Since the introduction of online poker a lot of new poker games have seen the light of day at many online poker sites. From being only Texas Holdem in the beginning, you find a variety of poker games at each poker site today. This can make it difficult to get an overview of the different poker games offered at various online poker sites and what the difference is between the many variations of poker games. We have dedicated this section to introduce the different kinds of poker games, which hopefully will help you find the best poker game for you.

Variants of online poker games

Our online poker games guide will take you through all the poker games fund in online poker, including Texas Holdem poker, Omaha poker, Stud poker, Razz Poker, mixed-games and more. The main objective is to help our readers find the best poker game for them and help them to find new exciting online poker games to try. We also recommend players read our online poker reviews for each poker site, offering detailed information about the poker games available at each online poker site and great promotions and bonus offers.

Texas Holdem Poker

Texas Holdem Poker is the most played and popular poker game in the world. Any person referring to poker is likely to be talking about Texas Holdem Poker, which is normally the poker game people think about, when asked if they know how to play poker. The success of Texas Holdem Poker is mainly due to the high publicity of the poker game in TV-shows and the media in general. Texas Holdem Poker is among the easiest poker games to learn and most people start out playing either No Limit Texas Holdem or Fixed Limit Texas Holdem. The poker game is played with 2 hidden hole cards and 5 community cards shared by all players on the board. Players can win a hand in two ways; either by their opponents folding or by having the best hand at showdown.

Find the best poker sites to play Texas Holdem poker and read more about Texas Holdem Poker games here.

Omaha Poker

Omaha Poker is known as the action game and is growing more and more in popularity. The poker game is played in almost the same way as Texas Holdem Poker, but instead of two hole cards, players receive 4 hidden hole cards. Another significant difference between the poker games is the fact that players must use two hole cards and three cards from the board to make the best poker hand possible. The game is normally played as either Pot Limit Omaha or Fixed Limit Omaha, where the majority of Omaha Poker players play Pot Limit. There exits two variants of Omaha Poker games, which can be played both as Omaha High and Omaha Hi/Lo. In Omaha High/Low both the highest and lowest hand can win the pot at showdown and the pot is split in half, if one player have the high hand and another player have the low hand.

Find the best poker sites to play Omaha Poker and read more about Omaha Poker games here.

7 Card Stud Poker

7 Card Stud Poker is quite different from the more known and played poker games like Texas Holdem and Omaha Poker. The poker game has never been among the most popular games in online poker, but is still played by many people at home and is the preferred poker game of many professional poker players from the older generations. 7 Card Stud Poker is one of the more traditional poker games of Northern America and many places in Europe, where the poker game is frequently played by many poker players. In 7 Card Stud players receive two hidden hole cards and one open card from beginning of each hand, and then players receive three more open cards and finally one more closed at the end. Each of the consecutive cards is dealt one by one and all correspond to a betting round. The winner is decided by the best five card poker hand at showdown or by all players folding but one. The game can be played in both high and High/low variations, known as Seven Card Stud High and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo or Seven Card Stud eight or better.

Find the best poker sites to play 7 Card Stud Poker and read more about 7 Card Stud Poker games here.

Razz Poker

Razz Poker is basically Seven Card Stud in reverse. The poker rules and betting structure of the two poker games are essentially the same and the only difference in Razz Poker is that the lowest hand wins the pot. Razz Poker is played as a lowball game, meaning that high hands does not count towards winning and the lowest hand scoop the entire pot. The lowest hand in Razz is A-2-3-4-5 and straights and flushes do not count. The poker game is normally played as limit game with fixed betting limits in each round.

5 Card Stud Poker

5 Card Stud Poker is very similar to 7 Card Stud Poker and is played in basically the same way. The mayor difference between the two poker games are the number of cards dealt to each player from the start of the hand and during the hand. In Five Card Stud Poker players only receive one hidden hole card and one open card from the start of each hand, and then three consecutive open cards are dealt to each player one at a time with corresponding betting rounds. Like in 7 Card Stud, the best five card poker hand wins at showdown in 5 Card Stud. The more open cards in 5 Card Stud makes it more transparent and easier to learn than normal Seven Card Stud. This said, the poker game has never been as popular as Seven Card Stud, but can be an interesting recreation to normal Stud Poker games.

