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Dealer's Choice
No Limit Hold’em is the fashionable game of today, but it wasn’t always so. Just a few years ago, No Limit Hold’em was dying out, because the skill gap between novice players and professionals was so large as to make the games unsustainable. The introduction of capped buy-ins and greatly renewed interest in the game due to TV and internet poker has brought No Limit Hold’em to the forefront, at least for the time being, but there is no reason to believe that the current craze will last forever.
There are many reasons to learn some of the other poker variants. You can’t call yourself a good poker player if you only know how to play one game, and playing the exact same game over and over again can get pretty boring. The edge in No Limit Hold’em is decreasing, as the internet games become ever more-filled with multi-tabling HUD-bots and it gets more and more difficult for recreational players to deposit.
Learning new games will teach you skills that are essential to being a good all-round poker player – skills that will serve you well if No Limit Hold’em loses popularity, as it has in the past. Those same skills might, in the short-term, also improve your No Limit Hold’em game, and save you a big pot here and there.
You can regularly find information on games like Omaha and Stud here in InsidePoker, so in this article we’re going to look at some of the stranger poker variants that you might find in the dealer’s choice game at your local casino, or in a friend’s home game.
Best for Draw Devotees – Badugi
Five Card Draw is one of the simplest versions of poker, and one of the best for beginners. If you used to play draw in your home game, but now it seems too dull compared to action-packed games like Hold’em and Omaha, then Badugi is for you.
What You’ll Learn
Badugi will teach you the importance of position and the gap concept.
How to Play
Badugi uses a different hand-ranking system to traditional poker. Hands consist of four cards, and the object of the game is to make a Badugi, which consists of four unpaired cards of different suits. The lower the Badugi, the better – straights don’t count and aces play as low, so the best possible Badugi is 4-3-2-A of different suits (known as a wheel).
If you can’t make a badugi, then the best three cards from your hand play. If you don’t have three unpaired cards of different suits, then your best two cards play, and so on.
Hands are ranked starting with the highest card, just like in other low games. For example, 6h-4c-3s-2d (a six badugi) beats 7h-3c-2s-Ad (a seven badugi), which beats 4d-4s-2c-Ah (4-2-A-x, a three-card four), which beats 3h-3c-5h-5c (5-3-x-x, a two-card five).
Badugi is played with two blinds, just like Hold’em. The game is dealt like Five Card Draw, except that there are three draws instead of one, with a round of betting after each, and players are dealt four cards, not five.
Badugi is most commonly played as a limit game, but can also be found in Pot Limit and Half Pot Limit varieties. It is usually played eight-handed.
Basic Strategy
It’s worth noting that it’s quite difficult to make a strong Badugi. If you were to draw one card to a nine low on all three draws, you would only make your hand about 34% of the time. It should be obvious that any pat badugi is a strong hand worth pushing hard, and you should only break a Badugi in extreme circumstances, when you are certain that your opponent has a stronger Badugi.
The right strategy for Badugi is ‘loose early, tight late’. That’s because on the early rounds, the bets are smaller, your implied odds are greater, and there are several draws remaining in which to improve. On the later rounds, you may not be getting the correct pot odds to draw against a better hand because a drawing hand is typically a significant underdog against a made Badugi.
Starting hand requirements are fairly simple. In general, you shouldn’t draw to something worse than a nine or ten badugi on the first draw. You should never pay to draw three cards, so doing so is an option reserved for the blinds when the pot has been limped around.
With a two card draw, the gap concept comes into play, which states that you need a better hand to call an opponent’s raise than you do to open for a raise yourself. For example, it’s OK to raise from the button to steal the blinds with a two-card draw. However, it’s extremely questionable to limp in early position with such a hand, or call a raise with it.
A one card draw is much stronger and you should usually enter the pot with a raise holding such a hand if you are first in. If you make any badugi after drawing, you should almost always stand pat unless the field is large or you have good reason to believe you are beat.
If you like split-pot games but Stud Eight or Better doesn’t have enough action for you, try Chicago. It’s an easy game to pick up and builds some big pots.
What You’ll Learn
Chicago will teach you the importance of being able to scoop the whole pot in a split-pot game, and how to use pot building techniques to trap a third player in the hand.
How to Play
The game is dealt in exactly the same manner as Seven Card Stud. The twist to Chicago is that, at the showdown, the player with the highest spade in the hole automatically wins half the pot. The other half goes to the player with the best traditional poker hand.
