What is the Best Poker Game For You?

Poker is a fascinating game with many formats and variations. If you’re a new player, it can be overwhelming to find the poker games best for you. But this expansive choice, especially when it comes to online poker, needn’t be a burden.

Here, we take you through the factors to consider when deciding what to play. We’ll also walk you through the most popular poker games and why they could be a suitable choice.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Poker Games

When deciding which poker game you should learn to play, you need to consider three personal factors. Firstly, and most importantly, you need to figure out which type of game you enjoy playing and studying.  Second, you want to find games fitting in with the free time you have to play. Third, you need to find a game and stakes that fit within your bankroll.

How do I know what poker game I will enjoy the most?

In a way, this is the simple part. To find out what poker games you enjoy the most, try playing them all.

You can either test out poker games for free with Play Money, or try them at their lowest stakes. You’ll soon get to know the different types of poker game and develop your preferences.

Many players enjoy the thrill of Texas Hold’em, which strikes a balance between chance and strategy. Omaha poker is also a solid choice. Later, we’ll cover the most popular poker games in more detail so you know where to start.

How much free time do you have?

The type of poker games you play will depend on the amount of free time you have. In cash games, you can jump in and out whenever you see fit. Poker tournaments are much more of a time commitment and usually take several hours, or even multiple days to complete.

Thankfully, there are plenty of online poker games fast enough to play within a few minutes or an hour. Games like Spin & Gos and turbo Sit & Gos are among the fastest options.

As well as thinking about how much free time you have, it’s important to consider how long you want to play for. And whether you can hold your focus throughout a full poker game of a particular type.

Here’s an idea of how you can spend the free time you have playing poker.

*All games are based on playing one table.

What stakes should I play?

If you’re a recreational player playing for fun, you don’t need a big bankroll to enjoy poker. But if you’re hoping to become a serious player, you’ll need a much higher bankroll to stay in the game.

Bankroll management is about setting aside funds for playing poker. Then sticking to stakes well within your limit. You want a bankroll that can support dozens or even hundreds of games at your chosen stakes.

The below table shows what games and stakes you should consider playing depending on your bankroll. It’s based on a player who is taking poker seriously, but who doesn’t use poker as their sole source of income.

*PokerStars frequently offer free-to-enter tournaments, allowing you to win tickets to real money tournaments. 

In the above chart, it’s suggested you have 100x buy-ins for big tournaments, on account of higher variance. If you do get tempted to take shots at higher buy-ins, you can do so by attempting to satellite your way into the field.

Spin & Gos, meanwhile, need a minimum of 50x buy-ins. It’s recommended to have 50x buy-ins available for Sit & Go tournaments. In larger field SNGs, such as 45 or 90-player games, you are approaching multi-table tournament territory. You’ll be looking for a higher level of protection against downswings.

The suggested bankroll for Cash Games would be a minimum of 25x full buy-ins (eg. $2 at $0.01/0.02). Ideally we’d have at least 40x to be comfortable.

Everyone has different guidelines when it comes to bankroll management. The truth is, bankroll management is unique for everyone. These are guidelines you can adapt to suit your own needs and goals.

Be aware a beginner shouldn’t jump into high stakes games because they have the bankroll to afford it. The competition is tougher at higher stakes, so it’s wiser to start at the micro or low stakes and work your way up as your skill level improves.

Choosing a Poker Variation

The most popular of all poker games is Texas Hold’em. The game provides an immense amount of strategical depth, yet is simple to learn. Texas Hold’em can be found in nearly every casino and there are hundreds of online games to pick from.

Texas Hold’em is far from your only option when it comes to poker. You should definitely consider trying some of the other popular poker games. Here’s a rundown:

Texas Hold’em – Players receive two hole cards and a total of five community cards are dealt on the board during the hand. Texas Hold’em has universal appeal and is a good starting point if you are new to poker. You’ll find plenty of resources online to improve your strategy, as well as loads of games both live and online.

Omaha – Omaha poker is like Texas Hold’em. It also has five community cards and four betting rounds. The main difference is players receive four hole cards instead of two. That presents many more combinations (270,725) of possible starting hands. You’ll make strong hands more often, but so will your opponents. It’s another great choice, although more complex.

Seven Card Stud – In Seven Card Stud, players receive seven cards over the course of the hand, three face down and four face-up. Seven Card Stud is less about big risks and there’s not as much emphasis on bluffing. Instead, hand selection, hand reading skills and pot odds are important. Seven Card Stud is less popular than its rivals Texas Hold’em and Omaha Poker. It can be difficult to find live games, although you should have no trouble online.

Draw poker games – Draw poker games again take a different format. Players receive starting cards and can then choose how many to discard. In Five Card Draw, for example, players receive five cards and can draw once. In 2-7 Triple Draw, there are two opportunities to draw and an additional betting round. Draw games are one of the most basic types of poker to learn. They’re not hugely popular, but are often incorporated into mixed game formats.

