Variations to the Game of Poker and it's Rules
One thing many people like to do is tinker with things. For this reason, many types of poker games and rule variations exist. We all think poker is a great game (and it is) but over the years, players changed the rules “just a little” to make the game more interesting to them – the most popular changes caught on and became new games in their own right.
While there are many flavors of poker, there are generally three top level variations - Draw Poker, Stud Poker, and Community Card Poker. Let’s look at them a bit closer:
- Draw poker is probably the one you’re most familiar with. In this game, you get dealt a complete hand before any bets are placed. These cards are hidden from the other players (and nobody should be seeing your cards – don’t let them peek!) Then by replacing a certain number of cards (and praying to Lady Luck) you improve your hand. Standard Five-card Draw is a good example of draw poker.
- Stud poker is a variant where you receive a mix of face-down and face-up cards. This means players know some of the cards in your hand, but not all of them. Five-card stud is an example of Stud poker.
- Community card poker is where your hand is combined with shared face-up cards. For example, it there are two aces in the community hand then everyone has two aces in their hand. That can make for some interesting situations, and also makes for the need to have a very strong hand (in community card poker, that three of a kind may not be as strong as you think it is.)
Rule variations are typically not their own game, but an evolved set of rules for specific games. The Draw Poker game California Lowball is a good example of this (lowest hand wins.)
Other rule variations may include “wild cards” (where a specific card can be any card you please). When he deals, Big Tony might say “Deuces wild”, meaning if you get a deuce, it can be anything (thus two jacks and a deuce becomes three jacks.)
“Twist” rules allow a player to buy cards from the deck. If they can afford it, players can continue to buy card after card until satisfied. This is a great way to add money to the pot (and a great way to lose your shirt.) Sometimes the number of cards used will be reduced and it’s called using a “Stripped deck”. Poker was originally played with only 20 cards, and this is a way to honor our pastime.
That’s just a few of them – many more exist. Can you think of any to use during your next game?
