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Poker Variations

There are many versions of poker. Some players stick to just one version; others like to play many different variants. This page provides a classified index of poker variations whose rules are available on pagat.com. The columns indicate the type of variant - some belong to several categories. The table includes many invented poker variants, which may be known only to a few players, and have in most cases been contributed by the people or groups who invented them: these are listed in italics.

Below the table of variations, there are sections on:

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

VariantGame type
2 plus 1 match
2-11 shared high/low split
3 5 7 wild match
3-2-1 draw match
4-2-2 wild match
4-2-3 shared wild match
5 and 2 or 3 match
5 Card Double Draw High-Low draw high/low split
5 Card Draw Deuces Wild draw wild
5 Card Draw Poker draw
5 Card Draw with a Bug draw wild
5 Card Omaha shared
5 Card Open Draw (sequential) draw
5 Card Open Draw (simple) draw
5 Card Roll Your Own stud wild
5 Card Stud stud
5 Card Stud High-Low stud high/low split
5 Card Stud High-Low With a Buy stud high/low split buy
5-2-1 Roll 'Em stud high/low split
5s draw buy
6 Card Draw draw
6 Card Omaha shared
6 Card Open Draw draw
7 and What Makes It stud wild
7 Card Draw Poker draw
7 Card Open Draw draw
7 Card Regrets stud
7 Card Stud stud
7 Card Stud High-Low stud high/low split
7 Card Stud with Wild Cards stud high/low wild split
7 minus 7 other
7-27 other
8 Game Mix draw shared low high/low split mixed
10 Card Regrets stud high/low split
32-card Poker draw
43 draw shared high/low split
Abyssinia stud high/low split buy
Ace-To-Five Lowball [= California Lowball] draw low wild
Ace-To-Six Lowball (Draw) draw low
Aces, Straights and Flushes stud shared
All for One and One for All draw
Anaconda [= Pass The Trash] stud high/low split pass
Assassin draw
Auction stud high/low split buy
Auction Flop Poker draw buy
Babies' Daddy stud wild
Badugi draw low
Baseball stud wild buy
Baseball, National League Rules stud wild
Big Al's Guillotine match
Big O [= 5 Card Omaha] shared
Billy Baxter Lowball [= Kansas City Lowball] draw low
Binglao shared
Bitch, The stud split
Black Mariah stud
Blind Hold'em shared
Blind Man's Buff [= Indian Poker] other
Blind Omaha shared
Blue Beacon draw shared
Boise shared high/low split
Bonus Round match mixed other
Boo-Ray [= Bourré] other
Bounce Back draw
Bourré other
Box draw shared high/low split
Breaker shared
Brocky other
Buck Thirty-Five draw high/low wild split
Buddha's Folly pass match
Buddys Game shared high/low split buy
Buy Your Card / Substitution stud high/low split buy
California Draw Poker [= Five Card Draw Poker] draw
California Lowball draw low wild
California Stud [= Sökö] stud
Celestial Poker [= Sviten Special] draw shared
Chameleon stud wild buy
Chase the Ace [= Cuckoo] other
Chicago stud split
Chinese Poker other
CHORSE shared low high/low split mixed
CHORSEL draw shared low high/low wild split mixed
Chowaha shared high/low split
Church [= Iron Cross] shared high/low wild split
Cincinnati shared wild split
Circle Jerk shared wild
Cold Omaha shared high/low split
Courchevel shared
Cowboy, Cowgirl, Cowpattie draw high/low split match
Cowpie Poker stud split
Craps pass
Crazy 3-5-7 wild match
Crazy 4 of Spades draw wild
Crazy Blind Man shared pass
Crazy Dutchy shared pass
Crazy Pineapple shared
Crazy Pineapple Hi-Lo shared high/low split
Criss Cross [= Iron Cross] shared high/low wild split
Criss Cross [= Tic Tac Toe] shared high/low wild split
Cucamonga shared high/low split
Cuckoo other
Dakota stud high/low wild split buy
Dead Deuce stud wild
Dealer's Choice match mixed other
Delaware Stud stud shared
Depot shared
Deuce-To-Seven Lowball [= Kansas City Lowball] draw low
Deuces & Jacks & the Man with the Axe stud wild
Diablo draw wild
Dirty Schultz stud wild buy
Do Ya stud wild pass
Doogie shared high/low split
Double Draw draw low
Double Elevator shared wild
Double Trouble shared high/low split buy
Double-Edge Trim-Saw shared wild
Eddie's Choice stud wild pass
Egyptian Hold'em shared
Eight Game Mix draw shared low high/low split mixed
El Dorado Hold'em shared wild
Elevator shared high/low split
Elimination other
English Stud stud buy
Estonian Twist shared pass
Faces of Death stud
Fierce match
Fifteen Thirty_five other
Five and Two or Three match
Five Card Draw Deuces Wild draw wild
Five Card Draw Poker draw
Five Card Draw with a Bug draw wild
Five Card Omaha [= 5 Card Omaha] shared
Five Card Roll Your Own stud wild
Five Card Stud stud
Five Card Stud High-Low stud high/low split
Five Card Stud High-Low With a Buy stud high/low split buy
Five-card Double Draw High-Low draw high/low split
Five-card Open Draw (sequential) draw
Five-card Open Draw (simple) draw
Fives draw buy
Flaming Cross shared high/low wild split
Follow The Queen stud wild
Football other
Football stud wild buy
Football (3) stud wild buy
Forty-Three draw shared high/low split
Four of a Kind other
Four Up, Four Down stud wild
Four-Two-Three [= 4-2-3] shared wild match
Four-Two-Two [= 4-2-2] wild match
Freak of Nature draw wild
Fred Potato shared
Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The stud wild
Grocery Store Dots stud split buy
Guts match
Have a Heart stud pass
Hearts Poker stud shared pass
Henway stud high/low split
Herbie wild match
High Card Poker other
