Types of Poker: 12 Poker Games and How They Differ

“Poker” is not one game but a whole family of card games that share a hand-ranking ladder and a betting mechanic, then change almost everything else — how many cards you get, whether cards are shared, whether you aim for the highest or lowest hand, and how much you are allowed to bet. Understanding the different types of poker is the fastest way to know why a Texas Hold’em player can feel lost at an Omaha table, and why games like Razz or Badugi reward the opposite of what beginners expect. This guide explains 12 of the most widely played poker variations, groups them by how they work, and ends with a comparison matrix and a short quiz-style section to help you pick the game that suits you best.

What actually makes one poker variant different from another?

Every poker variant is built from the same five “levers,” and once you know them you can learn any new game in minutes. The rules that feel confusing at first are almost always just a different setting on one of these levers.

• The deck. Most games use a standard 52-card deck, but Short Deck removes the 2s through 5s to play with only 36 cards, which changes the odds and even the hand rankings.
• How you receive cards. In community-card games you combine private cards with shared cards on the table. In stud games there are no shared cards — some of your cards are dealt face up for everyone to see. In draw games all your cards are hidden and you swap unwanted ones for new ones.
• How many cards you hold. Two hole cards in Hold’em, four in Omaha, up to seven in Stud, thirteen in Chinese Poker.
• High, low, or split. Most games award the pot to the highest hand. “Lowball” games (Razz, 2-7, Badugi) reward the lowest hand, and “Hi-Lo” games split the pot between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand.
• The betting structure. No-Limit, Pot-Limit and Fixed-Limit rules cap your bets differently and completely change how a game plays — the next section covers this because it matters as much as the cards.

Keep these five levers in mind as you read. Every game below is just a specific combination of them.

How betting structures change every poker game

The betting structure decides how much you can wager on each turn, and it can make the same cards play in completely different ways. The three you will meet most often are No-Limit, Pot-Limit and Fixed-Limit.

• No-Limit (NL). You can bet any amount up to your entire stack at any time. This creates the huge all-in confrontations that made No-Limit Texas Hold’em famous and is why one mistake can cost your whole stack.
• Pot-Limit (PL). The largest bet you can make is the current size of the pot. It is the standard structure for Omaha (“Pot-Limit Omaha” or PLO) because unlimited betting with four hole cards would be far too volatile.
• Fixed-Limit (FL). Bets and raises come in fixed increments — a “small bet” on early rounds and a “big bet” (usually double) on later rounds, with a cap on the number of raises. Stud games and mixed formats like HORSE almost always use Fixed-Limit, which rewards patience over aggression.
• Spread-Limit. A softer version common in small live cardrooms, where you may bet any amount within a set range (for example $2 to $10).

The same game with a different structure is effectively a different puzzle: No-Limit rewards big, decisive pressure, while Fixed-Limit rewards small edges repeated over many hands.

Community-card games: the Texas Hold’em family

Community-card games are the most popular type of poker worldwide because shared cards make the action easy to follow and fast to deal. Each player gets a few private “hole” cards and combines them with cards dealt face up in the middle that everyone can use.

Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em is the most played poker variant on the planet and the game shown in almost every televised tournament. Each player receives two private hole cards, then five community cards are dealt in three stages — the flop (three cards), the turn (one card) and the river (one card) — with a betting round at each stage plus one before the flop. You make your best five-card hand from any combination of your two cards and the five shared cards. Its simple rules and deep strategy are why beginners start here; if you want the full walk-through, see our guide to No-Limit Texas Hold’em. A popular offshoot, Pineapple, deals three hole cards and has you discard one, adding early-street decisions without changing the rest of the game.

Omaha (Pot-Limit Omaha)

Omaha looks like Hold’em but plays very differently because you are dealt four hole cards instead of two — and you must use exactly two of them, no more and no fewer, together with three community cards. That “exactly two” rule is the single biggest trap for Hold’em players: holding four aces does not give you four aces, because only two can ever play. With four hole cards the range of strong hands is much wider, so Omaha is a game of big draws and frequent nut hands, which is why it is almost always played Pot-Limit. Our Omaha poker overview and the companion piece on Omaha odds go deeper into the maths.

Omaha Hi-Lo (Eight or Better)

Omaha Hi-Lo splits the pot between the highest hand and the lowest qualifying hand, which forces you to think in two directions at once. The rules are the same as Omaha, but half the pot goes to the best low hand — and a low only qualifies if it is made of five unpaired cards all ranked eight or lower (aces count as low). If no one makes a qualifying low, the high hand scoops the whole pot. Hands that work both ways, such as A-2 with two more low cards, are prized because they can win both halves.

Short Deck Hold’em (Six-Plus)

Short Deck is Texas Hold’em played with a 36-card deck, created by removing every 2, 3, 4 and 5. Fewer cards change the probabilities so much that the hand rankings are adjusted: because flushes are harder to make with fewer cards of each suit, a flush beats a full house, and a set (three of a kind) beats a straight. The ace still plays as both the highest card and the bottom of the lowest straight (A-6-7-8-9). The result is an action-packed game with more big hands and more all-ins, which is why it exploded in popularity in high-stakes cash games.

