Poker is as challenging as it is entertaining, and if you can master a few important skills, there’s money to be made. However, if you jump into a game without an understanding of basic poker strategy, you’re putting your bankroll at risk.

We don’t want you to do that, which is why we’ve written down our 10 best poker tips. Starting with the fundamentals and working up to some intermediate concepts, we’ve given you the perfect base on which to build a winning poker strategy.

Whether you’re aiming for $10 million WSOP payouts or you just want to clean up at your next home game, here are 10 of the best poker strategies to master.

(Source: Chris Liverani/Unsplash)

Basic Poker Strategies: Getting Started

Everyone needs to start at the bottom if they want to know how to win at poker. That’s why we’re kicking off this guide with five important poker tips for beginners. The following concepts will give you a solid foundation on which to build a solid long-term strategy.

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Tip #1: Choose Your Starting Hands Wisely

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You can’t learn how to be good at poker without knowing which cards to play and which ones to fold. It might sound basic, but every successful poker strategy starts with the cards you’re dealt and one decision: play or fold.

The first thing to say is that there are no right or wrong hands to play; there are only options. However, because we’re focusing on poker strategies for beginners, it makes sense to create a solid foundation.

So, for this discussion, we’re going to list hands that you should consider playing from three positions: early, middle, and late. As with everything in this poker strategy guide, we’ll be using Hold’em as our base, but the following concepts can be applied to any variant.

Each poker strategy chart we’ve created should be taken as a guide. For example, you might have 10-10 in late position. Normally, you’d play this hand. However, if there’s been a lot of action before it’s your turn to act, it might be best to fold.

Therefore, just because the chart says play, it doesn’t mean you should. Always consider the context. Additionally, each poker strategy chart shows a range of hands. If it says, “connected cards from 5-6 to 9-10,” that means all the connected cards between those two points.

#1: Early Position

Full-Ring Game (9 players)

Six-Max Game (6 players)

#2: Middle Position

Full-Ring Game (9 players)

Six-Max Game (6 players)

#3: Late Position

Full-Ring Game (9 players)

Six-Max Game (6 players)

Tip #2 – Players and Position Matter

All poker strategy is based on two fundamental concepts: players and position. The starting hand charts we’ve outlined above contain an increasing number of hands the later your position is. Why? Because acting late gives you more information.

You can get a better sense of what people have if they’ve already made a move. The first player to act doesn’t have any information, which is why it’s best to play tight and only open with a few hands.

In addition to position, make sure you know the players you’re up against. Opening with 4-4 in late position in a six-max game filled with passive players is fine.

Their passive tendencies mean they’ll play fewer hands, which, in turn, gives you more scope to take the lead with a wider range. If, however, the table is full of aggressive players, you might be better off folding 4-4, even though you’re in late position.

Tip #3 – Play Fewer Hands and Play Them Aggressively

Aggression is a skill you need to master in poker. In fact, aggression was one of the most important Texas Hold’em tips Doyle Brunson gave to the world in his book Super System. The key point to remember here is that you need to combine aggression with timing. This means sticking to a fairly narrow range of hands.

But, when you do decide to play a hand, try to be the aggressor as much as possible. One of the best ways to win at poker is to put opponents on the back foot so they make mistakes. You do that by playing tight (i.e., a few hands) and aggressively (i.e., betting and raising).

Tip #4 – Learn Pot Odds

You can’t learn how to win in poker if you don’t understand pot odds. Why? Every bet, raise, and call you make needs to be considered in relation to the money you can win, i.e., the chips in the pot. Poker strategy books define pot odds in the following way:

The ratio between the amount of money you need to call vs. the amount of money in the pot.

The 16% figure tells us that you need to win more than 16% of the time to make a profit in this situation. At this point, look at your hand and estimate how likely it is to win against the range of hands your opponent could have. If it’s likely to win more often than the pot odds, call. If not, fold.

Tip #5: Don’t Go on Tilt

One of the simplest but hardest-to-implement poker tips we can give you is to not tilt. Going on tilt means you’ve lost control of your emotions. This causes you to make rash decisions and potentially blow your bankroll. You don’t want this to happen, so the trick is to remain calm as much as possible.