Chicago is usually played as a limit game and would make a terrible Pot Limit or No Limit game.
Basic Strategy
On third street, before you even look at your own hand, you should study the upcards of other players, and quickly determine what the best possible spade is. For example, if the As is showing, then the best possible spade is the Ks.
The most common mistake that Chicago players make is to get trapped in the pot with nothing but the second-best spade. Holding the Ks, for example, does not give you a licence to see the river unless you know that the As has been exposed already.
As with all split-pot games, you should start with hands that have the potential to win both halves of the pot. This means that, unless you have a super-strong hand like rolled up trips, you should always have a high spade in the hole in order to enter the pot voluntarily. A hand like (Ah-Ac)-Qd, for example, is not worth calling a raise with in most circumstances. Even if your opponents don’t hold a spade now, one of them could easily catch one on the river to win half the pot.
Reading your opponents for the type of hand they have is an important skill. If a player is betting and raising with an innocuous board, it’s likely that they have a spade in the hole. On the other hand, a player showing A-A-K could easily be betting a hand like trips or two pair without a spade.
If you are dealt the As in the hole, you are in a very interesting situation. You have a complete freeroll – that is, at the very least, you will win half the pot, and sometimes you’ll win more. Your only concern is to build the pot as best you can.
If you have a draw to go with your As, then you can bet and raise with impunity. If your opponents call or raise, that’s good. If they fold, that’s great too, since you win the entire pot immediately.
If you have nothing but the As and can therefore only win 50% of the pot, then you should try pot building in order to increase your eventual winnings. Your goal is to keep as many opponents in the pot as possible and present them with bets and raises in small increments that are easy to call.
An example of a pot building situation is this:
You are in a three way pot with Player A, showing A-A-K, and Player B, showing 10-8-4. You have the As in the hole but no draw. Based on their boards, it’s likely that Player A has trips or two pair, and Player B has a high spade.
If Player A bets and Player B calls, you should raise and hope that Player A just calls. You are hoping to trap Player B in the pot, by getting them to call just one bet at a time. If Player A checks and Player B bets, you should just call and hope that Player A raises. Again, you’re getting Player B to call two bets, but only one bet at a time. If you had raised when Player B had bet, and Player A had reraised, then Player B might correctly fold, costing you money.
Best for Pot Limit Purists – Super Stud
Stud still doesn’t have enough action for you? How about making it pot limit, adding more cards and choosing your own starting hand?
What You’ll Learn
Super Stud will teach you how hand values change when more cards are added to the game (in a similar way that Omaha will). It will also teach you to properly evaluate starting hands in stud games.
How to Play
Super Stud is dealt like Seven Card Stud, except that each player is dealt five cards to begin with. Each player discards two of those cards. Then, starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each player turns up one card which becomes their door card.
From this point onwards, Super Stud can be played with standard rules, or any of the many variations such as Razz (low only), Hi/Lo Split, Chicago (discussed above), or Mexican (see box out). It’s worth asking exactly what the rules are if this game is being played, because they can vary significantly from place to place.
Super Stud was invented by degenerate Britons and as a result is usually played Pot Limit.
Basic Strategy
Before there is even any betting, you have to make a decision about what cards to keep, and which of those cards you should expose.
Usually you will have an easy decision regarding which cards to keep, and you’ll be able to give yourself rolled up trips a surprisingly large amount of the time. The rest of the time or if you have a choice, you should keep pairs first (with a big kicker, or failing that a suited connector), and suited connecting cards next. These are the types of hands that perform best when all-in early in the hand – something that is not rare with a pot-limit betting structure.
Never compromise the strength of your hand simply so you can avoid putting a small card in the door. For example, you would never keep Ac-9s-8s instead of 9s-8s-7s just to avoid the bring-in. Compared to the betting that can occur later in the hand, the bring-in is utterly trivial. However, if you have trash and do intend to fold regardless, then putting your biggest card in the door makes sense.
The only other adjustment to make is to realise that because everybody started with 5 cards, the average starting hand is much stronger than it would be in typical seven card stud. Don’t get attached to weak hands like small pairs and don’t be tempted to take a card off with a busted flush draw, especially if some of your suit is dead.
