Different Poker Variants around the World
While Texas Hold’em is currently the most played type of Poker in the world, there’s over a dozen other variants – many of which are also quite popular. Some variants have almost exactly the same rules and gameplay, but in some cases there are significant differences which have an impact on how easy the game is to learn.
In this article, we’ll take a look at a few different Poker variants which are played in the US and beyond, with an outline of their key differences and their relative popularity.
Texas Hold’em
As mentioned, Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular type of Poker game in the world, so you should have no trouble finding a place to play it at a card room, an online casino or a dedicated Poker gaming site.
Furthermore, Texas Hold’em has been the most televised Poker variant for around the last two decades. This is, in part, responsible for its surge in popularity in the 2000s and 2010s.
It’s an easy game to learn, though it isn’t necessarily the easiest Poker game for newbies to master.
Texas Hold’em Rules
The game starts with two players to the left of the button putting forward forced bets called “blinds” (one puts down a “big blind”, while the other puts down a “small blind”.)
Two cards are subsequently dealt to each player, before players take it in turns to call, raise or fold, with the action moving leftwards. Following this, the “flop” takes place which consists of 3 so-called community cards being placed in the middle of the table, face up.
These cards are important, as they can be used by all players to assemble the strongest possible hand by combining them with the cards they have been dealt.
Another round of betting then takes place, followed by another community card being dealt (this is known as the “turn”). There’s then one final round of wagering before the final “river” community card is placed.
Following this, all players left in the game must show their cards, with the player with the strongest hand winning all the chips put down.
Omaha Hi
Omaha Hi is another very popular Poker variant, with it being the second-most played Poker game in the US. It is usually played as a pot-limit game, which means players can only raise by an amount equivalent to the size of the existing pot.
The fact that its rules are very similar to those of Texas Hold’em mean that anyone familiar with the latter should have no trouble adapting and playing this particular Poker game.
Omaha Hi Rules
As mentioned, the rules of Omaha Hi are almost identical to those of Texas Hold’em Poker, with the exception being that four hole cards are dealt instead of two.
Players still try to make the strongest possible 5-card hand, but they have to use 2 hole cars and just 3 of the 5 community cards placed down.
Teen Patti
Teen Patti Poker is an Indian Poker game which is similar to some other variants, such as Three Card Poker and Three Card Brag.
It is considerably less popular than the two other Poker variants detailed earlier in this article, but it’s still a great game to learn, as it’s pretty easy to play and it’s sometimes nice to play something a bit different to Texas Hold’em and Omaha Hi (which are very similar to one another.)
Teen Patti Rules
The biggest difference of Teen Patti to some of the more popular Poker variants is that players must only use 3 cards when constructing their hands instead of the usual 5.
There are two playing options: “playing seen”, which means players get to see their own cards before betting, and “playing blind”, which means players place their bets before seeing their cards.
Unlike many other Poker variants, a game of Teen Patti will continue as long as necessary to determine a winner (instead of following a fixed structure like Texas Hold’em, for example.)