Remember that poker is meant to be fun. If you get a bad beat, shake it off and carry on. Every move you make in poker should be focused on its long-term potential. Go all-in with pocket aces against 7-2, and you’ll win way more often than you lose. Remember this fact, and short-term fluctuations won’t affect you as much.

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Intermediate Poker Strategy Tips

Our basic poker strategy tips are enough to get you started. You could stop reading now, and the poker help we’ve given you so far would serve you well in micro-stakes games. However, if you’re anything like us, you’re probably aiming a bit higher than $0.01/$0.02 games.

If that’s the case, we’re going to build on our poker tips for beginners with five intermediate concepts. They’re not super advanced poker tips, so don’t worry. We’ve got other poker strategy articles covering pro-level tips. The following poker hints will be enough to take you from micro-stakes to low and mid-stakes games.

Tip #6. Everything Matters

A lot of basic poker strategies focus on fundamental concepts such as position and bet sizing. All of these poker tips are useful, but newbies tend to view them in isolation. In other words, they look at one Texas Hold’em strategy concept as distinct from another. The reality is that everything is interconnected.

You can’t think about position without taking into account player types. You can’t think about bet sizing without pot odds and implied odds. That’s why everything matters.

Of course, we’re not saying you need to know all of the best poker strategies right now. We’re simply saying that you need to merge individual tips to develop an overall strategy. This is how the pros think and how you need to think if you want to move beyond basic poker strategy.

Tip #7. Learn the Math

“Math is idiotic” used to be a meme, and a lot of old-school pros will give you poker tips that don’t have a mathematical foundation.

Playing with “feel” is fine, but the reality is that poker is a game of numbers, and you need to know them if you want to win. Some of the mathematical concepts you need to know are:

•         Pot odds (see previous section)
•         Implied odds
•         Probabilities
•         Expected Value
•         Equity
•         Fold Equity

The best poker strategy books to learn about these topics are:

•       The Theory of Poker
•       The Mathematics of Poker
•       Essential Poker Math

Tip #8. Tell Convincing Stories

You’ll hear professional players talk about “lines” when they’re discussing hands and how to get better at poker. A line refers to the way a hand plays out and includes everything from the amount someone bet and their position to the time it took for them to make a decision.

Lines are, essentially, stories. The art of being a good poker player is learning to tell a convincing story. This poker strategy concept is most important when you’re bluffing. Skilled opponents can spot inconsistencies in your story from 100 paces.

Therefore, if you’re going to run a bluff, make sure you’ve told a coherent story. This means playing as though you’ve got a strong hand from the start. Don’t suddenly decide halfway through a hand that you’re going to bluff because the story won’t be believable. Identify a potentially profitable situation to bluff, then tell a convincing story.

Tip #9. Learn How to Be Good at Poker from All Angles

We’ve focused on Texas Hold’em tips in this guide, but the majority of things we’ve said can be applied to any variant. Indeed, poker strategy concepts such as pot odds, hand selection, position, and coherent lines apply to Omaha, Stud, Draw, and Mixed Games.

Therefore, you can take our poker beginner tips, combine them with our intermediate ideas, and test them in different variants. This will give you a better overall understanding of poker and how all of the best poker strategies are malleable.

There’s never a one-move-fits-all solution for every situation. You’ll learn this when you play games other than Hold’em.

Tip #10. Go GTO

Game Theory Optimal is a way of playing poker that bases each move on the mathematics of the situation. It’s, essentially, a statistically and logically unexploitable way to play. You’ll need to understand the fundamentals of GTO before you use this poker strategy. We suggest reading Modern Poker Theory as a starting point and for an overall grounding.

Once you’ve done that, start playing around with a GTO calculator to find the optimal moves for common scenarios in poker. You can keep it running alongside your poker app or desktop software as you play cash games.

Read More on Playing Poker to Win

Enhance your poker strategy with more of our premium guides:

•       Discover the best online poker sites
•       Read up on the top poker terminology
•       Unearth top offshore poker sites

Final Thoughts

We’ve given you the best poker strategies for beginners. We’ve sprinkled in some more advanced poker tips. We’ve even told you where to practice your newfound skills.

Something we haven’t addressed is cost. We can give you advice on how to win at poker, but it doesn’t mean you will. Nothing is guaranteed in this game, which is why it’s a good idea to play free poker games.

