Principal forms
- Key People:
- A. Alvarez
Poker has three main branches. In draw poker each player’s full hand remains concealed until the showdown, in stud poker some but not all of a player’s cards are dealt faceup, and in community-card poker some cards are exposed and used by all the players to form their best hands. In addition, nearly any form of poker may be played high-low (also spelled hi-lo) or low (also known as lowball). In high-low the highest-ranking poker hand and the lowest-ranking poker hand divide the pot equally. If there is an odd number of chips, the high hand gets it. If two or more hands tie for high or low, they divide their half of the pot equally. In most games the lowest possible hand is 7-5-4-3-2 in two or more suits, but in some games the ace may optionally be treated as the lowest card and thereby make 6-4-3-2-A the lowest hand and a pair of aces the lowest pair.
Draw poker
In straight poker each player is dealt five cards facedown, and the deal is followed by one betting interval, beginning with the player nearest the dealer’s left, and then by a showdown. After the 1850s, straight poker was eclipsed by draw poker, which allows each active player, in turn beginning at dealer’s left, to discard one or more of his original cards and receive replacements for them from the undealt portion of the pack. (A player who declines to draw cards is said to “stand pat.”) After this process, called the draw, there is a second betting interval, followed by the showdown. Sometimes a minimum hand, such as a pair of jacks, is required in order to make the first bet before the draw.
Draw poker declined in popularity during the second half of the 20th century in favour of stud poker and, especially, various community-card poker games.
Stud poker
Five-card stud
Each player receives one card facedown—his hole card—and one card faceup. The deal is then interrupted for a betting interval. There follow three rounds of dealing, each deal distributing one card faceup to each active player, with a betting interval after each round. There is a showdown in which the hole cards are shown after the fourth and last betting interval. In each betting interval the first bettor is the player with the highest-ranking poker combination in his faceup cards; if two or more players have the same combinations, the “first” one (nearest the dealer’s left) bets first. In the first betting interval the first player must bet at least an established minimum; in any later betting interval he may check.
Few games have lost popularity so fast as regular five-card stud. In the 1920s and into the ’30s, it was played in two-thirds of the high-stakes and professional games in the United States, but since the 1950s it has not been played in even one-tenth of them.
Seven-card stud
Each player is dealt two hole cards and a faceup card, and there is a betting interval. Then three more faceup cards and one final facedown card are dealt to each player, each of these four deals being followed by another betting interval. For the showdown each player selects the best five of his seven cards to be his poker hand.
There are six-card and eight-card variants of this game, in each of which a player ultimately selects five of his cards. Seven-card stud is often played high-low or low. In some high-low games, players may vie for both halves of the pot by selecting any five of their cards as a candidate for high hand and any five as a candidate for low hand. In some high-low games, declarations are required: before the showdown each player must announce whether he is trying for high, for low, or for both, and he cannot win unless his entire announcement is fulfilled.
Unlike five-card stud, seven-card stud remains one of the most popular poker variants in homes, poker clubs, and poker tournaments. In particular, the game favours players adept at adjusting their calculations on the basis of the numerous exposed cards.
Oswald Jacoby Albert H. MoreheadCommunity-card poker
Texas hold’em
The most popular game of the modern era is Texas hold’em, which world champion poker player Doyle (“Texas Dolly”) Brunson once called the “Cadillac of poker games.” This is a studlike game in which players share five cards (community cards) dealt faceup on the table in order to form their best hands. The game is usually played with a fixed limit or pot limit in home and casino play. However, Texas hold’em tournaments almost always use table stakes (hence the often-heard expression “all in”) in order to determine the winner more quickly by a process of elimination.
Rather than a traditional ante from each player before the deal, in Texas hold’em only two players are forced to bet blind before seeing their cards. The position to the dealer’s left is called the small blind because the player in that seat must make a small bet (typically one-half the minimum bet), and the position to the left of the small blind is called the big blind because that player must raise by placing twice as many chips in the pot. Every player is then dealt two cards facedown, and the player to the left of the big blind is the first to act (fold, call the big blind, or raise); if no player raises the big blind, the big blind may check or raise his own bet to continue the betting. Next the dealer “burns” one card from the top of the deck (deals it facedown to the table) and then deals the first three community cards (the “flop”) faceup to the table. The small blind (or the player to his left still in the hand) acts first in this and every succeeding round by folding, checking, or making a bet. After all bets have been called or every active player has checked, another card is burned, and a fourth common card (called “fourth street” or “the turn”) is dealt faceup. There is another round of betting. Then another card is burned, and the fifth common card (called “fifth street” or “the river”) is dealt faceup, followed by the last round of betting. Each remaining player then makes his best hand from the shared community cards and his two hole cards to determine the winner.
Omaha
The play and betting in Omaha are similar to Texas hold’em. However, instead of two hole cards, Omaha players are dealt four hole cards to start the betting. Then there is a flop of three community cards before the last round of betting. Furthermore, players must use only two of their hole cards and all three community cards to make their hands. Omaha is often played lowball. Because flushes and straights are not counted in Omaha lowball games, the best hand is A-2-3-4-5, suits not being considered. There is also a game called Omaha high-low split pot. With two pots there are two winners, one having the best high hand and the other the best low hand. Omaha games are quite popular and are played in the World Series of Poker (WSOP), described below.
