GGPOKER

The First Poker Variant They Learned Was Just One: No-Limit Texas Hold’em

The game Chris Moneymaker used to win millions. However, No-Limit Texas Hold’em isn’t the only form of poker. To truly understand poker, you need to learn several key variants.

Maybe you want to spice up your home game, pick up new poker skills, or humor that friend obsessed with Fixed-Limit Razz.

Whatever your reason for expanding your poker horizons, the WPT Global team has compiled a must-know list of poker variants to push you beyond your comfort zone and up to the next level.

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Five-Card Draw

Older players will remember Five-Card Draw as poker’s original default—not Texas Hold’em. It’s the game you’d see in sitcoms or play with matchsticks on family game night. Each player receives five cards, followed by a betting round, then the option to draw (discard and replace cards from the deck). Up to three drawing rounds are possible, but one or two usually suffice.

No community cards exist here; your final five-card hand is all that matters.

Today, the most common draw games are lowball variants (where the worst hand wins), typically No-Limit Single Draw or Limit Triple Draw. In fact, they’re so popular we’ll cover them in detail later.

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Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em is unavoidable. Since the poker boom, it’s replaced Five-Card Draw as the default poker game in the public imagination. Thus, it’s easily the most useful variant to learn and master.

Two hole cards, four betting rounds, five community cards. Hand rankings mirror Five-Card Draw, with players using any combination of hole and community cards to make their best five-card hand. Action starts with forced bets (blinds) pre-deal, then proceeds clockwise from the dealer.

Spice up your Hold’em game with variants like:

• Chicago: The highest spade in the hole wins half the pot.

• Pineapple: Three hole cards, with one discarded pre-flop.GGPoker

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Omaha

Omaha is a Texas Hold’em variant where players receive four hole cards. The key difference: Players must use exactly two hole cards and three community cards to form their hand (unlike Hold’em’s flexible combinations).

Otherwise, the gameplay is identical.

Omaha is typically played as Limit, Pot-Limit, or (rarely) No-Limit. Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) dominates, while Omaha Hi-Lo is often played as Limit. Due to its high variance, No-Limit Omaha is uncommon.

Omaha Hi-Lo is a fun and popular twist worth mastering: Half the pot goes to the best high hand, half to the best qualifying low hand (if any). Two rules define a valid low:

1. Straights/flushes don’t count against low hands (e.g., A♠2♠3♠4♠5♠ is a high straight flush but counts as a 5-low).

2. Only cards 8 or lower qualify (the "eight or better" rule).

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Seven-Card Stud

After Hold’em variants, Seven-Card Stud might be poker’s next most popular form. Pre-boom, it was a staple in nearly every U.S. poker room—the natural progression when players graduated from matchsticks to real chips.

Each player starts with three cards (two face-down, one face-up). Action begins with the player showing the lowest upcard, who must post a forced bet (bring-in), typically ¼ to ½ of a small bet (or complete to a full bet). Each subsequent street deals another upcard, followed by betting, until remaining players have seven cards (the last dealt face-down), culminating in a final betting round.

Note: No community cards exist here.

Seven-Card Stud can also be played as:

• Lowball (Razz).

• Hi-Lo (with or without the eight or better rule).

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2-7 Triple Draw

This variant circles back to Five-Card Draw’s roots. "2-7" refers to the best possible hand: in 2-7 Lowball, Aces are high, and flushes/straights hurt your hand. Thus, the nuts is an unsuited 2-3-4-5-7.

Here, a royal flush is the worst possible hand.

Play begins with blinds (like Hold’em). Each player gets five cards, followed by a betting round, then alternating draw and betting rounds—three draws total, four bets—before showdown.

2-7 Triple Draw features in the WSOP and mixed-game formats like H.O.R.S.E. or *8-Game*. A No-Limit Single-Draw version is also popular.