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Learning poker slang isn’t just about sounding clever, it’s one of the most effective ways to become a winning player. You don’t know how many times we’ve seen people misunderstand basic poker phrases and lose money.  Therefore, if you’ve got any ambitions of winning, you need to know the most important poker terms.

Poker Terminology Explained

Learning the most important terms in poker won’t turn you into a winning player, but they will help you sound like a pro. Beyond sounding like a pro, the right poker terms will unlock the door to important strategy concepts. Put simply, if you don’t know common poker terms and phrases, you won’t be able to discuss hands or formulate a winning strategy.

Therefore, if you want to get better at different types of poker, you need to know poker lingo. The following list contains all the poker words you need to know if you want to play and, importantly, study the game. There are poker terms for winning. There’s some Texas Hold’em terminology, and there are online poker terms.

Our tip is to bookmark this page and have our list of poker terms handy every time you play. That way you’ll know what someone means when they call you a fish or say “GH”. Now you know the reasons poker terminology is useful, let’s get into it. Below are the most important poker terms for beginners:

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List of Poker Terms: A-Z

All poker terms are relative. Some poker words might mean something in one setting and something else in another. We’ve tried to avoid poker phrases with malleable or ambiguous meanings. The list below contains all universally understood poker betting terms you can use in a live cardroom or online.

A

ABC Poker – Someone who sticks to the fundamentals and uses a straightforward strategy is said to play ABC poker.

Ace – The highest card in the deck. An ace can also be a strong player.

All-in – Putting all your chips into the pot is known as going “all-in.” This is one of the most important Texas Hold’em poker terms if you’re playing No Limit games.

Angle Shooting – A move designed to gain an unfair advantage is known as an angle i.e. you’re angle shooting. This is one of the poker terms and phrases you don’t want aimed at you.

Ante – A forced bet made before any cards are dealt is an ante. The blinds are a type of ante.

Aggro – At top offshore poker sites, the most popular poker terms are often shortened. Aggro stands for an aggressive player.

C

Call – You’re calling someone when you match their bet e.g. if they bet $10 and you match it, that’s a call.

Chips – You don’t make bets with banknotes or coins, even if you’re playing a cash game. Chips are used in all forms of poker. You receive chips in exchange for cash or once you’ve paid a tournament’s entry fee (aka buy-in).

Check – Passing on the action without putting a chip into the pot is known as checking. You can only check if there hasn’t been any action (i.e. bets before it’s your turn to act).

Collusion – Working in secret with other people to gain an unfair advantage is called collusion. This is another one of the terms in poker you don’t want to hear.

Continuation Bet – Betting on the flop after raising/re-raising pre-flop is known as a continuation bet i.e. you’re continuing your pre-flop aggression. This is one of the poker terms for winning you need to know if you want to master basic strategy.

Cut-Off – This is one position before the dealer button.

D

Dead Money – Chips you can’t win from the pot is dead money.

Donk – This is one of the words on our poker terms list that has two meanings. A donk is a bad player. A donk bet is when you bet into the pre-flop raiser i.e. you steal the momentum so they can’t make a continuation bet.

Drawing Dead – You’re drawing dead when you’ve got a 0% chance of winning a hand.

Dry Board – A selection of unconnected community cards are said to be dry. This poker term can be used to describe a board after the flop, turn, or river. These poker words are useful when you’re learning how to bluff because dry boards typically offer little value for other players.

F

Fish – If you want to know how to win at poker, you should be targeting weak players, known as fish. The opposite of fish are sharks (aka strong players).

Float – Calling a bet on the flop or turn with the intention of bluffing at a later point is called floating. You’ll need to know poker phrases like floating when you’re learning Omaha and Hold’em strategy.

Fold Equity – This term refers to the amount of equity you gain when someone folds when you’re bluffing i.e. the amount of a disadvantage you’ve overcome by winning the pot with the worst hand. This is one of the important poker terms to understand if you want to master bluffing.

Flop – The first three community cards are known as the flop. This is one of the most common Texas Hold’em poker terms you’ll hear.

Flush – Five cards of the same suit in a hand.

G

Game Theory Optimal (GTO) – Utilizing good poker strategy is about understanding GTO. It’s a mathematical way to look at poker games that makes you theoretically unexploitable.

