Here’s a quick run down on the bare bones basics that differentiate each of the following “top 4” poker games.

TEXAS HOLDEM
Each player is dealt two “hole” cards which only he/she can see. One round of betting is followed by the first three “community” cards, also known as “the flop”. Two more community cards (“the turn” and “the river”) are turned at a time, with a round of betting after each card. The remaining players must make the best five-card hand possible from the seven in total order to win the pot. The amounts bet can differ in Hold’em according to whether the games is “pot-limit”, “limit” or “no-limit”. Here’s a run down of the 3 basic types:

POT LIMIT:  The maximum raise allowed is defined by the size of the pot. This is defined by the total in the pot plus all bets on the table.
LIMIT: A maximum of four bets is allowed per player during each betting round. These are: 1 A bet, 2 A raise, 3 A re-raise and 4 The cap (the last permitted raise in any round of betting).
NO LIMIT: The amount you raise is restricted only by the size of your stack (chips on table).

OMAHA
Each player is dealt four hole cards (which only they can see). Five community cards are dealt in the same way as in Hold’em, punctuated by the same rounds of betting. The players must use two of their hole cards with three community cards to make the best possible five-card hand.

SEVEN-CARD STUD
Each player is dealt two cards down and one “door” card up. Whoever has the lowest door card initiates the betting. Each player is allowed one bet and three raises in each betting round. Three more cards are dealt face up (“fourth”, “fifth” and “sixth” street), with rounds of betting in between initiated by the person with the highest value card showing. The seventh and final card (the “river”) is dealt face down, and the player with the best five-card hand takes down the pot.

FIVE-CARD STUD
Played like Seven-card Stud, except that the players are dealt one card down and one card up. The only other difference is that the remaining three cards are all dealt face up.

There is one variation that is often used in conjunction with Stud (and Omaha):

HI/LO
Betting and dealing remains the same but the crucial difference is that the pot is divided between the best hand for “high” and the best hand for “low”. You really need to know your hand ranks for this variation.

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