Best for Hold’em Hounds – Double Flop Hold’em
So, the players in your home game aren’t adventurous enough to try Badugi or Super Stud? Try introducing them to the joys of the other games gradually, with this Hold’em variant.
What You’ll Learn
Double Flop Hold’em will teach you to properly evaluate the board in community card games.
How to Play
Double Flop Hold’em is dealt in exactly the same way as regular Hold’em, except that there are two flops, turns and rivers instead of one. The dealer should burn a card before the flop, turn, and river for each board (six burn cards in total).
Double Flop games can be played in two ways – either the best overall hand using either board wins the entire pot, or the pot is split between the best hand on one board and the best on the other. In my experience the latter is more common, and is a much more interesting game, so it will be discussed here.
Basic Strategy
The goal of any split-pot game is to win both halves of the pot (scoop). Because of this, your starting hand selection differs slightly from regular Hold’em. Unpaired, offsuit cards like A-Ko and K-Qo go down in value, because it is difficult for them to make the best hand on both boards – it’s hard enough to make a pair on one board, let alone two. Small pairs also drop in value because it is so difficult to make a set on both boards at once and they are much less likely to hold up unimproved than in regular Hold’em.
Correspondingly, suited connected cards like 8-7s and Q-Js go up in value, because they have the potential to build monster hands (like a straight on one board, and a flush on the other). Big pairs can also be strong holdings given the correct board.
Resist the temptation to get attached to a hand which is fairly strong on one board, but weak on the other. It is better to have middle pair on both boards than to have top pair on one and nothing on the other. If you have no pair no draw on one board, you should be prepared to relinquish your hand to heavy action unless you have the nuts or close to it on the other board.
The dream situation to be in (besides some lucky nut-nut combination) is when you have the nuts on one board, and a strong draw on the other. For example, let’s say you have Qs-Js. The top board is 10h-9c-2d, and the bottom board is As-Ks-3s. In a situation like this, you’ll often get action from a hand like 9-9 or two smaller spades – the kind of one-way hands that we just talked about. Against such holdings you have excellent equity and you should be willing to commit your entire stack on what is basically a freeroll.
Other Interesting Games
Mexican
This game is dealt like Seven Card Stud, except that all cards are dealt face down. Each player can choose which of his hidden cards is exposed on each street.
Baduci (aka Knightsbridge)
A hugely popular game at this years’ WSOP, this triple draw variant splits the pot between the best 2-7 lowball hand and the best Badugi.
Three Card Irish (aka Crazy Pineapple)
Dealt like Hold’em, except that each player receives three hole cards, and must discard one of them after the flop betting. Can be played with as many cards as you like.
Courcheval
Played like Omaha, except that the first flop card is dealt at the same time as the players’ hole cards. Popular at the Vic and in France.
Blind Man’s Bluff
Dealt like Hold’em, except that you can’t look at your own cards. Instead, each player places their cards on their forehead for everyone else to see! Makes for a hilarious home game.
Bagpuss
Dealt like Five Card Draw, except that black deuces, one-eyed jacks and the king of diamonds are wild. Quads, straight flushes and five of a kind are the norm.
Spit in the Ocean
A draw game with a twist. Each player gets four cards, and a fifth is placed face-up in the centre of the table, and is used as a community card by everyone.
Iron Cross (aka Maltese Cross)
A community card game. Each player receives five hole cards, and five cards are placed in the centre of the table, forming a cross. There is a round of betting, and then the four outer cards of the cross are revealed. After another betting round, the centre card is exposed. Each player uses either the horizontal or vertical ‘arm’ of the cross in combination with their hole cards to make the best 5-card poker hand.
Shifting Sands
Dealt like Five-Card Stud, except that each player chooses which cards to expose (as with Mexican) and their hole card (and any other card in their hand of the same rank) is wild for them only. Any pair to start with is the nuts.
River Runs Red
A Hold’em variant. If the river is a red card, then another card is dealt. If that is a red card, another card is dealt, and so on until a black card appears or there are no more cards left. Players make their best five-card hand from all of the cards available. A great game in which to be drawing to a spade flush.
Stupid God Damn Crappy Sevens
A silly draw poker variant in which all cards other than seven are wild. If you have a seven, fold. If you don’t, go all-in. Never play this if the game is raked.
Pot Limit Omaha
Only joking, nobody is actually stupid enough to play this game.