Good Game (GG) – This is what you say to someone when you exit/win a tournament. It’s a sign of sportsmanship. Other online poker terms with a similar meaning are GH (Good Hand) and WP (Well Played).

Grinder – Someone who plays low or mid-stakes cash games consistently to earn a living is said to be grinding. Therefore, they’re a grinder.

Guarantee – The amount of money a tournament host agrees to pay out is known as the guarantee. A guarantee the least a prizepool can be. Even if the number of buy-ins doesn’t cover the guarantee, the tournament’s host is obliged to pay the advertised guarantee.

Gutshot – Needing one card to complete a straight is known as a gut shot draw.

I

Implied Odds – The money you could potentially win if you make a hand is used to determine your implied odds.

In the Money – Players who make it into the final stages of a tournament are “in the money.” This means they’ve lasted long enough to get a return on their investment. The “bubble” precedes the money payouts. Tournament payouts are usually distributed among the top 10% to 20% of the field.

Independent Chip Model (ICM) – Tournament players use ICM as a way to determine their payout equity. The calculation takes into account a player’s stack, the stack sizes of their opponents, and the remaining prizes.

The results tell players what their stacks are worth, theoretically, in dollar amounts. Players use this information to make decisions in the later stages of tournaments and when they’re discussing deals.

J

Jamming – Moving all-in is also referred to as jamming in poker terminology.

Joker – A joker is one of the poker card terms that only appears in video poker. In regular online games, jokers are usually removed from the deck.

K

Kicker – A card used to separate two identical hands is the kicker. For example, if one player has A-K, another has A-9, and the board is A-2-7-5-J, they’ve both made a pair of aces. However, poker hands are made up of the best five cards. Therefore, A-K wins the pot because their kicker (the King) is higher than a 9.

Knock – Players wanting to check in a live game will knock the table. This is one of those poker terms you don’t need to worry about if you only play online.

M

Maniac – A player who seems to have no regard for poker strategy or common poker terms and phrases is a maniac.

Min Buy-In – Cash games have minimum and maximum buy-ins. For example, if you play a $1/$2 cash game on Bovada, the maximum buy-in is 100x the big blind i.e. $200. The minimum buy-in is 40x the big blind i.e. $80.

Misdeal – Poker dealers aren’t perfect and sometimes they make mistakes. If they make a mistake, it’s known as a misdeal. This poker term isn’t used online because cards are dealt by random number generators (RNGs).

Multi-Table Tournament – Any tournament that starts at a set time and has more than one table is an MTT.

Muck – Folded hands get put into the muck where they can’t be retrieved.

N

Nut Flush Draw – Trying to hit a fifth suited card is known as playing a flush draw. Playing to hit the best possible flush is a nut flush draw.

Nit – Tight players who have a narrow range (i.e. they only play the very best hands) are called nits.

No Limit – A betting structure that doesn’t restrict the amount you can wager in a hand is called No Limit.

Nuts – The best possible hand is known as the nuts. Other popular poker terms based on this word are nut flush and nut straight.

O

Offsuit – There are four suits in a deck of cards: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. Five cards of the same suit make a flush, so any card that doesn’t complete a flush is “offsuit.”

On the Button – The player who acts last post-flop is on the button.

Outs – Any card you can hit to make a ranked poker hand is known as your outs.

Overbet – Betting more than the value of the pot is an overbet. Skilled players often use overbets as a way to confuse opponents.

Overlay – An overlay happens when the money collected from buy-ins doesn’t amount to the value of the guarantee. A tournament organizer has to make up this shortfall.

Overpair – Some poker words are self-explanatory and this is one of them. Any pair that’s higher than what’s on the board/what an opponent holds is called an overpair.

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Q

Quads – Four-of-a-kind i.e. a hand with four cards of the same value.

R

Raise – Betting more than the previous biggest bet is known as raising. For example, if someone bets $10 and you make it $30, that’s a raise. You can also re-raise, which means raising a raise.

Rake – Poker operators take a small percentage of cash game pots and tournament buy-ins to cover their costs. This deduction is called rake. Other poker terms linked to rake are “rakeback” (a bonus that gives you back some of the rake you’ve paid) and “rake reduction” (promotions that reduce the rake for a certain amount of time).

Read – Noticing a recurring trait within an opponent is referred to as getting a read on someone. It means you can read what they’re going to do based on the way they bet and/or act.

