get a total of 7 cards. You’ll get 2 dealt to you down, then 4 will be dealt to you up. The final card is dealt face to you face down. These cards are dealt one at a time and in between each dealing round there’s a betting phase. Once all bets are placed, the next card will be dealt. After all cards are dealt, each player must flip up the face down cards. Out of those 7, they have to choose 5 as their hand. The player with the best hand wins the pot.

Texas Hold ‘Em

Texas Hold ‘Em is one of the most popular versions of poker and it’s very easy to learn. Each player will get dealt 2 face down cards, then the dealer flips a total of 5 cards up on the board. This happens in 3 stages, which are the flop, the turn, and the river. After each phase there is a betting phase where players can call, check, raise, or fold. Each player will then try and make the best hand out of the 5 board cards and the 2 cards in their hand. After the final betting stage, the person with the best hand wins the pot.

5-Card Draw

This game is one of the easiest and quickest to learn, which makes it very popular at the poker table. Each player is dealt 5 cards and the betting phase starts. After the betting phase, the people still in will discard a certain number of cards from their hand for the same number of new cards. After the final betting phase, the person with the best hand wins. Bets can either be done before the cards are dealt or there’s a small blind and big blind. Depending on where you’re playing, you might run into 3 different kinds of games, which are fixed pot, no-limit, or pot-limit.

Omaha

Omaha is very similar to Texas Hold ‘Em, but is played a little differently. Each player is dealt 4 face down cards and the dealer flips 5 cards face up on the board. To win, the player must use 2 cards from their hand and 3 cards from the cards on the board. If they don’t use this exact requirement, then they lose the hand. The traditional poker rankings are played in this game and if no player can make any of the other poker rankings, then the person with the best card will win.

Pai Gow

Pai Gow poker is the card version of traditional Chinese dominoes. The game is played with a standard 52-card deck, as well as 1 joker. The table is set for 6 players and the dealer. Each player needs to try and beat the banker, which could be the dealer, another person sitting at the table, or a player that works with the dealer as a co-banker. Each player will have 7 cards and they need to make the best 5 card hand plus the best 2 card hand. Regardless of how many people play, 4 cards will always go unused. Each person has a betting position between 1 and 7. Number 1 is the banker and it moves around the table counter-clockwise. A number is randomly chosen and that’s the person that starts the game. The person that has the best hand that beats the banker will win the pot. If no player has a hand that beats the banker, then the banker wins.

While these are some of the most popular games, there are others that are just as fun. One thing to keep in mind is that some places play a little bit differently than other places. It shouldn’t be too hard to get the hang of the changes and you might find that you like the altered way better.