You may be aware that they do some things a little differently on the Asian Poker Tour — and we’re not just talking about a Main Event with a buy-in of over three hundred thousand dollars.
(Relax, those are New Taiwanese Dollars).
At the APT they’re not afraid to get a little freaky when it comes to poker variants. Yes, there are plenty of chances to play hold’em, Omaha and all your favorites, but when you feel the need to shake things up there are a whole bunch of fun ways to do just that.
Here are 17 different poker variants with real-money tournaments available at the APT Championship in Taiwan this week (and for brevity’s sake we’re not even going to mention double board bomb pots, ‘win the button’ and all that jazz).
17 poker variants you might have never played before
‘Cry me a river’
When someone asks to run it twice, do you reply with ‘only twice?’
If so, you’ll love this variant: three separate boards are dealt on every single hand, with the killer twist coming on the river. The lowest card of the three rivers kills its entire board, leaving you with just the two — half the pot goes to the winner of each.
Available in no-limit hold’em, PLO, limit O8 and PLO8, because of course it is.
‘Triple Draw Mix’
Can’t decide between A-5 limit triple draw, 2-7 limit triple draw and limit badugi? Why should you have to, you can play them all in one tournament!
Not enough? Say no more: sounds like you need the 7-game version, which adds triple draw high, Archie (A-5 and high), badacey and badeucey to the mix.
Oh, and that’s played no-limit, natch.
For some, this is too many cards. For others, not enough.‘Lazy Rivers’
This twist on PLO sees every player given their own river card, face-up so the world can look, but can’t touch.
Available in PLO and PLO8 formats, because let’s face it, those games need way more gamble in them.
‘Rivers’
Not good with sharing? Rivers plays just like no-limit hold’em right up to the river, when everyone gets their own river card. Unlike Lazy Rivers, though, your individual river cards will be dealt face-down.
Now you don’t need to share the card, or any extra information it might give other players.
‘Quadruple Super Stud’
First, take four variations of 7-card stud poker — high, hi/lo, razz and razzdugi — and then give them the ‘super’ treatment.
That means instead of getting two down-cards and one up-card to start things off, you get four down-cards and one up-card, and discard two down-cards after the first betting round.
Then, play these games in rotation, and try to make sure you know for sure whether you’re playing a high or a razz round. Available in both limit and (gulp!) no-limit formats.
‘Atomic Pineapple’
You’ll get dealt five hole cards in this version of hold’em. Discard one after the first betting round, another after the flop and a third after the turn.
We’d just love to see the solvers try and figure this one out. GTO? GTFO!
‘Single Draw Mix’
Ah, good old no-limit single draw — the game of cowboys, riverboat gamblers and your grandparents’ grandparents.
You can play a rotation of lowball games (A-5, 2-7 and badugi) or go all-out with the 7-game mix, adding Archie, high draw, badacey and badeucey to the menu.
‘Courchevel’
A twist on PLO, where everyone gets five cards instead of four.
Hang on, what do you mean that’s simply 5-card PLO? Fine, fine… how about we let you see the first board card preflop?
Fun whether played high or hi/lo, this was apparently named for the ski resort where it was invented. And appropriately, if you don’t play smart things can all go downhill before you know it.
Courchevel can be a slippery slope.‘Super Hold’em’
This one shouldn’t require too much adjustment — it’s hold’em with three hole cards. Use 1, 2, 3 or none at all.
There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?
‘ROEDS’
Had enough HORSE? Want rid of ROSE? This particular collection of letters represents five games: Razz, Omaha 8, stud-Eight-or-better, razzDugi and Stud.
Yeah, the naming’s kinda weird (razzdugi doesn’t start with a D!), but ‘ROSRS’ is a lot harder to pronounce.
‘3/2/1’
Want something a little more out-there? 3/2/1 is hold’em but with three flops, two turns and a single river. Which flop or turn will you use? It’s up to you!
Just the kind of puzzler we love to see, and one we’ve never actually encountered before — especially in a tournament setting.
‘10-Game 7-Card Stud Mix’
Can you name 10 versions of 7-card stud? Here goes (deep breath):
Razz, 7-card stud, stud8, stud hi/lo (no qualifier), razzdugi, razz 2-7, super razz, super stud, super stud8, super stud hi/lo (no qualifier).
This one’s played fixed limit only, and as a dealer’s choice mix.
‘Crazy Irish’
A card game and an ethnic slur, fun!
Hang on, there’s no disrepect intended — the name for this one comes, we assume, from a fusion of Irish hold’em and crazy pineapple (though, truth be told, we always get those games confused anyway!).
The long and short of it is this: it’s hold’em but you’re dealt four hole cards, two of which you discard after betting’s done on the flop.
‘Octo Razz’
If you like your stud played low then my, have we got the game for you.
Razz, razzdugi, razzdeucey and razz 2-7, plus the ‘super’ variations of all the above. You’ll never want to see a pair ever again.
‘Drawmaha 2-7’
If you know how to play Omaha, and know how to play 2-7 draw, you’re halfway there. Maybe.
This clever mix of the two games is way more than the sum of its parts, though. Played with 5 cards, half the pot goes to the Omaha hand, and the other to the lowball hand. But who’s going for what? What are you going for? What year is it? Who’s the president!?
A game to reframe everything you thought you knew about Omaha and lowball, and have a whole lot of fun while you’re doing it.
'Does your hand go both ways?''...' Yes. I broke it playing rugby.'‘Natural Eights’
This tribute to event sponsor Natural8 is no-limit hold’em with more of a bonus than a twist: if you’re dealt pocket eights, flip them over when it’s your turn to act and you’ll automatically win the blinds, the antes, the button and TWD 8,888.
Only applicable to the first, yup, eight players to do so, and to be honest not a variant we can see taking off in your private home game. Unless it’s also somehow sponsored by Natural8.
‘Stairway to Seven’
Here we are, the king of the variant names and a hell of a fun ride to boot. It’s PLO, but every player still in the hand will receive an extra card on the flop, another on the turn and one more on the river. That makes 7 cards in total. Geddit?
With the general rule being more cards = crazier games, this one not only has the best name, but the biggest potential for sick twists. For added spice, try the PLO8 version.
Images courtesy of the APT.
