In community
card poker games, each player is dealt privately an incomplete
hand
(hole cards) which is then combined with the community cards to make a complete
poker hand. The set of community cards is called a board, and may be dealt in a
simple line or arranged in a special pattern; rules of each poker game determine how
they may be combined with each player's private hand.
The most popular community card poker game
today is probably Texas hold'em (and variants thereof), originating
sometime in the 1970s. That game is described in great detail on
the Texas hold'em Poker page, while most of the descriptions below are brief and refer to the more
detailed page (a few other games merit their own page as well, such as
Omaha
hold'em poker).
In home poker games, it is typical to use an
ante, while casinos typically use only
blinds for these games. Fixed limit poker games are most common in
casinos, while spread limit poker games are more common in home games. No limit
and pot limit poker games are less common, but some games play particularly well with
those structures. As with stud poker, later betting rounds often have a
higher limit than earlier betting rounds. Each betting round begins with
the player to the dealer's left (when blinds are used, the first round begins
with the player after the big blind), so community card games are generally
positional games.
Most community card poker games do not play well with lowball hand values, though some
do play very well at high-low split, especially with
ace-to-five low values,
making it possible to win both halves of a pot. When played high-low
split, there is generally a minimum qualifying hand for low (often 8-high), and
it is played cards speak.
Texas Hold'em Poker
Described in more detail on the
Texas hold'em poker page,
this is the most popular community card poker game. Each player is dealt two
private cards, after which there is a betting round. Then three community
cards are deal face up (in no particular order or pattern), followed by a second
betting round. A fourth community card is followed by a third betting
round, a fifth community card and the fourth and final betting round. At
showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make using any five
cards among the two in his hand and the five on the board.
Texas hold'em does not play well high-low split (Omaha hold'em is probably the
best high-low community card poker game). It plays very well at no limit, and in
fact the final game of the World Series of Poker, the tournament generally
considered to be the world championship of the game of poker, is $10,000 entry
no limit Texas hold'em.
Pineapple (and
Crazy Pineapple, Tahoe)
These are variants of Texas hold'em in which each player is
initially dealt three cards instead of two. In Pineapple, each player then
immediately discards one of the three cards he is dealt, and the poker game proceeds
exactly as in Texas Hold'em. In Crazy Pineapple, the
players discard their
third card after the second betting round, before the fourth community card is
dealt. In Tahoe, players keep all three cards through showdown, but may
not use all three of them to make a poker hand - each player may use none, one, or two
cards from his hand, combined with those on the board, to make his final
five-card hand.
Crazy Pineapple and Tahoe are often played high-low split, and play reasonably
well that way, though plain Pineapple does not.
Double-Board hold'em
A split-pot variant that can be applied to many poker games (but which
is generally only applied to normal hold'em poker) is double-board. For
double-board hold'em, two separate five-card boards are dealt, and the high hand
using each board takes half of the pot. For example, after the first
betting round, three community cards are dealt to each of two separate boards;
after the second round, another community card is dealt to each board; and
before the final round, a fifth community card is dealt to each board (so there
will be in total ten community cards, comprising two separate five-card hold'em
boards).
Omaha hold'em Poker
This variant of Texas hold'em is popular and complex enough to
deserve its own page - see Omaha hold'em poker. Briefly, each
player is dealt four cards to his
private hand instead of two. The betting rounds and layout of community
cards are identical. At showdown, each player's hand is the best five-card
hand he can make from exactly three of the five cards on the board, plus exactly
two of his own cards. Unlike Texas hold'em, a
player cannot play only one
of his cards with four of the board, nor can he play the board, nor play three
from his hand and two from the board, or any other combination. Each
player must play exactly two of his own cards with exactly three of the
community cards.
The most popular form of the game is high-low split, called
Omaha/8 or better, or just Omaha/8.
Each player, using the above rules, makes a separate five-card high poker hand and
five-card ace-to-five low and, and the pot is split between the high and low
(which may be the same player). To qualify for low, a player must be able
to play an 8-7-6-5-4 or lower. A few casinos play with a 9-low qualifier
instead, but this is rare. This game is generally played at a fixed limit.
When high hands only are used, the poker game is generally called Omaha high to avoid
ambiguity. This game plays particularly well at pot limit.
Another variant is to deal each player five cards instead of
four. The same rules apply for showdown: each player must use two of his
cards with three of the community cards.
In the game of
Courcheval, popular in Europe, instead of betting
on the initial four cards and then flopping three community cards for the second
round, the first community card is dealt before the first betting round, so that
each player has four private cards and the single community card on his first
bet. Then two more community cards are dealt, and play proceeds exactly as
in Omaha poker.
Manila
One of the most popular poker games in Australian casinos is a
Texas
hold'em poker variant called "Manila" (also called
Seven-up in some places). This poker game
is played with a stripped deck in which all cards below the rank of 7 are
removed (leaving 32 cards). Each player is dealt two private cards, and a
single community card is dealt face up, followed by the first betting round.
