Types of Poker: A Breakdown of 12 Types of Poker

Poker is a card game in which players place bets on who has the best hand (the group of cards you’re holding) according to variable rules depending on the type of poker you’re playing. The game uses a standard 52-card deck, but the number of cards you use depends on the type of game. The value of each card in the deck can also vary, depending on the rules established by the dealer at the beginning of the game. Players enjoy poker in poker rooms at casinos, in community card games, and at home games.

These terms are specific to poker, though some are also tied to card games in general:

1. 1. Ante: If you are playing a round of poker and betting on the hands, then there is a minimum amount of money you need to bet so you are eligible to play. That amount is called the ante.
2. 2. All-in: A player is all-in when they push all of their chips (or cash) into the pot.
3. 3. Big blind: A big blind is a variation on a blind where the player sitting two positions to the left of the dealer (or the person with the dealer button) has to put money into the pot prior to the hand being dealt. This amount is based on the stakes of the game and is typically the minimum bet in the game.
4. 4. Blind: In some forms of poker, there are player positions that require forced bets. The person to the left of the dealer (or the person holding the dealer button) has a small blind, and the player two positions to the left of the dealer has the big blind. It is called a blind because the player or players have to contribute to the pot without any cards being dealt.
5. 5. Bluff: A bluff is when a player is holding a hand they do not think will win but continues to play, giving the impression to other players they’re holding a better hand than they have. If you think a player is bluffing, then you can call their bluff and continue betting or raise the bet.
6. 6. Call: In a poker game with betting, there is a minimum amount that each player has to play with each round. To “call” the bet means the player will put the minimum amount needed into the pot for the betting to continue with the next player.
7. 7. Cash games: Instead of playing with poker chips, you play a cash game with cash.
8. 8. Check: In some variations of poker, during a betting round, a poker player can “check” the pot if they do not wish to bet any further. Once another player raises the bet, however, every other player has to call the new raise or fold.
9. 9. Chips: You typically play poker with poker chips. These are usually red, white, black, blue, or green, but can come in a variety of colors. The dealer assigns values to the chips prior to the start of the game and exchanges cash from the players for the appropriately valued chips.
10. 10. Dealer: The dealer is the player (or a person who is not playing the game at all) who deals the cards to the remaining players and shuffles the cards after each hand.
11. 11. Deuces: Any cards with a “2” designation are deuces. Some poker games are “deuces wild,” which means “2” cards can represent any other card in the deck.
12. 12. Fixed limit: In a fixed-limit poker game, the amount of money each player can bet is limited to the stakes. They can only bet up to that amount.
13. 13. Flop: In a game variation with community cards, a flop is the first set of three cards placed faceup after the first round of betting.
14. 14. Fold: If you wish to end your hand in the game and concede, you fold by putting all of your cards facedown onto the table.
15. 15. Hand: A hand is a grouping of five cards in a game of poker. These can be the five cards you were dealt or a combination of five cards created with your cards and the cards of the community.
16. 16. Kicker: The kicker is the highest-ranking card in your deck in a high-card hand, or the highest-ranking card remaining after any hand that leaves cards out of the hand. For example, a kicker in a four-of-a-kind hand would be the fifth card.
17. 17. No limit: In a no-limit game, a poker player can bet as much money as they have during a betting round.
18. 18. Online poker: The game of poker played on your computer or mobile device is an online poker game. The same rules in standard poker apply to online poker.
19. 19. Pocket cards: In a game in which you play with community cards, pocket cards are the cards that you hold that are not part of the community. Sometimes called “hole cards.”
20. 20. Pot: All of the money (if you’re playing with cash) or chips goes into the metaphorical pot, typically in the center of the table. Whenever you ante up, you place your money in the pot. The winner of the game takes home the entire pot’s worth of cash.
21. 21. Pot limit: In a game with a pot limit, a poker player is only allowed to bet in a range starting at the ante and ending at the amount in the pot. Each player can only bet up to the amount in the pot and no further.
22. 22. Raise: When you place a bet that’s higher than the minimum amount to play, it’s called a raise. This causes all of the bets to go up to the new amount you set, which means the other players have to either call or fold.
23. 23. River: When playing a game with community cards, the river is the final card of the five community cards issued by the dealer.
24. 24. Showdown: The showdown is the concluding portion of the game when all players either reveal their hands or fold.
25. 25. Small blind: A small blind is a form of blind in which the player who is sitting one position to the left of the dealer (or the person holding the dealer button, a token of designation) has to bet prior to the hand being dealt. The amount varies based on the stakes of the game but is typically half of the amount of the big blind.
26. 26. Turn: When playing a game with community cards, a turn is the fourth of those cards, placed solo and faceup.

