Poker Variations

List of Poker Game Variants

The poker game has three main types under which there are several poker variants. These three poker types are stud, draw, and community card games. Essentially, most poker variants use the same poker hand rankings despite the play pattern. Here's a list of different types of poker games you can play:

Texas Hold 'em Poker Variations

Texas Hold 'em is one of the most popular poker game variations. It offers various table selections and stakes to choose from. Texas hold'em poker has several variations based on the betting limits function.

In this variant, the players are dealt two hole cards each and wait for five community cards to be dealt. The game is played in four betting rounds, and the players must make the best hand using five cards from their hole cards and community cards.

Omaha Poker Variations

Pot Limit Omaha poker game has three poker variants - Omaha Hi, Omaha Hi/Lo, and 5-Card Omaha. The poker rules followed in the Omaha poker variations are the same as texas hold'em poker, with the main difference being that the players are dealt four hole cards instead of two. The players must make the best hand by combining two hole cards and three community cards.

Omaha Hi

After texas hold 'em, Omaha hi, also called pot-limit Omaha, is the most popular variant in the community card games category. Omaha Hi refers to the highest bet receiving the entire pot after the end of a segment.

Omaha Hi/Low

Omaha hi/low is similar to the Omaha Hi poker variant, with the difference in the pot division. While the highest bet is rewarded with the entire pot in Omaha hi, the pot is divided at the end of each hand into two parts, in Omaha hi/lo, for the highest and lowest five-card variations.

5-Card Omaha

In the 5-card Omaha poker variant, each player is dealt five hole cards. The players must make the best hand by combining two hole cards and three community cards. 5-card Omaha is played in a pot-limit format.

Draw Poker Variations

Each player is dealt a hand at the beginning of every round in the draw variant, with the cards faced down. The players can change their hands and choose to either discard the card or keep it. The different forms of Draw Poker include 2-7 triple draw poker and 5-card draw poker.

2-7 Triple Draw Poker

Players can choose their 5-card hand in this game, but the cards should be faced-down or unexposed as per poker rules. The players are given three chances to make the best low hand. Poker hands such as straights and flushes are important in this game.

5-Card Draw Poker

In this game, the players choose their cards hidden from the opponents. The objective is to aim for the highest-ranked 5-card hand. The player with a more significant hand defeats other players.

Stud Poker Variations

Stud poker is also a popular poker variant played in poker tournaments. Stud poker is quite different from other poker variants as the game doesn't include any hole cards or community cards. In this game, the shuffling of cards is done in a predetermined order of face-down and face-up cards. Therefore, some cards may be hidden from players while others are faced up for other players to see. Betting rounds are held at the end of each round. Stud poker has two further variants - seven-card stud and five-card stud.

Open Face Chinese Poker

Chinese Poker is different from traditional Poker and is a relatively new game. In the OFC poker games, players draw cards from a deck and attempt to make the best hand. Players don't place bets during the rounds and play on a points basis instead. At the end of the game, points are tallied to determine the winner. Open Face Chinese poker is relatively easier to understand and play. Some of the variations of OFC poker include:

Pineapple Poker

Double-check

Backhand

Turbo

Front Hand

Middle Hand
 

Horse Poker

The horse word in horse poker stands for Hold 'em, Omaha hi/lo, Razz, stud, and Eight-or-better. Horse poker is mainly played in live games with high stakes. The game can be a little complex as the players must keep in mind the rules for five different poker variations while playing the game.

Badugi

Badugi poker is quite similar to the draw and lowball poker variations. This type of Poker uses a high-ranking system to determine the best hand. Badugi is not extremely popular but is played as a home game and in select online poker rooms. It is also played in tournaments in a mixed poker games event with other forms of Poker.

Short Deck Poker

Short deck poker is a texas hold'em type variant popular for high-stake cash games and tournaments. However, the poker hand rankings in short deck poker differ from the rankings in texas hold'em. For instance, the flushes can beat full house poker in this variant. Also, the 2s and 5s are removed from the deck in the game. Short deck poker is played with 36 cards, hence the name short-deck.

