While Texas Hold’em is definitely the most popular poker game available online for real money, there are a number of other games that poker sites routinely spread, giving you more options. If you have a favorite game you’re looking to play, or you’re just thinking about adding some variety to your poker playing, keep reading to learn about all of the most popular poker games offered for real money.
Texas Hold’em: Of course, Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular form of poker played today, and any poker site would be crazy not to spread it. At any poker site online, Texas Hold’em will be the top game offered, with the majority of active tables at any given time being devoted to the game.
Omaha: Quickly gaining in popularity, Omaha is a poker game with a lot of similarities to Texas Hold’em. However, instead of receiving two hole cards, players receive four – and must use exactly two of them in making their hand. Omaha is often played as a Hi/Lo game, meaning that you can scoop half the pot by making a qualifying low hand.
Seven Card Stud: Until the World Series of Poker made Texas Hold’em the game of choice for players around the world, Seven Card Stud was the king of poker. Watch any television show or movie made in the last 30 years of the last century, and it’s likely that if there’s poker being played, it’s Seven Card Stud. Unlike the versions of the game more popular today, Seven Card Stud doesn’t involve any community cards; all of your cards are in your own hand. The first two cards you hold are face down, the next four face up, and the final card face down again.
Seven Card Stud isn’t universally offered at poker rooms, but really, any room that has any game selection at all will have it. While it’s most popular among older players, even young pro players who have grown up playing on the Internet have a familiarity with this game, and it can be a fun change of pace from hold’em.
Five Card Stud: Five Card Stud is much less popular than the seven card version; because only the first card you receive is face down, players have a ton of information about their opponents’ hands. While this game isn’t nearly as popular as the games we’ve listed above, it is spread at some poker rooms, including Bodog.
Razz: Razz is essentially the same as Seven Card Stud, but the goal is completely different: you want to make the worst possible hand, instead of the best. Straights and flushes don’t count, making A2345 the nuts in Razz. This game has steadily become more popular, with several major poker rooms offering it to players.
Lowball Games: Whether it’s single draw or triple draw, A-5 or 2-7, lowball games have one thing in common: the goal is to make a bad hand. These games are based on five card draw, only with the goal of making the worst hand possible in order to take the pot.
Badugi: A newly popularized game, Badugi is starting to be spread at some of the biggest online poker sites – and is very popular among the high-stakes crowd. In this four card game, the goal is to make the lowest hand possible; however, two cards of the same rank or the same suit can’t both be used in your hand, and any four-card hand will beat a three-card hand, which beats a two-card hand, and so on. This game is fun, but also features deceptively deep strategy.