The Different Poker Variants
Poker is a broad name for literally hundreds of card games but all of them can be classified into a few interrelated categories.
These categories classify the multitude of variants into groups based on the poker variant's mechanics, inclusion of special rules and their betting structures.
Classification of variants according to mechanics can be further sorted out based on whether they are high games, low games or high-low split games.
The poker variants seven card stud and the widely popular Texas hold 'em are examples of high games since a player wins by having the highest hand in a showdown. On the contrary, low games such as razz and draw lowball give the jackpot to the player who holds the hand with the lowest value. A more peculiar breed of poker are the high-low split games where the best high hand and the best low hand both win and split the pot.
Sometimes, special rules such as the inclusion of jokers and wild cards are introduced into any of the standard games thereby creating new varieties like Anaconda, Follow the Queen and Baseball. The introduction of these new rules aims to add spice that will liven up the rules of mainstream poker games.
Be careful though, if you are an amateur planning to join a session of an 'exotic' variant as such sessions are plagued by hustlers who intend to prey upon amateurs like you who are still not accustomed to the newly-introduced rules. Amateurs who want to try games with rules that are considerably different from those in standard poker games should fully understand first the concepts of standard games in order to adjust more easily to the unusual variants.
Another major distinction among poker games is the way every one of them differ in terms of betting structures.
Most of the games played everywhere are limit games, where there are fixed minimum and maximum bets. Smaller limit games typically have no ante while in higher limit games, especially in Las Vegas, betting systems are rigidly structured.
On the other hand, some poker variants have betting structures that can either be pot-limit or no-limit.
In no-limit games, bets and subsequent raises can be any amount up to what a player currently has in a game.
In contrast, the bets and raises in a pot-limit game are limited by the amount of in the pot. In this manner, a player in a pot-limit game with 4 participants can bet $1 when the pot's amount is $1 and he can raise it afterwards to $5 in the event that his $1 is called by everyone because the pot then would have grown to $5. Anyone who wishes to be an all-around expert in all of these variations must understand all of the underlying aspects that made them a part of poker because these many different variants, such as high games, low games, limit games and no-limit games, all possess numerous characteristics and concepts that bind them all as poker games.