Razz

In the razz poker variant, players attempt to make the best low hand. The game's ranking system does not count flushes and straights against the lowest hand. Moreover, the Aces are ranked lower, making A-2-3-4-5 the best possible hand.

Online Poker Games On MPL

MPL offers some of the most exciting poker variants you can play anytime, anywhere. Playing poker games on MPL is hassle-free and super fun.

No Limit Texas Hold’em Poker

NL Hold 'em Poker is easily the most popular type of Poker available on MPL. It is commonly known as Texas Hold 'em Poker. In this poker variation, every player on the table is dealt two cards privately (known as 'Hole Cards'). The dealer spreads five cards on the table for common use, which all players can use to make their best possible five-card hand.

The player may or may not use the two private cards dealt to him at the start to form their five-card combination. The dealer spreads the cards over three turns – three at once (known as Flop), then another (known as Turn), and then another (known as River).

Blinds

In Hold 'em, a marking known as the "button" or "dealer button" shows which player is the current game's dealer. Before the game starts, the player clockwise from the button places the "small blind," or the initial forced bet. The "big blind,"usually double the amount of the small blind, is posted by the player clockwise from the small blind.

Betting Options for Players & Community Cards

The potential actions in Hold 'em, like in other types of Poker, are 'fold,' 'check,' 'bet,' 'call,' and 'raise.' Which choices are accessible is determined by the previous players' actions. If no one has yet placed a bet, a player may check (refuse to wager but keep their cards) or bet. If a player has bet, the remaining players have the option to fold, call, or raise. To call is to bet the same amount as the preceding player. To raise is not only to match but also to enhance the initial bet.

Pre-Flop

After viewing their hole cards, each player can play their hand by calling or raising the big blind. The action starts to the left of the big blind and the player can choose to call, fold, or raise the pot.

The betting round continues until all active players who haven't folded put equal bets on the table.

PL Omaha Poker Game

While Hold 'em Poker remains the popular choice for online Poker, the popularity of Omaha Poker has also seen a massive rise in recent years. PL Omaha Poker translates to Pot Limit Omaha Poker. PL Omaha Poker is essentially a game of Hold 'em Poker with two fundamental differences:

Unlike Hold 'em Poker, in PL Omaha, each player on the table is dealt four hole cards, while the five cards for common use remain the same. The player once again needs to make the best possible combination from the available nine cards at his disposal. However, in this poker variation, the player must use two hole cards and three community cards to make his best hand.

The second difference is in the name: Pot-Limit. As the name suggests, a player's bet is limited to the maximum amount in the pot during their Turn.

PL Omaha 5

Pot Limit Omaha 5 is a poker variation that is available on MPL. Taking traditional Omaha poker one step ahead, in PL Omaha 5, each player is dealt five hole cards at the beginning. This means the player has a total of 10 cards to make his best possible combination. Similar to Omaha poker, the player must have two cards from his hand and three community cards in his best hand.

Other types of poker games include Seven Card Stud, Omaha Hi, Razz, etc. These formats are currently unavailable on MPL.

Check out the rules of the poker game and get ready to play!

Poker Tournaments

A poker tournament is a competition where several users play a series of poker games. The tournament winner is usually the player who wins every poker chip in the game. Others are awarded placings based on their time of elimination. In texas hold'em poker tournaments, the blinds (small & big blind) rise as players go deep in the tournament. The later stages also introduce antes (a small amount contributed by every player to seed the pot at the beginning).

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced poker player, MPL has everything you need to learn how to play Poker and tips to play Poker efficiently.

Betting Structure in Poker

There are three types of betting limits that are used in different poker variants. These limits include pot limit, fixed limit, and no-limit.

Pot Limit

In pot limit poker games, the players are allowed to bet equal to or less than the limit of the pot. The players cannot bet higher than the pot limit. The Omaha poker variant is played with a. pot-limit betting structure.

