
Community Card Poker Games
In community
card poker games, each player is dealt privately an incomplete poker hand
(hole cards) which is then combined with the community cards to make a complete
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
the community cards may be combined with each player's private poker hand.
The most popular community card
poker game
today is probably Texas
Hold'em (and variants) originating
sometime in the 1970s. In home games, it is typical to use an
ante, while casinos typically use only
blinds for these
poker games. Fixed limit games are most common in
casinos, while spread limit games are more common in home poker games. No limit
and pot limit games are less common, but some poker 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.
Various
Community Card Poker Games