Ring Game – A different poker term for a cash game (see Cash Game).

River – The fifth and final community card is called the river.

Rock – A tight player is called a rock in poker betting times. Rocks only play strong hands.

Royal Flush – The best possible hand in poker is a Royal Flush. It’s made up of 10, J, Q, K, A suited.

Running Bad – An extended downswing (losing streak) is known as running bad in poker.

S

Satellite – Qualifiers that give you entry into a bigger tournament are called satellites. You can play satellites on all of our recommended online poker sites, including Ignition.

Semi-Bluff – Betting when you’ve probably got the worst hand but have outs is a semi-bluff. A pure bluff is when you’re betting with no outs.

Set – Three-of-a-kind containing a pair in your hand and one of the community cards.

Showdown – The point at which two or more players are left and the betting is over signals the end of a hand. At this point, everyone has to show their cards.

Slow Play – Deliberately taking a long time to show a hand you know will win the pot is called slow playing.

Straight – Five cards in sequential order are known as a straight e.g. 5-6-7-8-9.

U

Under the Gun – The first player to act is said to be “under the gun” (UTG).

V

Value Bet – A bet designed to make an opponent call when you’re confident you’ve got the best hand.

Variance – Even if you make all the right moves, results won’t always go your way. That’s because there are very few situations where the odds are 100% in one direction or the other. Of all the concepts we’ve explained in our list of poker terms, this is one that players struggle to cope with. Why? Because no one likes losing, especially if you’ve done everything right.

VPIP – Voluntary Pot in the Pot is one of the most important online poker terms to learn. It refers to the number of hands someone plays, which tells you whether they’re loose or tight.

W

Wet Board – A board with a lot of connected cards – i.e. lots of suited cards, picture cards, or straight cards – is said to be wet. It’s wet because you might drown.

WPT – The World Poker Tour (WPT) is a leading tournament organization that hosts some of the game’s best events.

(Credit: Nica Stylianos/WPT)

WSOP – The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the game’s biggest tournament festival. It takes place between May and July every year in Las Vegas. It attracts the best players in the world and winners of each WSOP event get a bracelet.

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There are different types of poker for every preference. Texas Hold’em is the king of poker variants, but it’s not the only game in town. In fact, for some players, there are better types of poker if you enjoy big bets, bluffing, and battling with opponents in different scenarios.

Whether you enjoy the mathematical challenge of Limit games or the all-out aggression of No Limit, you’ll find something to suit you at our recommended poker sites. Here are the types of poker you can play online for free and in cardrooms across the US.

5 Popular Poker Game Types

Before we discuss poker variations, we should outline the overarching structures within which games are played. The fundamental rules of common poker games remain the same, regardless of the format.

However, when you play online poker the format does dictate how bets are made, when play starts and stops, and the amount of money on the line. Below are the formats used for different kinds of poker.

Tournaments

Poker tournaments are scheduled events. They have set start times, and play continues until one player holds all the chips in play. The main difference between tournaments and cash games is that the chips don’t have any value. Instead, you pay an entrance fee to play. This gets you a stack of chips that only have value in the tournament you are playing.

Your tournament goal is to build your stack by taking chips from other players. Blinds increase at set intervals to ensure tournaments finish promptly and the players who survive long enough win some money.

Surviving long enough to win a prize is known as “making the money.” Usually, between 10% and 20% of the starting field make it into the money. The biggest payouts are reserved for the winner and those who make the top 5. All types of poker can be played using a tournament format.

(Source: WPT/Nica Stylianos)

Cash Games

Cash games don’t have start or end times. A cash game only stops if all poker players leave the table. Unlike tournaments, chips in a cash game have a value. For example, if someone sits down with $100 worth of poker chips, their stack is worth $100.

Like other types of poker games, the aim is to win chips from your opponent. However, your cash game strategy differs from a tournament because the blinds don’t increase.

For example, when tournaments have been running for a long time, the blinds represent a significant percentage of a player’s stack. This forces them to play looser (i.e., more hands) because the blinds will decimate their stack if they wait too long.

This doesn’t happen in cash games because the blinds are static. Stacks are a lot deeper, allowing players to play hands across multiple streets (flop, turn, and river) rather than make big pre-flop moves.

