Poker Variants
Courchevel
Courcheval is a community card game. It"s played very much like Omaha with four Hole cards being dealt to each player. The big difference is that the first card of the Flop is exposed before the first betting round begins (see illustration). Players bet on a combination of their Hole cards and the first exposed card on the Board. Once all Pre Flop betting has ceased, the second and third cards of the Flop are turned face up to reveal the full three card Flop. The game effectively becomes Omaha from here on in to the river. The game is played "high" only or high-low.Razz
Razz is just a Seven Card Stud game, played low, instead of high. It"s likely very hard to find it as cash game nowadays but it"s still played as a tournament game during some of the longer poker festivals like the World Series of Poker.Mexican Stud
Mexican Stud is a "Roll Your Own" game. In traditional stud poker games, cards are dealt to each player, either face up or face down according to the rules of the game being played, followed by betting on each round. In Roll Your Own games this is different in three possible ways. These are, "Simultaneous Choose After", "In Turn Choose After" and "Choose Before."In simultaneous choose-after in every normal round where an up-card would be dealt, each player is dealt a down-card instead. The players then look at their five down-cards and choose one of them to turn face up. Once everyone has decided, all players turn their chosen card up at the same time.
With in turn choose-after, the game begins the same way with each player being dealt five down-cards, but then the first player to act turns over his choice of up-card, then the next player can use that information to decide which of his cards to turn up, and then all players follow them in clockwise order with betting rounds to follow.
Choose-before is always played in clockwise order with players taking turns to act. On up-card rounds, before a card is dealt to each player, the player must choose whether he wants to receive his card up or down. If he wants to receive it up, he says so. If he wants to receive it down, he has to turn one of his previously dealt down-cards face-up, so that all players will still have the same number of up and down cards. When using this method cards are not dealt to players starting at the dealer's left as usual, but start with the highest hand showing and then in clockwise order after that.
Mexican Stud (Mexican Poker and Stud Loco) are all forms of "roll your own" poker, many of them mixed up with different names. Some use stripped decks and some have single jokers and some have multiple wild cards, it all depends where you"re playing.
Shifting Sands
The game of Shifting Sands is a popular variation on Mexican Stud wherein each player's hole card (and all others of that rank) become wild for that player only.Lowball
The very opposite of Draw High, Lowball is five card draw where the lowest hand wins (with straights or flushes not counting as high). As aces are low, the best hand possible is a five-high "wheel": 5432A.Deuce to Seven Draw and Deuce to Seven Triple Draw
Deuce to Seven Draw, is a variation of Lowball where straights and flushes do count and aces are high, making 75432 the best possible hand. Both forms of Lowball very rarely played these days, but when they are, they"re are often played in the Triple Draw format, where instead of the one traditional draw, there are three draws, therefore more action.Pineapple
A cross between Omaha and Hold"em, in Pineapple, players are dealt three cards to combine with the five community cards, except Pineapple requires that the players must discard one of their three cards before the flop. After the betting before the flop, the game effectively becomes Texas Hold"em.Play in Pineapple begins when the two players directly to the left of the dealer, post compulsory Blinds. The player to the dealer"s immediate left posts the Small Blind, the other one posts the Big Blind. The size of these Blinds very much denotes the size of the game. The dealer button (usually a flat white disc) is passed around the table in a clockwise direction after each hand. This way, the players all take turns to make up the Blinds and have the deal.
Blinds having been posted, the dealer distributes THREE cards face down to each player (their hole cards). Each player receives one card at a time in dealt in a clockwise direction until all players have three cards before them. The players now look at their cards, careful not to let the other players see them. The first round of betting begins.
The first player to act is the player directly to the left of the big blind, he may choose to fold, call or raise the original bet (the big blind). After he"s acted, the same options apply to all the other players in clockwise order. The betting continues until all bets or raises have been matched.
At this point all players remaining in the pot, discard one card of their choice from the three "Hole" cards in their possession. Once all players have mucked one card, the dealer can now deal the Flop.
The first three community cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table, these are called the Flop. Players are looking to match the Flop with the two remaining cards in their hands.
Once the Flop has been dealt, a second round of betting takes place. From now on, the first player to act in each betting round is the first remaining player to the left of the dealer. Moving again in a clockwise direction, players have the option of Checking, Betting, Calling, Raising or Folding. However, once a player has opened the betting, the others no longer have the option of Checking. They must either, Call, Raise or Fold. The betting continues until all bets or raises have been matched.
Next comes the fourth communal card, the "Turn" card. Another round of betting begins until all of these Checks, Bets and Raises have been matched. After this, the fifth and final community card can be dealt, the River. Once the River card has been dealt, the fourth and final betting round takes place. Once the last bet has been called, a showdown takes place and the best combination of "Hole" cards and the five community cards (the Board) wins the pot.
At the showdown, as in Hold"em, the players may use one or both their cards to make the best hand. In some instances the five Board cards might actually be the best possible hand. In this situation, all players left in the pot, share the spoils equally.
This being poker, the strongest or best hand will not always win. A player might bluff by representing a big hand during any of the betting rounds and win the hand without a showdown.
