A Look at Other Shared Poker Variants
While Texas Hold 'em reigns as the king of Poker variants in tournaments and even table play today, it is just one derivation of the Shared Card Poker variants. Sometimes also called Community Poker, these set of games all bear some semblance to Texas Hold 'em, although with each their own twists.
Next to Texas Hold 'em, Omaha is probably the most well known and widely played Shared Poker variant in the States. The game play is as follows: each player is dealt four down cards. Five down cards are laid on the table. As in Hold 'em, a betting is held, followed by the turning of three of the five down cards. Another round of betting and card turning follows until all the table cards are up.
A final betting ensues and then the showdown. Unlike Hold 'em the player's final hand must include half of his down cards and three of the five on the table. The High Hand usually wins, although in some variants players can use all four cards and create High/Low combinations.
In Cincinnati Poker, players are given five down cards, and five more are faced down on the table. One by one the table cards are turned up, with a betting interval between each flip. All the while the player's cards remain down. The showdown proceeds after the final betting round, where players try to make the highest possible hand with their cards and the ones on the table.
In Iron Cross Poker, five down cards are laid in the shape of a cross. Five down cards are dealt to each player. Moving in a clockwise direction, the table cards are revealed, with a betting round in-between. The center card is lifted last. Traditional Iron Cross Poker dictates that players may form hands only from one arm of the cross.
Variations of Iron Cross include turning the center card into a wild card and a High/Low winner instead of the High Hand.
In Tic Tac Toe, two down cards are dealt to each player, and nine cards are placed face up on the table. Players place three (or any desired number) chips before them, and the betting proceeds. Using their down cards and any combination of the face up nine, players declare their hands. The highest hand wins.
The other players throw their remaining chips into another pot. A new hand is dealt, and the game continues until one player collects all the pot money.
These variations of Shared Poker are just a few of the numerous derivations around. These variations not only give you something new to play with, but also allow you to grasp all the unique possibilities in Poker.