All poker variations can be played using the cash game format, but some are more popular than others. The best poker games for cash players are No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, and Limit 7-Card Stud.

Sit & Gos

Sit & Gos (SNGs) are mini-tournaments. They don’t have set start times. Instead, a game begins once the table is full. After this, play continues until someone has all the chips. The top performers win a share of the prizepool, with the winner getting the most money.

Freerolls

Freerolls are tournaments that carry no entry fee. The beauty of freerolls is that you can win cash prizes donated by the poker room. There is zero risk, but you might have to play your way through thousands of players to get to the money places.

The average skill level in freerolls is low, so they’re a good way to make money for nothing. Our top-rated poker sites give new customers entry to freerolls. You can also get entry to exclusive freerolls by earning reward points.

Satellites

Satellites are also known as “qualifiers”. Winning a satellite earns you entry into a more expensive tournament. This may be a larger satellite, an online championship final, or even a major live event.

Typically, satellites guarantee a certain number of seats or travel packages. Satellites play down to a few remaining players to determine who bags themselves a seat.

2003 World Champion Chris Moneymaker won his way into the $10,000 WSOP Main Event via a $39 satellite. He went on to win the tournament for $1.5 million.

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5 Best Poker Variants

The formats we’ve just described are frameworks for various types of poker. While it’s fair to say that some poker variants are better suited to cash games and other tournaments, these are more preferential restrictions than logistical ones.

Therefore, once you’ve tried the different types of poker listed below and found a few variants you like, you’ll be able to play them in any format.

Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em is the most popular variant. It’s used for the biggest poker tournaments, including the WSOP Main Event and the WPT World Championship.

A round starts with one player posting the big blind and another the small blind (which is 50% of the big blind’s value). For example, a $1/$2 game means the big blind is $2, and the small blind is $1.

The player immediately to the right of the small blind is known as the “button” because they have the dealer button. Having the button is advantageous in all popular poker games because you get to act last pre-flop. You can learn more about this in our poker strategy guide.

Once the blinds have been posted, each player receives two hole cards. For context, hole cards are cards only the holder can see. Once every player has their hole cards, the action starts with the player immediately to the left of the big blind. This position is known as “Under the Gun”.

A betting round follows, and if at least two players remain active, a flop of three community cards is dealt. All players may use any or all of the community cards.

Another betting round takes place on the flop, and if at least two players remain active, a fourth community card is dealt. That card is called the turn. Finally, if two players get through another betting round, a fifth card called the “river” is dealt.

One last betting round occurs, and if two or more players have called the last biggest bet, a showdown takes place. In the event of a showdown, the best five-card poker hand wins.

Omaha Hi

Omaha Hi, commonly referred to as Omaha, is almost identical to Texas Hold’em. It’s a community card game where betting takes place pre-flop and, subsequently, on the flop, turn, and river.

The fundamental difference between Omaha and Hold’em is that players receive four hole cards. Importantly, a player must use two of their hole cards.

Omaha Hi-Lo/Omaha 8

Omaha Hi-Lo is a split-pot game. Like other variants of poker with split-pot rules, there can be two winners: the person with the best high-value hand and the person with the best low-value hand.

It’s also possible for players to scoop both parts of the pot. A high-value hand follows the same rankings as common poker games such as Hold’em, i.e. a high card is the worst hand, and a royal flush is the best.

A low-value hand is defined by the same rankings as you’ll find in other lowball poker variants. That means a hand’s value is defined by its highest card. The best possible lowball hand is A-2-3-4-5 (aces are low).

Straights and flushes don’t count when you’re ranking low hands, but pairs do. Apart from the split-pot rule, Omaha Hi-Lo games play out in the same way as Omaha Hi games.

7-Card Stud/5-Card Stud

No poker games list would be complete without Stud. Typically played with seven cards but also available in five-card variants, this game doesn’t involve community cards. Instead, everyone receives their own card from which they have to make a ranked five-card hand.

To help you determine what other hands people might have, the rules of Stud dictate that some cards are dealt face up and some face down. So, in 7-Card Stud, three cards are dealt face down, and four are dealt face up.

In 5-Card Stud, meanwhile, you receive one face-down card to begin with, followed by three up-cards, and a final down-card.

