What other poker games do poker players play?
Texas Hold'em, Texas Schmold'em! That's about the only kind of poker you hear of anymore. The No Limit Hold'em tournaments on TV make it seem as if that's the only kind of poker there is.
But walk into any casino charity night affair, or sneak into some private country club games and you'll see a broad variety of poker forms being played. Below is a list of some prominent types of poker that are alive and well on poker night in other places.
1. 7 Stud Hi/Lo Split -- A popular poker form in public card rooms until Hold'em took over everything, this game requires a good awareness of folded cards. It's dealt just like regular 7 Card Stud (3 down, 4 up), except that the pot gets split between the best high and low hands. You need an 8 low or lower to win the low half, otherwise the best high hand gets it all.
The perfect low hand is A-2-3-4-5, known as a "wheel," because it's also a 5 high straight at the same time. Likewise, if you should have a hand like:
2c-3c / 7c-6c-Jl-K; / 4c
You've got a 7-6-4-3-2 for low and a club flush with the same five cards. Seven Stud "8-or-better," as it's called, is a highly strategic game that favors playing low cards because of their ability to "swing" high. And remember, in any Hi/Lo game, the Ace is like having two cards in one, since it can be used for high and low at the same time.
2. Star Wars -- Poker players who crave action like to call this game because huge hands are usually made. It's an expanded version of Omaha Hi/Lo, whereby you're dealt five cards in the hole and bet. Then there's a three card flop and another bet. Now the fourth and fifth board cards come simultaneously, followed by a third and final bet.
You must use exactly two cards from your hand with exactly three cards from the board to make your best high hand. Then you use two from your hand with three from the board to make your best low. As usual, if nobody can make an 8 low or lower, the high hand "scoops" the whole pot.
As complicated as Star Wars may sound, playing it well is fairly straightforward. There are so many cards in this game that by the end of the hand, somebody will usually have whatever the board makes possible. So if the flop is:
8l-4l-10;
and you don't have an Ace/deuce for the best low draw, a set of trips (8s, 4s or 10s) or the Ace of diamonds with another diamond -- fold!
3. River Pineapple -- It's Hi/Lo Hold'em, but you start with three cards in your hand rather than just two. There's a three card flop, a turn card and a river card with a bet after each, just like Hold'em. The difference is, at the river you must decide which way to go, and throw away one of your hole cards before you turn up your hand. Best high and low hands split the pot, and as always, the low must be 8 or lower.
Pocket "rockets" (Aces) aren't nearly as powerful in this game as in regular Hold'em. Lots of small two-pair hands get made at the river by players who were going low with something like 2/3/4.
4. Forty-Two -- It's a lively combination of flop style and draw poker with the usual Hi/Lo split. You're dealt four cards and you can use them all, then bet. Next, there's a two card flop so that everybody now has six cards (hence the name, "forty-two"), followed by a second betting round. Now you discard and draw anywhere up to four hole cards, then there's a final bet. Best low hand of 8 or lower takes half the pot -- but -- the high hand winner must have at least two-pair.
Forty-two is an interesting game with logical reads and strategic draws. As usual, low cards have a playing edge over high cards.