Some Favorite Poker Games

September 24, 2003

Explanation of Draw Poker, 7-Card Stud, Texas Hold'em, Cincinnati, and Spit In The Ocean.

Variants of Favorite Poker Games

Draw Poker:

The basic game from which all others come. Everybody who wants to sit in the game antes up, which is to put in the small amount of money decided upon to form a pot. Then a dealer shuffles, deals each player a card, beginning with the person to his immediate left, until each player has 5 cards. No one gets to see a player's hand but him. Then the person to the dealer's left begins the betting round. He may Check (bet zero, passing the action to next person), Bet (usually a decided-upon amount equal to the game's minimum bet), or Fold (give up his hand and leave the game).

The next player, going clockwise around the table, now may Call that bet by placing an equal amount of money/chips in the pot, Raise the bet by placing the original bet amount plus a bet of his own, or Fold and sit out the rest of the hand. All players following must either Call or Raise previous bets (if any have been made) or else Fold. After the betting has returned to the dealer, and he has made his bet, then each player in turn may discard up to 3 of his cards and receive that many new cards from the dealer, to improve his hand.

Again, no one gets to see the cards players have discarded. Then another betting round follows. If the last person – the dealer – has Raised, then another round of bets follows, and everyone must Call or Fold. Then the hands are shown of those remaining in the game, and highest hand wins the pot. If everyone folds, then the last person, the winner, does not have to reveal his hand.

Stud Poker:

Usually played with 7 cards, this is one of the poker games people like watching, because they actually can see part of everybody's hand. Everybody antes up according to the limits and rules of the table (this are explained in the Online Poker section), then the dealer goes around the table clockwise starting from his immediate left, deals 2 face-down cards – his “Pocket Cards”-- and 1 face-up to each player.

Usually the person with the lowest card showing starts the betting. This round is called Third Street. The first player opens by betting 2X the ante, or else he can Fold, in which case the player to his left opens by betting that same amount. The next bettor may Call with an equal bet, or Raise by betting the table's low limit amount. Then each player in that round must either Call or Raise, and each of these bets have to be equal to the table low limit. In other words, if the current bet is $5, (and this was the low limit) then the next player must Call it by matching that $5, or Raise by placing $10 in the pot, since a Raise is really two bets.

Another card is now dealt to each player face-up. This is called Fourth Street. The person with the highest hand showing begins the betting. Again the bets are at the table low limit, and so are the raises.

A fifth card is dealt each player face-up. This is called Fifth Street. This time the betting round is set at the high limit of the table, as are raises. Then another card is dealt, and another betting round follows, again at the high limit.

The last card dealt is called the River. It is dealt face-down. And all bets and raises are high limit. Anyone left in the game after this round of bets is finished is part of the Showdown.

The opener shows his entire hand. Others may show a better hand and win, but if you choose to fold, you do not have to show your hand. Winner gets the full pot.

Texas Hold'em:

A variation of poker using Community Cards, which are several cards dealt to the center of the table, and every player may use these to form his hand. Hold'em is a combination of Stud and Draw rules, and is an exciting game to watch, let alone play, since everyone can see most of the other players' hands. The betting tends to be aggressive as a result. See Poker Strategy Section for articles on complete game rules.

Cincinnati:

A Community Card poker game, Cincinnati uses more cards than other games of poker. Each player makes the best hand he can from the 5 Pocket Cards he's been dealt, plus the 5 Community Cards on the table in any combination. He may even decide to use none of his Pocket Cards – or none of the Community Cards.

Game starts as each player in turn is dealt to until he has 5 Pocket Cards, and the dealer puts down 1 community card in the center of the table. Everyone can see the shared card; it is face-up. Betting round follows. A 2nd shared card is dealt to the table; a betting round ensues. This goes on until 5 community cards are dealt face-up, and a round of betting follows that. Then the Show of cards. This is a game likely to have excellent hands.

Spit In The Ocean: An amusing name for a form of poker that is like draw poker but also uses community cards. The dealer gives everybody 4 cards (Pocket) and then on the table face-up is a community card which determines what the wild cards are. That is, if a 6 of Diamonds is the community card, ALL 6s are wild. And now every player has at least one wild card! A betting round starts, followed by a Replacement round, as in Draw Poker. A 2nd round of bets, then the showdown.