Today we’re going to look at a few of the best poker games for beginners.
Texas Hold’em
Found both in card rooms or on websites, this game has a wide variety of stakes and tables for even the most experienced players to choose from. No-Limit Texas Hold’em is one of the most popular poker games that can be found: it’s been heavily televised and is one of the easiest games to learn rules-wise and hand ranking-wise. This is widely known as the Cadillac of Poker– the most popular variant of poker played. There are a wide variety of informational sources (videos, books, articles) that one can pick up to learn strategic tips for the game. Find out more about Texas Hold’em games here.
Omaha Hi
This game is 2nd ranked in popularity behind the effervescent Texas Hold’em. The “hi” in the game refers to the highest high being the winner of the pot. This game is usually played as a pot-limit game (Pot-Limit Omaha, or PLO). This game is almost exactly the same as Texas Hold’em, except for the fact that the players are all dealt four hole cards instead of two. Players are still making the best of their five-card hand like in the previous game, but they’re required to use two of the four hole cards and only three of the five community cards. As the players are dealt more cards to use, it’s easier to make better hands.
Omaha Hi-Lo
This game, also known as Omaha 8-or-Better, is similar to Omaha Hi, but the pot in the showdown is divided into two equal parts between the highest-ranked 5-card poker hand and the lowest. There are a number of different combinations of hole cards that can be used to make both the high and low hands. However, if you’re going to be going for the low hand, there are conditions that have to be met– this is where the game’s name 8-or-Better comes into play, as all five cards in the hand you’re trying to play should be ranked 8 or lower. Also, straights and flushes don’t count against a hand like this. So the lowest possible hand would be any combination of A-2-3-4-5, while the highest low hand would be any 8-7-6-5-4 combination. The lowest hands are ranked from the highest to the lowest, so 6-5-4-3-2 would be a better combination than 8-4-3-2-A for the pot.