Fixed Limit

As the name suggests, in fixed limit pokergames, the betting limit is pre-determined before the game starts. Based on the fixed limit, the players can only bet a fixed amount of chips.

No Limit

In the no-limit poker games, there's no limit to betting. Therefore, the players can bet as per their preference. The Texas Hold'em variant is played with a no-limit betting structure.

Table Size / Number of Players

In poker games, the table size implies the number of players that are playing on a table. The terms used to identify how many players are on a table include Full Ring, Shorthanded, and Heads-Up.

Full Ring

A full ring poker table is a poker game with nine or ten players on the poker table which is usually found in live casinos.

Shorthanded

On a shorthanded poker table, you will find six orless players playing poker. Sometimes, the shorthanded term also applies to tables with only 2 players.

Heads-Up

The term heads-up in poker means it is a poker game between two players. It could be played during a larger cash game when the game is breaking up and only two players are left on the table, or while two players are starting a game and playing heads-up while waiting for other players.

Poker Terms & Definitions

Ever wonder about the meaning of that poker term that keeps coming up? We have created a list of essential poker terms and definitions for you. Learn these terms before you start to play different poker games on MPL.

Small Blind: Made by the player sitting to the dealer's left to kickstart the plot. It is usually half of the big blind.

Big Blind: The player sitting to the left of the player who made the small blind makes the big blind. Big blind is equivalent to the minimum bet. Once the big blind has been made, the rest of the players, in a clockwise direction, proceed towards the first betting round.

Pre-Flop: It is the first betting round, where players take action without any of the community cards revealed.

Flop: Three community cards are revealed. The players then proceed to make bets.

Turn: The fourth community card is revealed, followed by players making bets.

River: The final community card is revealed. The remaining players on the table make their bets.

Showdown: Players reveal their respective hands. The best hand wins the pot.

Check: Passing the action without betting anything in the pot. A check can only be done if no player has made a bet before your Turn.

Bet: If no opponent has made a bet until the player's Turn, the player can choose to bet. After the bet, the remaining players will have to either 'call' on the bet or 'raise' it to continue playing.

Call: Matching the bet made by the opponent.

Raise: Raising the bet during that betting round. To raise, the player must first 'call' on the bet before putting some additional chips in the pot.

Fold: Forfeiting the game during the player's Turn. The player will not be eligible to participate in subsequent rounds.

Poker Hand Rankings

Poker points generally correspond to the strength of the hand of the player. Here is the traditional poker points system in descending order -

Royal Flush:

The highest hand that has a straight flush with all face cards and No.10, all of the same suit

E.g. A♠️ K♠️ Q♠️ J♠️ 10♠️

Straight Flush:

Five cards in a sequence from the same suit.

E.g. 10♥️ 9♥️ 8♥️ 7♥️ 6♥️

Four of a Kind:

Four same rank cards with one side card (kicker).

E.g. K♠️ K♥️ K♣️ K♦️ 6♠️

Full House:

The first group is made of three cards of the same rank. The second group is made of two cards of the same

E.g. A♠️ A♦️A♣️ 8♦️ 8♣️

Flush:

Five cards of the same suit.

E.g. J♦️ 9♦️ 8♦️ 5♦️ 3♦️

Straight:

Five cards in a sequence but of different suits.

E.g. 8♦️ 7♣️ 6♦️ 5♥️ 4♣️

Three of a kind:

Three cards with matching ranks with two unrelated cards.

E.g. K♠️ K♣️ K♥️ 8♦️ 3♣️

Two Pair:

Two groups of two cards each having the same rank. One unrelated side card.

E.g. Q♠️ Q♦️ 10♣️10♥️ 2♥️

One Pair:

Two cards of a matching rank with three unrelated cards.

E.g. K♣️ K♣️ 10♣️ 6♠️ 2♥️

High Card:

If none of the above mentioned combinations are formed, the highest card in hand determines the ranking. The highest card factor is used if there is a tie between two players having similar combinations.

E.g. A♥️ 10♣️ 8♦️ 6♠️ 2♥️