Stud games: no community cards, plenty of information

Stud games have no shared cards and no “draw” — instead, some of your cards are dealt face up for the whole table to see. Because you can watch opponents’ exposed cards, memory and observation matter far more than in Hold’em. Stud dominated poker before Texas Hold’em took over and remains a staple of mixed-game formats.

Seven-Card Stud

Seven-Card Stud gives each player seven cards across five betting rounds, and you make your best five-card hand from them. You start with two hidden cards and one face-up “door” card; three more face-up cards and a final hidden card follow, with a betting round after each. Because up to four of every player’s cards are visible, tracking which cards are “dead” (already folded or showing) is a core skill. It uses standard high-hand rankings and is almost always played Fixed-Limit.

Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo (Eight or Better)

Stud Hi-Lo is Seven-Card Stud with a split pot, using the same “eight or better” low qualifier as Omaha Hi-Lo. Half the pot goes to the best five-card high hand and half to the best low hand of five unpaired cards ranked eight or lower; with no qualifying low, the high hand takes everything. Reading opponents’ up-cards is doubly important here because you are trying to judge whether they are chasing the high, the low or both.

Razz (Seven-Card Stud Low)

Razz turns Seven-Card Stud upside down: the lowest hand wins and straights and flushes do not count against you. It uses “ace-to-five” ranking, so the ace is always low and the best possible hand is 5-4-3-2-A, known as “the wheel” or “the bicycle.” Pairs are bad, high cards are bad, and a hand like 8-6-4-3-2 is strong. Razz is famous for being frustrating — a beautiful start can be ruined by catching a single big card — and it is one of the games in the HORSE rotation.

Draw games: hidden cards you can swap

Draw games are the oldest style of poker: all of your cards are hidden, and on each “draw” you discard cards you do not want and receive replacements. With no shared or face-up cards, you get very little information, so draw games reward reading betting patterns and disciplined card selection.

Five-Card Draw

Five-Card Draw is the classic kitchen-table game and the simplest way to learn poker. Each player is dealt five private cards, there is a betting round, then a single draw where you swap any number of cards, followed by a final betting round and showdown. It uses standard high-hand rankings, so you are trying to build toward pairs, straights, flushes and beyond — the same ladder that tops out at the royal flush. Its simplicity makes it a great first game, even though it is now rare in casinos.

2-7 Triple Draw (Deuce-to-Seven)

2-7 Triple Draw is a lowball draw game where the best hand is 7-5-4-3-2 with no straight or flush. There are three draws and four betting rounds, and the ranking is “deuce-to-seven”: aces are always high (so an ace is a bad card), and straights and flushes count against you. That means A-2-3-4-5 is a straight and therefore a weak hand, while an unconnected 7-high is the nuts. It is a favourite among experienced players because the three draws create rich, layered decisions.

Badugi

Badugi is a four-card draw game in which the best hand has four cards of four different suits and the lowest possible ranks. If cards share a suit or a rank, only one of them counts, so you are trying to make a four-card “rainbow” of low cards; the best hand is A-2-3-4 of four different suits. There are three draws, aces are low, and any complete four-card “badugi” beats an incomplete three-card hand. Its unusual logic makes it feel fresh even to seasoned players and it appears in some mixed-game formats.

Chinese Poker and Open-Face Chinese Poker

Chinese Poker abandons betting rounds entirely and is scored hand-by-hand, which makes it feel closer to a puzzle than a traditional poker game. Each player receives 13 cards and arranges them into three separate poker hands: a five-card “back,” a five-card “middle” and a three-card “front.” The back must be stronger than the middle, and the middle stronger than the front — arranging them out of order is called “fouling” and loses the round. Players then compare each row and score points, often with bonuses (“royalties”) for premium hands. Our Chinese poker guide explains the scoring in detail.

The modern favourite is Open-Face Chinese Poker (OFC), generally traced to Finland and Scandinavia around 2010-2011. Instead of setting all 13 cards at once, players receive cards a few at a time and must place them face up as they go, with no option to move a card once it is set. That one change adds huge tension, because you commit to a structure before you know what is coming next. The three-card Pineapple OFC variant deals three cards per turn and has you discard one, speeding the game up.

Mixed games: HORSE and 8-Game

Mixed games rotate through several variants in a fixed order, testing whether you are a complete poker player rather than a specialist. The best-known is HORSE, an acronym for the five games in its rotation:

• H – Hold’em (Fixed-Limit)
• O – Omaha Hi-Lo (Eight or Better)
• R – Razz
• S – Seven-Card Stud
• E – Stud Eight or Better (Stud Hi-Lo)

Every game in HORSE is played Fixed-Limit, and the table switches games after a set number of hands or when the dealer button completes a lap. The larger “8-Game” mix adds No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha and 2-7 Triple Draw to the rotation. Mixed formats are a fixture of high-buy-in events — the World Series of Poker runs both HORSE and the prestigious 8-Game-style Poker Players Championship — because they reward all-around skill and punish one-trick players.