Razz

Razz is a lowball variant of Stud. Based on what we’ve described already, Razz is a combination of Omaha Hi-Lo and 7-Card Stud. That means you receive seven cards, and the aim is to make the best low hand (i.e., a hand that is defined by its highest-value card).

5-Card Draw

Draw poker is one where you’re the only person who gets to see your hole cards unless there’s a showdown. A round starts with players putting in an ante. After that, everyone gets five cards dealt face down.

You then assess the value of your cards and decide whether you want to play or fold. If you play, you’ll have the opportunity to hold or exchange as many cards as you like.

Finally, if two or more players are active after the draw, a showdown takes place, and the ranked poker hand wins. Most casino poker variations, including Ultimate Texas Hold’em and Caribbean Stud, use the 5-card draw format.

H.O.R.S.E

H.O.R.S.E is a mixed game made up of five different types of poker: Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, 7-Card Stud, and 7-Card Stud Eight or Better. It’s known as a mixed game because the variant changes after each orbit of the button. Many pros consider H.O.R.S.E the ultimate test of skill because you have to be proficient in the most popular poker games.

2-7 Triple Draw

2-7 Triple Draw is a 5-card game that’s similar to the lowball poker variants we’ve already described. That means the lowest-value hand wins, and, as before, the value of a hand is determined by its highest card.

However, while the overarching premise of 2-7 Triple Draw is the same as Razz and the low portion of Omaha Hi-Lo, there are some differences. Specifically, straights and flushes count against your hand. They don’t in Razz, for example. Additionally, aces are high cards. This means the best 2-7 Triple Draw hand is 2-3-4-5-7.

Short Deck Hold’em

Short Deck Hold’em, or 6+ Hold’em, is a version of Texas Hold’em where all cards lower than a 6 are removed from the deck. The action plays out the same as Hold’em, and you’ll only notice a difference when hands go to a showdown.

The hand rankings for Short Deck Hold’em invert the value of full houses and flushes, i.e. flushes are ranked higher than full houses. That’s because flushes are harder to make.

Chinese Poker

Of all the different types of poker you can play, Chinese is something of an outlier. That’s because it’s more of a side game that people play while they’re on a tournament break.

Up to four players can play Chinese Poker because everyone gets 13 cards. The aim is to arrange those 13 cards into three hands. Two hands contain five cards, and the last has three cards.

Hands must be arranged from strongest to weakest. Players get a point for each hand they win and, in general, points have a cash value. The player with the most points at the end of a game makes a profit.

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Poker Betting Limits

We know that poker can be played in a variety of formats, including cash games and tournaments. We also know there are various types of poker, each of which has different ways of dealing cards and ranking hands.

The final system that governs how you play poker is the betting structure. The following structures dictate the ways you’re allowed to bet and raise in all types of poker games.

No Limit

No Limit betting, as the name suggests, has no limits on the amounts you can bet or raise. The only limits to the amount of money you can put into the pot are the minimum bet and your stack.

For example, if the blinds are $1/$2, you can’t bet anything less than the value of the big bling, i.e. $2 in this case. Similarly, if the pot is $50 and your stack is $100, you can bet anything up to $100. The most common poker games you’ll find online are No Limit Hold’em.

Limit

Limit is a betting structure that restricts the amount you can bet/raise based on the blinds. In general, you can bet or raise an amount equal to the value of the small blind during the initial betting round.

After that, you can bet or raise amounts equal to the big blind. For example, if the blinds are $1/$2 and you’re playing Limit Hold’em, bets/raises on the flop would be $2. There is often a four-bet cap in Limit games. That means no more raises are allowed after a bet followed by three raises.

Pot Limit

Pot Limit betting sits in between Limit and No Limit. The amount you can bet or raise is limited to the value of the pot. For example, if there’s $10 in the pot, you can bet anything between the minimum (i.e. the value of the big blind) and $10. Of all the different kinds of poker you can play using this betting system, Omaha is the most popular.

Online Poker vs Live Poker

You can play all types of poker online and in live cardrooms around the US. However, if you want to focus on one or the other, here are some things to consider:

More Information on Playing Poker

• Top offshore poker sites
• How to play poker
• Learn poker strategy
• How to win at poker
• Important poker terms

Play Free Online Poker

We’ve given you a basic overview of the best poker games, how they work, and the rules that govern how bets are made. The only way to know which types of poker you prefer is to try them all.

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