There are hundreds of different versions of poker, but they share the same
commonalities - they all use all the cards in the deck, and they all respect
the same progression of winning hands. The three most popular versions are:
Texas hold'em, 7 card stud, 5 card draw, with most of the variations based
off of these three main styles.
Texas Hold'em starts with two forced bets to the players sitting clockwise
from the dealer, or button. All players are dealt two face down cards,
after which point the players choose to bet or fold, followed by a group of
three community cards dealt into the middle of the table, called the flop,
and a round of betting between the next two community cards, the turn and
the river, punctuated by a final round of betting. The winner makes the
strongest five card hand they can with their two hole cards and the five
community cards. In no limit Texas hold'em, any player at any time can
decide to bet their entire chip stack on their hand, even before the first
community cards, the flop, are dealt.
7 card stud starts with a forced ante and each player receiving two cards
face down and one card face up, with rounds of betting separating the next
three face up cards being dealt and the final face down card. A final round
of betting ensues with the winner choosing the strongest hand possible out
of their seven dealt cards.
5 card draw starts with 5 cards dealt to each anted player. A round of
betting follows after which each player can choose to give back up to all 5
cards and receive an equal number of new cards off the deck to try to
improve their hand. Variations can include multiple rounds of betting and
drawing, with wild cards commonly specified prior to the hand being dealt.
