If you are new to poker, sitting down in your first game can be quite intimidating, as you are introduced to many different things simultaneously.
With so many things to track, including basic poker rules and game flow, the math, live tells, etiquette, and random chatter at the tables, being thrown into a poker game is daunting for most beginners.
Choosing the suitable game to play is very important, as you want to play a form of poker that’s relatively easy to understand and play as a beginner.
This is a list of the 5 easy poker games for beginners to learn and play even without previous experience.
1. Five Card Draw
Perhaps the simplest form of poker to learn, Five Card Draw is a very easy poker game that does not include any community cards or up-cards at all.
Instead, each player in a Five Card Draw hand is dealt exactly five cards, face down. These cards are not to be turned over until showdown.
After the initial cards are dealt, you will get a chance to act on your hand. The betting structure is no limit, which means you can raise to any amount you want if you like your cards.
Once the betting round is completed, you will get a chance to draw, meaning you can discard any of the cards you have and get new ones to replace them.
The purpose of the draw is to improve your hand or bluff by keeping cards you don’t really need in order to represent a stronger hand than you actually have.
After the draw, you will get one more opportunity to act. This second betting round is also the last in Five Card Draw, as the hand goes to showdown after it.
The rules of Five Card Draw are very straightforward, making it an easy poker game to learn and play even if you don’t have much previous experience.
The downside of this game is the fact it’s rarely spread in casinos and poker rooms, which means you will probably have to play it in a home game environment with your friends and colleagues instead.
2. No Limit Texas Hold’em
By far the most popular poker game around, No Limit Texas Hold’em is likely the first game you will get introduced to these days.
If you want to learn how to play poker from scratch, you can easily find almost limitless teachable material on the topic of Texas Hold’em online, which can be very helpful when you are just starting.
The rules of No Limit Texas Hold’em are pretty simple. You receive two hole cards to start with, followed by five more community cards. You use any combination of the seven cards to create the best possible five-card poker hand.
Before you can start playing, you should learn the basic rules, such as the order of action and poker hand rankings. This should not take more than a couple of hours.
Once you get the basics down, all that’s left is to get involved in your first No Limit Texas Hold’em game, and you can do this either live or online.
If you want to be confident in a live setting, you should spend some hours playing the game online and practicing the basic skills needed to play the game.
After some hours playing online, you should be very confident of the basic rules and ready to jump into any live game without feeling completely lost.
But be warned! The first time you sit down at a real live poker table, you will feel overwhelmed and even start panicking. If this happens, don’t worry too much, as every poker player went through this at one point or another when they were starting their poker careers.
2. Pot Limit Omaha
If you have already played Texas Hold’em at some point, Pot Limit Omaha is one of the easiest poker games to transition into.
If you are completely new to poker and want to learn how to play, Pot Limit Omaha can also be a good choice, as it is a very fun game that will keep you engaged at all times.
Starting out with PLO, you will need to understand a few basic differences between it and NLH, which start with the number of cards dealt.
In PLO, you will get four hole cards each hand, while the same five community cards will be dealt on the table as in NLH.
You must use exactly two hole cards and three community cards to make your poker hand in PLO, which is significantly different than in NLH, where you can combine in any way.
What’s even more, the betting in PLO is limited by the size of the pot. You cannot make a bet or raise that’s bigger than the pot size, which means you must always remain aware of the pot size if you want to make the right decisions.
With a few extra elements to think about, Pot Limit Omaha is a significantly more taxing game than No Limit Hold’em, which makes it less ideal for complete beginners.
However, if you have some experience with NLH already, you may be ready to make the transition into PLO without too much trouble.
4. Seven Card Stud
One of the best “old-school” poker games, Seven Card is an easy poker game to learn, although not the most interesting one to play.
Seven Card Stud used to be the most popular poker game in the world before the days of the Poker Boom, which saw Texas Hold’em rise to the surface.
The game is played with each player receiving a total of seven unique cards, three of which remain hidden, while the remaining four are shown to the rest of the table.
Seven Card Stud follows a limited betting structure, which means you can only make bets and raises in predetermined increments (small and big bets).
The limit betting structure makes Seven Card Stud very friendly to novice players who may have a hard time adjusting to the big bets in no-limit games like Texas Hold’em.
Once you have learned the rules of Seven Card Stud, which should not take too long, your real problem will be finding the games to play.
The popularity of Seven Card Stud has diminished significantly in recent years, and you will only find the game spread in some casinos and poker rooms in the United States.
Yet, if you have a nice group of players who enjoy trying new games, Seven Card Stud is a great game to introduce and play, as it does not produce massive swings or huge pots too often.
5. Pineapple Poker
Another variation on the game of Texas Hold’em Poker, Pineapple Poker, is a game that adds a bit of extra flavor to an already fun activity.
If you already know how to play Texas Hold’em, Pineapple Poker will be an easy poker game to pick up, as it only requires you to understand one extra rule.
In Pineapple Poker, you are dealt three hole cards instead of two. Once the flop is dealt, you must discard one of the cards, giving you a chance to land more strong combinations after the flop.
Pineapple Poker is ideal for players who find regular Texas Hold’em games a bit too mundane and who like seeing many flops.
With three cards dealt instead of two, you will get a lot more hands that have at least one playable component, allowing you to play looser if the stakes are not too high.
As a novice poker player, you should focus on playing Pineapple Poker for fun instead of profit, as the game is quite complicated if you want to play it perfectly.
All new poker players should give Pineapple Poker a shot, as it generally creates a lot more entertainment and drama while still being similar enough that you won’t need to learn a whole new skill set.
What Game Should I Play?
With so many different poker variations to choose from, finding the right game is more a matter of personal preference than anything else.
The truth is that some poker games are harder to grasp and less fun to play than others, but different players enjoy every type of poker.
Popular poker games like Texas Hold’em and Omaha are easily the best choices for new players getting into poker, as knowing how to play them will allow you to play often and pretty much anywhere in the world.
On the other hand, if you only play poker home games occasionally with a small group of friends, there is no harm in trying any poker format and seeing what works best for you.
The most important thing, if you are a beginner, is to not play for any stakes that are above your means and to always limit your losses. Play poker as a hobby for the time being, and you can have fun with it for years to come.