Mixed-Games: HORSE, HO, HA or 8-game

Mixed-Games: HORSE, HO, HA or 8-game is different poker games mixed together in a variety of different ways. Many professional poker players prefer mixed-games as it requires more skills to master many different variations of poker games. HORSE is the most popular variation of mixed-games and is an acronym for Holdem, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Eight or better. After the introduction of the $50k HORSE event at WSOP, the mixed-games have become even more popular and some claim the true world champion of poker is the winner of this event. Another popular variation is 8-game, which was introduced by PokerStars and adds two additional poker games to normal HORSE by including No Limit Holdem, Pot Limit Omaha and 2-7 Triple Draw. In principle you can combine any poker game and form different variations of mixed games. Of other more known combinations are HO, HA, SHOE or RASH, but the possibilities are endless and this is what makes mixed-games intriguing. Players looking to learn new poker games should try out mixed-games at low stakes, which is a fun way to learn new poker games. Mixed-games are normally played with one game for each level in tournaments and a fixed number hands in cash game before shifting to another game.

Five Card Draw Poker

Five Card Draw Poker is probably the most classic poker game of all and most people are familiar with this game from playing as a child or maybe from playing video poker. The poker game is among the easiest to learn, which make it a popular game as an introduction to poker, because everybody can participate without having to know a lot of strategic knowledge. Five Card Draw Poker is played by each player receiving five cards face down, followed by a first betting round. Then players draw by discarding any number of cards from their hand and receiving new from the deck. This is followed by another betting round and a showdown to decide the winner, if more than one player still remains in the hand. 5 Card Draw Poker can be played as both Fixed Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit.

2-7 Triple Draw Poker

2-7 Triple Draw Poker is a variation of Five Card Draw and is a lowball game in which the lowest hand wins the pot at showdown. The poker game is similar to 5 Card Stud, where players receive 5 hidden hole cards and gets the opportunity to draw from the deck by discarding between 0 and 5 cards. In Deuce to Seven Triple Draw players can draw three times with corresponding betting rounds. Players do not have to draw three times and can choose to “stand pat” on any or all of the draws. Opposite some lowball games Aces are high in 2-7 Triple draw and straights or flushes are not allowed. The best 2-7 Triple Draw hand is 2-3-4-5-7, which is the reason for name of the poker game. 2-7 Triple Draw can also be played as 2-7 Single Draw, where players only are allowed one draw before showdown.

FAQ About Poker Games

Almost all poker games are played with a standard deck of 52 cards, including all the online poker games presented above. Most poker games use the same poker hand ranking to determine the best hand, which makes different poker games very accessible to learn. The poker variations normally share common features like a forced bet to begin the action in each hand, that are known as blinds, antes or bring-ins. All poker games also involve some kind of betting in each hand. But even though the poker games can seem quite identical, they still require hours and hours of play to master individually. In some ways this is the fascinating thing about poker games as you can always move on to a new exciting kind of poker. Whatever game you choose, it will take practice and discipline to master the game.

Most people today consider poker games as being skill games, which means, players will have different abilities for the games. The poker games all require many different skills, like mathematical, psychological and disciplinary skills, but of cause in a varying degree from one poker game to another. Although many parallels can be made between the different poker games, they require different strategies and playing styles. This mean the optimal strategy for Texas Holdem is not automatically right Omaha Poker and vice versa. Of cause players can bring some of the overall strategies from one poker game to another, and this will certainly make it easier to master any new poker game. At the same time, learning new poker games will be able to help players, learn new ways of thinking poker strategy, which can help their overall understanding of the game and how different poker games should be played.