High Chicago [= Chicago] stud split
High-Die draw wild
High-Low Chicago stud split
HOE shared high/low split mixed
Hollywood Hold'em draw shared
Horn-A-Vika stud shared buy
HORSE shared low high/low split mixed
HOSE shared high/low split mixed
Howdy Doody stud high/low wild split pass
Indian Chief shared
Indian Poker other
Irish shared
Iron Cross shared high/low wild split
Island Pineapple draw shared wild
Italian Poker draw
J-Lo draw low
Jack the Shifter stud
Jackpot draw
Jacks Back (5 Card Draw) draw high/low wild
Jacks or Better (5 Card Draw) draw
Jersey Holdem shared high/low split
Kansas City Lowball draw low
Kansas Tornado shared
King's Pot shared buy
KRG shared
Kryky shared high/low wild split
Lame Brain Pete shared wild
Late Show [= Low Hole] stud wild
Liege Lord stud pass
Loco shared
London Lowball (7-card Stud) stud low
Loo other
Low Chicago stud split
Low Hold stud wild buy
Low Hole stud wild
Low-Die draw wild
Lowball (5 Card Stud) stud low
Lowball (Draw) draw low
Lowball Guts low match
Luck of the Irish stud wild buy
Luosong Pai Jiu [= Chinese Poker] other
Mexican Stud stud high/low split
Mexican Sweat stud
Midnight Baseball [= Night Baseball] stud wild buy
Mississippi Gonorrhea draw high/low split
Mississippi Mud stud high/low split
More or Less stud low
Motown stud split
Mountain wild
Murder with the 2's stud wild buy
Mutual of Omaha shared high/low split buy
Mystery Wheelbarrow pass
Napalm high/low match
NASDAQ high/low split buy pass
New York New York stud high/low split
Night Baseball stud wild buy
No Peek stud
No Peek Baseball [= Night Baseball] stud wild buy
No Peek High-Low stud high/low split
Odds and Ends shared wild
OFCP [= Open Face Chinese Poker] other
Off Suit Lowball [= Badugi] draw low
Off-Road Stud shared
Oh Shit shared high/low split
Omaha shared
Omaha Hi-Lo Eight or Better shared high/low split
Omaha High shared
Omaha/8 [= Omaha Hi-Lo Eight or Better] shared high/low split
One Man's Trash shared
Open Face Chinese Poker other
Pai Gow Poker other
Palace Poker draw stud
Pass The Trash stud high/low split pass
Pass'Em shared high/low split pass
Pepito [= Chinese Poker] other
Phoenix Burn match
Pick a Partner stud split
Piles shared high/low split
Pineapple shared
Poker all'italiana [= Italian Poker] draw
Ponsi shared high/low buy
Price is Right, The stud high/low split buy
Privacy Poker stud shared
Progressive Badugi draw low
Progressive Badugi with a Buy stud low buy
Psycho draw stud high/low split
Push stud buy pass
Pusoy [= Chinese Poker] other
Pyramid shared high/low wild split
Pyramid (2) shared high/low split
Rails shared
Rake draw stud
Ranter Go Round [= Cuckoo] other
Razz stud low
Real Poker shared high/low split
Respect the Four [= Four Up, Four Down] stud wild
Riding Ramone stud low
Rochester Poker pass
ROE low high/low split mixed
Roll Your Own stud high/low split
Round the World shared
Royal Hold'em shared
Ruby Run shared
Russian Roulette shared
Same'Em shared
San Francisco stud split
Sap Sam Cheung [= Chinese Poker] other
Screw Your Neighbor [= Cuckoo] other
Screwin' Herman wild
Second Hand High stud
Selection / Rejection stud high/low split pass
Sequence stud wild
Seven and What Makes It stud wild
Seven Card Draw Poker draw
Seven Card Open Draw draw
Seven Card Stud stud
Seven Card Stud High-Low stud high/low split
Seven Card Stud with Wild Cards stud high/low wild split
Seven minus Seven [= 7 minus 7] other
Seven Twenty-Seven other
Seven-card Regrets stud
Sex in the Middle East stud wild
SHOE shared high/low split mixed
Six Card Draw draw
Six Card Omaha [= 6 Card Omaha] shared
Six Card Open Draw draw
Skyscraper Elevator shared wild
Slam-aha shared high/low wild split
Slovak Double Barrel shared
Smack My Bitch Up stud wild
Sökö stud
Southern Deuce Hold'em shared wild
Spades stud wild buy
Spit in the Ocean draw shared wild
Spokane Open Wild stud wild pass
Spots shared high/low split
Stop, Drop and Roll shared
Stripped Deck Poker [= 32-card Poker] draw
Strobe shared
Stud-Jack stud split
Substitution stud high/low split
Suicide Swiss Hold'em shared wild buy
Sviten Special draw shared
Sweet Chariot shared low
Swingo shared
Swiss Hold'em shared buy
Switch pass
Tahoe shared
Tapiola Hold'em shared
Telesina stud
Ten-Card Regrets stud high/low split
Texas Dozen shared
Texas Hold'em shared
Texas Reach Around shared wild buy
Texas Tornado shared
The Bluffs shared high/low split buy
The Game Called 'The' shared
THORSEHA [= Eight Game Mix] draw shared low high/low split mixed
Three Five Seven wild match
Three-Hole Poker shared
Three-Two-One draw match
Tic Tac Toe shared high/low wild split
Tips To The Fat One other
Train Wreck stud buy pass
Trees draw pass
Triple Draw draw low
Trips to Win (5 Card Draw) draw
Türk pokeri [= Turkish Poker] draw
Turkish Poker draw
Two Eleven shared high/low split
Two plus One match
Two Thirds stud
Two-Spit stud high/low wild split buy
Uncle Bob's Left Nut draw wild
Vancouver Stud stud shared
Waiting for Godot stud shared
Wall Street stud high/low split buy
Want it? Want it? Got it! [= Selection / Rejection] stud high/low split pass
Weeping Willow stud buy pass
Wheelers match
Whipsaw [= Napalm] high/low match
Who Da Baby Daddy Is stud wild
Wichita Hold'em [= Tahoe] shared
Widow Jack stud split
Woodstock shared
Woolworth stud wild buy
Woolworth's Jackpot Penalty MJTF stud wild buy
Wraparound shared
Yukon Hold'em shared
Z shared high/low split
Zoot match