Crazy Pineapple, Watermelon and Tahoe Poker
Crazy Pineapple (also known as Watermelon) is just a variation on Pineapple. Whereas in Pineapple the players are dealt three hole cards and discard one before the flop, in Crazy Pineapple the players are still dealt three hole cards but discard after the betting on the flop. After that the game is played the same as Hold"em on the Turn and the River. Tahoe Poker is a variation on the same theme except the players are dealt three cards before the flop and retain them for the duration of the hand. The players may then use none, one, or two of their cards to form their best hand in combination with the Board. They cannot use all three cards. Crazy Pineapple Poker and Tahoe Poker are often played high-low split, and play quite well that way, although Pineapple does not.Irish
Irish is a very similar game to Crazy Pineapple in that a card is discarded after the betting has been concluded on the Flop. The difference with Irish is that it"s always played high only and is sometimes played as Four Card Irish instead of the Three Card variation. In Four Card Irish the players discard TWO cards after betting on the Flop. Again, like Pineapple the game essentially becomes Hold"em on the Turn and River. Players may use none, one or both of their cards to make their best five card combination on the river.In the Three Card Irish illustration shown here, the player has King of Diamonds, King of Clubs and the Ace of Hearts. After all betting on a Flop of Queen of Hearts-10 of Hearts-4 of Hearts, the player breaks up his over-pair of Kings, discarding one of them in order to draw to the Nut Flush and an Inside Straight draw (any Jack).
Aviation
Aviation is a game that mixes the Pre-Flop discard process used in Pineapple with the Post Flop discard employed in Irish. Players are dealt four cards and then the first betting round takes place. Once the betting is complete, the players discard one of their four cards, the Flop can then be dealt. A second betting round takes place on the Flop. Once this betting is complete, the players discard one of their three remaining cards. From there on it the game has exactly the same structure as Hold"em with further rounds of betting on the turn and river.Cincinnati
In Cincinnati Poker is a community card game. Every player at the table is dealt five cards, face down (his Hole cards), and a community card is dealt face up in the middle of the table. After a first betting round, the second community card is dealt face up in the middle and a second betting round ensues. After this, a third community card is dealt, completing what would normally be considered the three card Flop and a third betting round takes place. This continues with a Turn card and a River being dealt and further betting rounds after both.At the showdown, each remaining player must use the best five-card poker hand he can make from his own five Hole cards and the Board (the five community cards) in any combination. Obviously an action packed game, but slightly less lively versions do exist where variants include restricting each player to using just two of his Hole cards (like Omaha) or no more than two of his Hole cards (like Pineapple).
Lame Brain Pete
Lame Brain Pete is a community card game. Three Hole cards are dealt to each player, followed by the first betting round. After that, a single community card is dealt, followed by another betting round. Play continues with one community card being added to the board followed by a betting round until there are four community cards on the Board as opposed to the usual five.After the fourth Board card has been dealt, the lowest-ranking card on the board, and all cards of the same rank, whether they be on the Board or in players' Hole cards, play as Wild cards. What makes this game stand out from many other Wild Card games is that it is not possible to know exactly which cards will be wild until the end (Unless of course, a deuce appears on the board in one of the earlier rounds). Each player makes his best five-card poker hand from his three hole cards plus the four community cards in any combination of the seven cards available to him (example; he can use one, two or all three of his Hole cards).
Iron Cross
Another community card poker game. In Iron Cross, each player is dealt five hole cards, and five community cards are dealt out in the centre of the table, one at a time, each followed by a betting round, just the same as in Cincinatti.The big difference, and what makes this very different to other "Board" games like Hold"em and Omaha, is that the community cards are dealt in a cross pattern with a centre card dealt last, and four other cards to its left, right, top, and bottom (See illustration).
Each player makes his best possible five-card hand from his five hole cards plus the three cards from either the vertical or horizontal arms of the cross. A common variant is to make the centre card Wild, or even the centre card and all of the same rank Wild. A "Wild" card is like a "Joker" and can represent any card in the deck. In other words, if the sixes were wild and a player holds K-K-A-4-5 and the horizontal arm of the cross was 9-K-6-4-Q, he has four Kings all together, his best hand being K-K-K-K(6) and an Ace.
Manila Poker (or Seven-Up Poker)
Manila (also known as Seven-Up), another community card game, is one of the most popular poker games in Australia and is a variation on Texas hold'em. It"s a strip deck game in which all cards below the rank of seven are removed from the deck (leaving 32 cards). The players are dealt two down cards (Hole cards), and one community card is dealt face up in the middle of the table. There then follows a first betting round, after which a second community card is dealt in the middle, followed by a third betting round.Like Hold"em, a Turn and River are dealt with a betting round on both. On the River, once all bets have been called, there is a showdown between the remaining players. Unlike Hold"em, each player MUST use both cards in his hand in conjunction with the five cards on the board to make his best poker hand.
Because there is a stripped deck, a Flush beats a Full House. Obviously, an Ace no longer has low straightening possibilities. Manilla is pretty much always played as a "High" game.
Variations of Manilla include players being dealt only three Hole cards with discards either before or on the flop. Other times, all three are held to the River but the players are still required to combine two of their hole cards with community cards on the Board, to make the best possible hand. The three-card variation is sometimes played with the sixes restored to the deck making a total of thirty six cards in play.
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