Among the different types of poker, the game can change based on variables that can include wildcards, poker rules, which hand is the lowest hand, and which card is designated as the high card. Some popular poker types include:

1. 1. 2-7 triple draw: The dealer issues each player five cards, facedown, before a betting round starts. Then, the first of three draw rounds begins, giving each player the ability to swap cards from their existing hand with ones from the dealer. There is then a second betting round and a second drawing round. A third betting round begins, then a final and third drawing round. In a 2-7 lowball game, the lowest-ranking poker hand wins.
2. 2. 5-card draw: In a five-card draw game, the dealer issues each player five cards to begin. Every player is given the option, in the order in which the dealer issued their cards, to trade in up to three of their cards for new ones from the dealer. The player at the end of that round with the best five-card hand wins.
3. 3. 7-card stud: A seven-card stud game is similar to a five-card draw game except the poker players are all dealt seven cards at the start. Of those seven, three cards are facedown, and the remaining four are faceup cards. Each player in a seven-card stud game has to create the highest-ranking hand from five of their seven cards. The player with the highest hand wins.
4. 4. Badugi: A game of badugi has the same ranking structure as in traditional poker except instead of aces being high-value cards, they are now low. The dealer issues players four cards instead of five, and then a betting round begins. Then the first draw round starts, in which each player can draw up to four cards at a time. A second betting round begins, then there’s another draw of up to four cards, followed by a third betting round. Then there’s the final draw, a final betting round, and then the showdown. The player with the best poker hand out of their four cards wins.
   
5. 5. Chinese poker: This game begins with the dealer giving each of the two to four players 13 cards. Each player splits their cards into two hands with five cards and one hand with three cards. In Chinese poker, each one of these hands has a name: the three-card hand is called the front, and the two five-card hands are called the middle and the back. The goal is that the front hand should be the lowest-ranking hand, while the back should be the highest-ranking hand. The player sets their cards down on the table as follows: first the front hand, facedown and farthest from the player; second the middle hand, facedown and closer to the player; and third the back hand, facedown and closest to the player. Each player announces whether they are playing their hands. If so, they announce what royalties they are going to play (the group decides these units prior to the game). The players earn points based on the hands they reveal, and the winner collects royalty units.
6. 6. Community card: These games, such as Texas hold ’em, are a variation on standard poker and require the dealer to hand out pocket cards to each player. There are also community cards dealt faceup on the table. Each player then creates a hand using their pocket cards as well as the community cards.
7. 7. Draw: A variation on standard poker, a draw poker game allows the players to swap cards (usually up to three cards) with the dealer after receiving their first set of cards. The players then use those cards, as well as the original set, to create a hand.
8. 8. Omaha hold ’em: Also known as Omaha or Omaha poker, this game is similar to Texas hold ’em in that there are four betting rounds and five community cards. However, the five community cards start faceup from the beginning, and each player receives four pocket cards instead of two. Each player makes their five-card hand from their four pocket cards and the five community cards. A variation on Omaha hold ’em is called Omaha hi/lo, with each player creating a five-card hand that’s high and another five-card hand that’s low.
9. 9. Pineapple poker: Pineapple poker is similar to Texas hold ’em with a few changes. Each player begins with three pocket cards; they look at their cards and discard one of them. Then the first betting round starts. From there, the rules are the same as Texas hold ’em. A crazy pineapple poker version plays similarly, except the players hold onto all three of their pocket cards until the round before the dealer turns over or deals the fourth card, also known as the turn card. A version called lazy pineapple poker starts like pineapple poker, but a player doesn’t have to discard a card until the dealer turns over or deals the river card (the final card of five community cards).
   
10. 10. Razz: A razz poker game is a lowball poker game (a type of game in which the lowest-ranking hand wins) in which the traditional rankings of the cards—ace is usually the highest, two is usually lowest—do not apply, with the ace instead being the lowest card in the deck. The goal of the game is to play a low hand rather than a high hand. Razz follows a stud format, meaning the players have no opportunity to swap their cards.
11. 11. Stud: A stud poker game is a variation on standard poker. In stud poker, the player must put together their best hand out of the cards the dealer has issued to them. There is no card swapping in a stud game, and these games usually consist of five or seven cards per hand.
12. 12. Texas hold ’em: After anteing up (meeting the minimum amount of money required to play), each player receives two pocket cards to begin, then the dealer places five community cards facedown on the table, and a round of betting begins. Next, the dealer turns three of the community cards, called the flop, faceup on the table. Another round of betting ensues. The dealer places the fourth community card, known as the turn, faceup on the table, and another round of betting occurs—but this time the stake is doubled. Finally, the dealer flips over the river, which is the last community card. A final round of betting occurs, and the stake is doubled again. Each player then folds or participates in the showdown, playing their hand using their pocket cards and the community cards. The winner is the one with the highest-ranked hand.

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