Texas Hold’em vs Omaha: the comparison people ask about most

Texas Hold’em and Omaha share the same board, blinds and betting flow, but the two-versus-four hole-card difference changes almost everything about strategy. If you already play Hold’em, these are the shifts to expect in Omaha:

• Hand values are higher. With four hole cards, players make strong hands far more often, so a top pair that wins in Hold’em is frequently a losing hand in Omaha.
• You must use exactly two hole cards. In Hold’em you can “play the board” or use one card; in Omaha it is always two from your hand plus three from the board.
• Draws are bigger and betting is capped. Omaha is played Pot-Limit rather than No-Limit precisely because monster draws are so common that unlimited betting would be chaotic.
• The nuts change constantly. Because so many hands are possible, knowing whether you truly hold the best hand — and understanding what happens if two hands tie in poker — matters more.

In short, Hold’em rewards reading opponents and precise aggression, while Omaha rewards drawing to the nuts and respecting how easily you can be beaten.

Which poker games are the most popular right now?

No-Limit Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular poker game today, and it is what most people mean when they simply say “poker.” It dominates televised tournaments, online traffic and the WSOP Main Event. Pot-Limit Omaha is a clear second and is the fastest-growing high-stakes game, prized for its action. Short Deck has a strong following in high-roller circles, while Seven-Card Stud — once the most popular game in America — is now mostly seen in mixed games and among older players. For a lighter tour of the crowd-favourites, our roundup of the most popular poker variations is a good starting point.

Which type of poker suits you best?

The right poker game depends on what you enjoy and how much complexity you want, not on which game is “best.” Use these quick guidelines to narrow it down:

• Complete beginner: start with Five-Card Draw to learn hand rankings, then move to No-Limit Texas Hold’em, which has the most learning resources.
• You want maximum action and big pots: try Pot-Limit Omaha or Short Deck, where strong hands and draws appear constantly.
• You like patience, observation and reading opponents: Seven-Card Stud and other Fixed-Limit games reward discipline over aggression.
• You enjoy a fresh mental puzzle: the lowball games (Razz, 2-7 Triple Draw, Badugi) invert everything you know and are great for players who are bored of Hold’em.
• You want to test all-around skill: HORSE and 8-Game mixes are the ultimate challenge.

Whatever you choose, the fundamentals of position, patience and bankroll management carry across every variant — our basic poker strategy guide covers the habits that pay off in all of them.

Common mistakes when trying a new poker variant

Most losses in an unfamiliar variant come from applying Hold’em instincts where they do not belong, not from bad luck. Watch for these traps:

• Forgetting the “exactly two” rule in Omaha. Beginners routinely miscount their hand and think they have a flush or full house when only two of their four hole cards can play.
• Ignoring adjusted rankings in Short Deck. Betting a full house as the nuts when a flush beats it is a costly, common error.
• Chasing high cards in lowball. In Razz and 2-7, aces and low cards are good and “big” hands are bad — the opposite of your instincts.
• Playing too many hands in Fixed-Limit stud. Without the threat of an all-in, discipline and dead-card reading matter more than aggression.
• Fouling in Chinese Poker. Setting your three rows out of order (a weaker back than middle) forfeits the whole round no matter how good your cards are.
• Skipping the betting structure. Sitting down without knowing whether the game is No-Limit, Pot-Limit or Fixed-Limit leads to badly sized bets on the very first hand.

The fix for all of these is the same: read the specific rules and rankings of the variant before you play a single hand, and start at low stakes while the differences sink in.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

How many types of poker are there?

There is no fixed number, because new home-game variants appear all the time, but a dozen or so games make up almost all serious play: Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, Razz, Five-Card Draw, 2-7 Triple Draw, Badugi, Short Deck, Chinese Poker and mixed formats like HORSE. They are usually grouped into community-card, stud, draw, Chinese and mixed games.

What is the easiest type of poker for beginners?

Five-Card Draw is the easiest to learn because everyone gets five hidden cards, there is only one draw and it uses standard hand rankings. Most beginners then move to No-Limit Texas Hold’em, which is only slightly more complex and has by far the most tutorials, videos and low-stakes games available.

What is the difference between Texas Hold’em and Omaha?

The core difference is that Hold’em deals two hole cards and Omaha deals four, and in Omaha you must use exactly two of your four cards plus three community cards. Because four hole cards produce much stronger hands, Omaha is usually played Pot-Limit and demands that you draw to and hold the very best hands more often than in Hold’em.

Why do flushes beat full houses in Short Deck poker?

Short Deck removes the 2s through 5s, leaving a 36-card deck in which each suit has fewer cards, so completing a flush is mathematically harder than making a full house. To keep hand values in line with their true rarity, Short Deck ranks a flush above a full house, and it also ranks three of a kind above a straight.

What are lowball poker games?

Lowball games reward the lowest hand instead of the highest. Razz uses ace-to-five ranking so the best hand is 5-4-3-2-A; 2-7 Triple Draw uses deuce-to-seven ranking where the best hand is 7-5-4-3-2 and straights and flushes hurt you; and Badugi rewards the lowest four cards of four different suits. They are popular with experienced players who want a fresh challenge.