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Rare Poker Game Variants

There are currently 8 rare Poker variants played in casinos. These games may only be offered in selected casinos. Texas Hold‘em is currently the most popular Poker game variant. This is due, mainly, to the popularity of televised Poker tournaments. Texas Hold‘em is played with the initial deal of two cards face down to each player.

PINEAPPLE

This game is similar to Texas Hold‘em but 3 cards are dealt face down to each player rather than 2. Before the flop each player throws away 1 card.

CRAZY PINEAPPLE

This is similar to Pineapple but a single card is thrown away, by each player, after the flop.

LAZY PINEAPPLE

Again this is like Pineapple but no card is thrown away. Each player can use any combination of the six cards to make their winning hand.

BIG O

Big O is a variation on Omaha. Omaha is played by each player being dealt four cards face down. Then 5 communal cards are dealt to the centre of the table. Each player can then use any combination of the nine cards available to create a winning hand. The difference in this game is that each player is dealt 5 cards face down thus increasing their chances of creating a winning hand.

FIVE-CARD STUD

Unfortunately Five-card Stud has almost become obsolete due to the rise in popularity of all the variants that are available. It has apparently almost disappeared from casinos. The dedicated and determined player should be able to find a casino offering Five-card Stud with some research.

CHINESE POKER

This game involves each player playing with 3 hands at the same time. The hands are not interchangeable and have to be played separately. Apparently it’s not a very popular game as it involves three sets of betting, one for each hand.

MEXICAN POKER

Mexican Poker is played as a normal game. The only difference is that the cards with the face values of 8, 9 and 10 are removed from the deck before the game commences.

BADOUGI

This game has several name variants, namely Badugi, Padooki and Paduki. Players are each dealt four cards face down before the flop. All players only retain four cards in their hand. A player may exchange up to four cards. The winning hand is the hand that contains the LOWEST score. The lowest hand wins the pot.