1.Texas No Limit Hold’em (NLH)
Texas No Limit Hold’em or NLH is currently the most popular variant of poker. NLH is available on most gaming platforms with a wide selection of tables and stakes for players to choose from.
The world championship of Poker, also known as World Series of Poker – Main Event is decided over Texas No Limit Hold’em Poker
Popularity in India: The game primarily gained popularity in India when a social media platform hosted a third party poker game on the platform around 2009-10. Many Indians enjoyed the game on the internet from the convenience of their homes, and moved on to play the game with real money on various online and live platforms. Global popularity of the variant also contributed towards NLH being India’s go to poker variant
Ease of Learning: - NLH is an easy game to both learn and improve at. And with a wide variety of global televised games of Texas No Limit Hold’em available online, it has been easy for players to watch and learn from the best of the game
Gameplay: To start with, the two players to the left of the button put forward forced bets called “blinds”. After 2 hole cards have been dealt to each player, action starts with the player to the left of the big blind and continues clockwise. (Players may either call, raise, or fold.) After this first round, 3 cards are dealt onto the table (called the “flop”).
These “community cards” are for all players to be able to use simultaneously to try and make the best poker hand. After another round, 1 more community card is dealt (the “turn”), followed by another round and then the final “river” community card. After one more round of, any remaining players in their hand must then show their cards. The player who has the best 5-card poker hand (comprising of any combination of their 2 hole cards and 5 community cards) wins.
2. Pot Limit Omaha (PLO)
Coming 2nd in popularity to poker’s most popular game is Pot Limit Omaha or PLO as it is lovingly known. In a nutshell, this game plays exactly like Texas No Limit Hold’em, but with one small difference:
Players still try to make the best 5-card hand as before, but in doing so must use 2 of their given hole cards and only 3 of the 5 community cards at showdown. Because players are dealt more cards at the start of each hand, making a good hand becomes much easier (or you would think so) in this game.
Popularity in India: Not all Texas Hold’em players adapt to PLO; however, a growing number of them choose it as their second poker variant, and there are growing number of players who are specializing in this variant because of high action nature of the game and exploring the nuances of the variant
Ease of Learning: – If you know Texas Hold’em, PLO us relatively easier to learn, as there are numerous similarities between the two. Strategically speaking, because it will be much easier to make a good hand in PLO, typically hands at showdown will be higher than those found in Texas Hold’em.
Gameplay: Action proceeds just like a hand of Texas Hold’em, with two distinct differences:
Upcoming variant in Poker: Short deck Poker (six plus poker or 6+ poker)
Short deck is an extremely fun variant of Hold’em that’s gained some popularity globally in very recent years. Hand rankings in this poker game are different slightly than in traditional games (with flushes now beating full houses), and for good reason: 2’s through 5’s have been removed from the deck! Therefore, the game is played with just 36 playing cards (hence the name).With fewer cards, players have better chances of making some sort of made hand but must also be wary that this applies to the strength of their opponents’ hands too! With fewer cards come higher variance and the chances of making stronger hands more frequently
Other variants of Poker:
There are some other poker variants which enjoy niche popularity