Then a second community card is followed by a second round, a third community
card and a third round, and fourth community card and a fourth round, and
finally a fifth community card, fifth betting round, and showdown. On
showdown, unlike Texas hold'em poker (and more like
Omaha poker), each player makes the best
hand he can from both of his hole cards with exactly three of the five community
cards.
Because of the stripped deck, a flush beats a full house.
Also, an ace may not be played low for a straight (that is, the hand A-7-8-9-10
is not a straight in Manila). Manila and its variants are rarely played
high-low split (in fact, very few stripped deck games are ever played low).
Common variations involve dealing three cards to each player,
one of which can either be discarded at some point (like
Pineapple, above), or
else held to the end, but maintaining the requirement that each poker player play
exactly two of his own cards with exactly three of the board. The
three-card variant is sometimes played with 6s being restored to the deck,
making it 36 cards.
Pinatubo
Because Manila has five betting rounds, it does not play well at
no limit or pot limit. This can be easily modified by eliminating the
betting round between the second and third community cards. So, each
player is dealt two private cards and a single community card is dealt to the
board, followed by the first betting round. Then two community cards are
dealt, followed by a second betting round. Then a fourth community card
and third betting round, a fifth and final community card and fourth betting
round, followed by a showdown as above.
The three-card variant can be played this way as well (as with Manila, the
player must use exactly two of his three hole cards with three of the board
cards to make a poker hand).
Home Poker Games
Although some of these poker games (notably Chowaha and Tic Tac Toe)
have been played in formal casino settings, they are generally better suited to
low-stakes home games. They also lend themselves to ad-hoc variation,
since the games themselves have not been time-tested for balanced play as have
many casino games, so making variations is less likely to make the game much
worse.
Cincinnati
Each player is dealt five hole cards, and then one community
card is dealt face up to the table. After a first betting round, a second
community card is dealt, followed by a second betting round. This
continues until a fifth community card is dealt, followed by a fifth betting
round and showdown. Each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make
from his five hole cards plus the five community cards in any combination.
More sane variants are to restrict each player to using exactly two of his hole
cards (as in Omaha) or no more than two (as in
Pineapple).
Iron Cross
Each player is dealt five hole cards, and then five community
cards are dealt one at a time followed by a betting round, exactly as in
Cincinnati. But they are dealt in a cross pattern with a center card
(dealt last) and four other cards to its left, right, top, and bottom.
Each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make from his five hole
cards plus the three cards from either the vertical arm or the horizontal arm of
the cross. A common variant is to make the center card wild, or the center
card and all of the same rank wild.
One can also make a better poker game by reducing to four betting
rounds: one after the hole cards are dealt but before any community cards are,
then another after the left and right cards of the cross are dealt at the same
time, a third after the top and bottom cards of the cross are dealt, and a final
round after the center card is dealt.
Tic Tac Toe
In this poker game, each player will end up with two private cards,
and there will be a board of nine cards arranged in a 3x3 square. Each
player will make a five-card poker hand from a combination of his two cards plus any
consecutive row of three on the board, either a horizontally, vertically, or
diagonally.
Variations exist in the number of betting rounds based on which
community cards are revealed in what order. The simplest is probably to
deal each player both hole cards then deal the three cards across the top of the
3x3 array before the first betting round; then deal the three cards across the
bottom of the array followed by a second betting round; then deal the two cards
on the left and right edge of the middle row, followed by a third round; and
finally deal the center community card followed by a fourth betting round and
showdown.
Another variation is to deal three or four hole cards to each
poker player, though
each player may still only play exactly two of them with any consecutive row of
three from the grid.
Lame Brain Pete
Three hole cards are dealt to each player, followed by a first
betting round. Then a single community card is dealt, followed by a second
betting round. Play continues with a single community card being added to
the board followed by a betting round, until there are four community cards, for
a total of five betting rounds. Upon showdown, the lowest-ranking card on
the board, and all cards of that same rank either on the board or in players'
hole cards, play as wild cards (thus, it is not possible to know exactly which
cards will be wild until the end, unless a deuce appears on the board earlier
than that). Each player makes his best five-card poker hand from his three
hole cards plus the four community cards in any combination, with the low board
card wild.
Six-Pack
At showdown, each player will have two hole cards, and there
will be six community cards on the board arranged in a circle (something like
the even-hour marks on a clock). The rounds go like this: each player is
dealt two hole cards, followed by the first betting round. Then two of the
board cards at opposite sides of the circle (call them 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock)
are dealt, followed by a second betting round. Two more opposite community
cards are dealt (2 o'clock and 8 o'clock), followed by a third betting round.
Finally, the 4 o'clock and 10 o'clock cards are dealt followed by a fourth and
final betting round, and showdown.
At showdown, each player makes a poker hand by combining his two cards
with any three consecutive cards of the board. That is, he can use 12, 2,
and 4; or 2, 4, and 6; or 6, 8, and 10; etc. So cards dealt to opposite
sides of the circle will never appear in the same final poker hand.
The game can be modified a bit by dealing three hole cards, where each player is
required to use exactly two of them plus three consecutive board cards.
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