Types of Poker Games

There is a large number of different poker games that use various stipulations. Some of these stipulations change the game process and strategy quite significantly and form so called poker types.

Draw Poker
This is a poker game where players are dealt a number of face-down cards and change some of these cards during the game replacing them with new ones from the deck. The most popular draw poker game is five card draw: players are dealt 5 face-down cards, play a betting round, change some of their cards, play another betting round and compare their hands. The player with the highest poker hand wins the pot.

Stud Poker
This is a game where some cards are dealt face-up and other face-down. The cards are not dealt all at once, but a betting round separates dealing each new stage of dealing. The most popular Stud poker game is Seven Card Stud: Players are dealt two face-down and one face-up card, a betting round, a face-up card is dealt, a betting round, another face-up card, another betting round, a face-down card, showdown.

Community Poker
This is a poker game where a number of specific cards are used by all players to form their final hands. These cards are called community cards and either are dealt face-down in the beginning of the game and then flipped face-up or are dealt face-up after all players receive their hole cards. In both cases, community cards normally are revealed one by one or in groups with betting round following each step. The most popular community poker game is Texas Holdem: Five community cards are used. Players receive two hole cards, a betting round, three community cards are dealt face-up, a betting round, a community card is dealt, a betting round, a community card, a betting round, a hole card, a betting round, showdown.

Guts Poker
This is a game where players declare In or Out at some stage before the showdown. The players who declare Out leave the game, and those who declare In continue playing. In the end, the players who declared In, but lost match the pot. The most popular Guts poker game is three card guts: Players are dealt three cards, declaration round, showdown.

These and other poker stipulations can be used alone or mixed together to form poker variations. Apart from the basic stipulations described above, there are numerous features, such as wild cards, a kitty, high-low format, and many others. So, apart from thousands of poker games that already have names, anyone can create his own game combining different stipulations or even inventing new ones.