by Philip Wyre

Created on: November 09, 2009

If you have ever played online poker, chance are that you have enjoyed a few games of Texas Hold em. With the excitement that Texas Holdem provides, it has become the predominant variant of poker online. However it is not the only variation of poker, here are a few more game types you may want to try your hand at.

* Omaha High Poker

Like Teas Hold em, Omaha is played with a flop, turn and river, meaning it is easy to make the move to the new rules. The difference between the two games is that you are dealt 4 hole cards instead of the 2 you receive in Texas Holdem. Any hand that you make up at the showdown must be made up from 2 cards in your hand, and 3 cards from the table. Omaha provides much stronger hands as there are 6 potential combinations of 2 cards from your hand, because of this the game is sometimes referred to as a 'game of nuts'. The most popular Omaha game that can be found online is a pot limit game, were bets can be made up to the current size of the pot. Fix and No-Limit games an be found, but are much less popular.

* Omaha Hi-Lo Split

Omaha Hi-Lo Split is similar to Omaha High poker, but the spot is split into 2 at the showdown. Half of the pot is awarded to the player with the strongest hand and half of the pot is given to the player with the weakest hand. All a player needs to do to qualify for the low pot is for them to have 5 different cards that are 8 or lower. If no player has a hand that qualifies, the entire pot will be awarded to the player with the strongest hand.

Omaha Hi-Lo is normally played as a fixed or pot limit game, however no-limit games can be found. Large pots are usually found in Omaha Hi-Lo games as there are usually a few players holding strong hands. A good strategy for Hi-Lo games is is to play hands that have a chance at winning both the hi and lo pots, a strategy known as 'scooping'.

* 7 -Card Stud

Stud Poker is an old form of Poker which has been around since early records of the game In this popular variation of the game, each player is dealt their own hand of 7 cards. The first 2 cards are dealt face down, the next four are dealt face up and visible to the entire table, and the last card is then dealt face down. 7-Card stud has 5 rounds of betting as opposed to the 4 in Texas Hold em, and because of this the pots have a chance to grow larger. Stud poker can sometimes be found in a pot limit format, but is usually played as a fixed limit game.

It is important to remember the cards that are visible, even with hands that are folded. It is also important to start with a strong hand, because as the game plays on, your hand becomes much more visible which means there is more chance for your opponents to fold as the game goes on.

* Razz

Razz is played in the same format as 7 Card Stud, however the idea is to obtain the lowest hand in order to win the pot. Straights and flushes are ignored in Razz Poker, and so the lowest hand it is possible to obtain is Ace-2-3-4-5. Razz is usually found in a pot limit format.

As the deal format is the same as 7 card stud poker, the same ideas of remembering which cards have been dealt, even with folded hands, is important.

* Draw Poker

In draw poker, each player is dealt a number of cards, usually 5, all of which are dealt face down. After being dealt their hand, each player is given one opportunity to exchange any number of their unwanted cards. Because you have little information about which cards are available to each player, as there is in other variations, observation of your opponent's body language and betting patterns is much more important.

It is possible to find a wide variations of this game, along with fixed, pot and no limit games, some tables offer wild cards.

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