Classification of Variations

Poker variants are traditionally classified as draw games, stud games and shared card (community card) games, mainly according to the way the cards are dealt . However, there are variants that fall into more than one of these categories or none of them, and there are other useful but overlapping categories. The table on this page uses the following categories and shows which ones each variant belongs to.

The category links lead to pages dedicated to each type, each page having an index of the variants that belong to that category.

Many home poker players like to be creative and invent their own variants. Some of these new games catch on and become widely known, while most probably continue to be played only by their originators and maybe a few other groups. Since poker variants are continually being created and going in and out of fashion, it is difficult to distinguish between "traditional" poker variants and "invented" variants, some of which may eventually turn out to be as interesting as the traditional ones, if not more so. In the table, invented poker variants, many of which were contributed by their inventors, are listed in italics.

Note: games loosely based on poker in which players do not play against each other but against the house or against a machine, such as Three Card Poker, Caribbean Poker and Video Poker are not listed on this page but will be found in the pagat.com Banking Games section.

Other Collections of Poker Variants

No poker variant collection can be complete - new ones are being developed all the time, and many people have local house rules or may play the same variants but give them different names. Here is a selection of web sites with poker variant rules. If the poker game you are looking for is not listed on pagat.com, you may find it in one of these other collections.

Craig 'Ichabod' O'Brien's large database of Poker Variants is also available in a Github repository.

Mike's Poker Pages contain a collection of rules for well over 100 poker variants.

Justin du Coeur's Querki has a Poker Variants Space with descriptions of a selection of recommended poker variants.

Archive copy of Peter Sarrett's poker variants collection, whose contents originally formed the basis of the collection here at pagat.com.

David Lenton's Play Lowball Poker site (archive copy) has rules and information for several Lowball games.

Home Page > Poker > Variations
This page is maintained by John McLeod, john@pagat.com
© John McLeod, 2010-2021. Last updated: 3 November 2023

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