William N. ThompsonDealer’s choice
In informal poker games, each successive dealer is usually permitted to dictate the variant of poker that will be played. This privilege is most often expressed by the dealer selecting one of the forms of poker described above. The dealer may also designate certain cards to be wild or certain nonstandard hands to be counted, such as “big tiger” (king high, 8 low, no pair), “little tiger” (8 high, 3 low, no pair), “big dog” (ace high, 9 low, no pair), and “little dog” (7 high, 2 low, no pair), which rank in the given order and beat any straight but lose to any flush; “blaze” (five face cards), which beats two pairs and loses to three of a kind; and “four flush” (four cards in one suit), which beats one pair and loses to two pairs. Sometimes it is agreed that the dealer can select or invent any variant he wishes, subject to only two restrictions: the dealer cannot require any player to ante more than any other player, and if the game requires a minimum to open and is passed out, the same dealer deals again.
Oswald Jacoby Albert H. MoreheadHouse-banked games
Poker-type games have also been developed to allow a player to make wagers against a casino. Winnings may be given if the player has a better hand than a casino dealer, or they may be given to players who have specific hands.
Caribbean stud poker
In Caribbean stud poker each player pits a five-card stud hand against the dealer’s hand. First the players make an ante bet. Then the dealer gives the players and himself five cards each. Four of the dealer’s cards are dealt facedown and one faceup. The players look at their cards and then either fold or bet an amount double their ante. After the players have finished betting, the dealer looks at his cards to determine if he has a “qualifying hand.” A qualifying hand is ace-king high or better. If the dealer’s hand does not qualify, the dealer folds and pays each remaining player the amount of the ante; the second bets are ignored.
However, if the dealer’s hand does qualify, each player either loses (if the dealer has the better hand) or wins an amount equal to the ante plus an amount on the second bet according to the following schedule: ace-king high or one pair, 1 to 1; two pair, 2 to 1; three of a kind, 3 to 1; straight, 4 to 1; flush, 5 to 1; full house, 7 to 1; four of a kind, 20 to 1; straight flush, 50 to 1; and royal flush, 100 to 1.
There is another side bet that the player may make at the beginning. The player may bet $1 on the value of his hand and can win a special payoff for staying in the betting, even if the dealer’s hand does not qualify. The casino will have a progressive jackpot for this bet. A flush will get $50, a full house $100, a straight flush 10 percent of the progressive jackpot, and a royal flush the full jackpot. The jackpot keeps growing until there is a winner.
Let it ride
Let it ride is a five-card stud poker game. There is no dealer’s hand in this house-banked game. Each player lays three equal bets on the table before receiving three cards facedown. Then each player may let his first bet stay on the table, or he may withdraw it. A community card is then dealt faceup, and each player decides whether to withdraw his second bet or “let it ride.” His third bet must stay. Then a final community card is revealed. Each player now has a five-card poker hand, which is paid off according to a schedule. If a player does not have at least a pair of 10s, he loses any bets that he did not withdraw. A pair of 10s gets the bettor’s wagers returned to him. Two pairs give him a return of 2 to 1 on bets that he let ride; three of a kind, 3 to 1; a straight, 5 to 1; a flush, 8 to 1; a full house, 11 to 1; four of a kind, 50 to 1; a straight flush, 200 to 1; and a royal flush, 1,000 to 1. Like Caribbean stud, there is also an opportunity to make a $1 bonus bet that pays off 20,000 to 1 for a royal flush and less for other good hands.
Pai-gow poker
Pai-gow poker is a house-banked even-payout game. Each player is given seven cards, as is the dealer. Each then makes his best two-card and best five-card hand. If both of a player’s hands are better than the dealer’s two hands, the player wins an amount equal to his bet, less a 5 percent commission on the winnings. If both of the dealer’s hands are better, the dealer wins the wager. Otherwise, the player takes back his bet. A standard 52-card deck is used along with a joker, which may be used as an ace or to complete a straight or a flush. The best possible hand is five aces.
Three-card poker
Three-card poker is a house-banked stud game in which three cards are dealt facedown to each player and the dealer. Each player makes two initial bets, one bet placed on a centre circle and the other placed on an ante square. The centre circle bet can be won if the player’s three cards show certain values—e.g., the player wins 2 to 1 for a pair or 5 to 1 for a three-card straight. The ante bet places the player’s hand against the dealer’s hand. After the deal the player may choose to drop out by forfeiting the ante or stay by raising. If the dealer does not have an opening, or qualifying, hand (queen high or better), the dealer pays the player 2 to 1 for the ante bet, and the raise is canceled. If the dealer can open, then both the ante and the raise are wagered against the dealer, who either wins both or pays the player 2 to 1 for both. A bonus square may also permit the player to wager for a payoff on a “super” hand, such as three of a kind or a three-card straight flush.
Video poker
Video poker games have very little appeal to serious poker players, because the human element is completely removed from the contest—which thus eliminates bluffing and tells (“reading” other players) as well as most betting strategies. However, video poker machines have become the most popular machines in most casinos. Also, several state lotteries use video poker lottery terminals. Typically, a player is dealt a five-card hand on a video screen and is allowed to ask for one or more new cards as in draw poker. The player may be awarded various winnings according to the value of the final hand.
William N. Thompson