Tournaments versus cash games

One of the main choices you’ll make when deciding on games is between tournaments and cash games. Both follow the same basic poker rules, but there are differences between the two.

In tournaments, you pay a set entry fee in exchange for tournament chips. To see any returns you have to outlast your opponents and make the money. The biggest prizes are on the final table. That’s where you could win tens, hundreds or even thousands of times your buy-in.

In cash games, you can buy in for any amount within the parameters for those stakes, usually anything from 20-100 big blinds. Each hand is played for cash and you can walk away from the tables whenever you choose.

In terms of gameplay, blinds increase in tournaments, putting pressure on players’ stacks and forcing the action. In cash games, blinds stay the same throughout and stacks tend to be deeper. You may prefer one or the other, or choose to mix and match.

Here’s a rundown of why you would choose tournaments or cash games:

Tournaments

• Huge potential payouts
• Exciting format in which blinds force the action
• Strategical decisions based on ever-changing stack depths
• Can be time consuming
• High variance, especially in large field tournaments

Cash Games

• Deep stack strategy
• Less variance than tournaments
• Flexibility – can start and leave at any time
• Arguably less exciting than tournaments
• No change to blinds or progression of game

Tournament structures and betting limits

If you prefer tournaments, be aware each has different betting limits, game speeds and features. Here’s what to look out for when deciding on the right tourney:

Betting limits

Betting limits refers to the amount you can wager during each round of betting. Here are the three main types of betting limit:

• No limit – In no limit Hold’em and other no limit poker games, there is no maximum bet. You can bet up to the entire value of your stack. This makes for the most exciting, yet also high risk moments, such as all in bets.
• Pot limit – In limit games such as Pot Limit Omaha, the maximum bet is restricted to the size of the current pot. This still makes for huge pots. But they are often built over the course of several betting rounds and there are less preflop all ins.
• Fixed limit – In fixed limit games, such as limit Hold’em and draw poker, players bet a predetermined amount known as a small bet or big bet. It’s much harder to inflate the pot or move all in. Bets are smaller and hands often have the pot odds to draw.

Game Speed

When we talk about game speed, this relates to the time you have available for poker. As well as your ability to focus for the duration of a game. We’ve covered which games to play depending on how much time you have in the table above.

When it comes to tournaments, the game speed can vary depending on the blind structure:

• Normal/Slow – Online tournaments with generous stacks and slow blind structures will often take eight to 12 hours to complete. So you should only play these if you can dedicate the full amount of time.
• Turbos – Turbos take the time pressure off tournaments. You can play these in around four to five hours start to finish, even less if the fields are small.
• Hyper turbo – Hyper turbos take the turbo structure to the next level with even faster blinds. They can be over in a couple of hours and are ideal if you lack the time or energy to commit to longer games.

Bounty formats

Bounty tournaments are all the rage in poker right now. They offer the chance to win instant prizes by knocking other players out. This takes away from the main prize pool, but can allow you to win back your buy in more easily and gain loads of prizes when you go on a heater.

There are a few different types of bounty tournament to choose from:

• KO – A percentage of player’s buy ins goes to bounties, such as 50 percent. If you eliminate a player, you take their entire bounty.
• PKO – Similar to KO. In this case, though, you win half of the player’s bounty immediately and the other half is added to your own bounty total. Bounties get more valuable as the game progresses.
• Mystery Bounty – Bounty prizes only come into play once the bubble has burst and the tournament has reached the money. At that stage, knocking out a player earns you a mystery envelope containing a prize that could be small or huge. This adds a lotto element that puts some off and appeals to others.

How much time should I spend playing vs. studying?

Again, this is different for everyone. Some players prefer to learn by actually playing at the tables. The more hands they play, the more situations arise and the more experienced they become.

Others prefer to learn by reading articles and book, or taking courses. You can also get involved in communities and forums. Talk about hands with friends and other poker players. Or even watch Twitch streamers who give you an insight into how pros play.

As a beginner player, it’s important to dedicate at least 60% of your time to poker study and the rest to play poker. The study aspect should be split, allowing you to review your hands, learn new strategies and discuss these with friends and other players.

Have fun and keep poker exciting

Set yourself fun challenges. This will not only keep the game exciting whilst you’re improving your play, but also keep you on track to reach your goals.

Tournament Challenge

Decided you want to play poker tournaments? If you have several hours per day (and a $200 bankroll) a fun challenge could be to play a mixture of $1.10 satellites into the Sunday Million, as well as standard $1.10 Turbo Tournaments.

This way you could spend your study time improving your tournament poker. And you’ll have the excitement of trying to win a seat into the Sunday Million.

Spin & Go Challenge

Set yourself a target, such as ‘play 50 x $0.25 Spin & Go’s in one week’. Perhaps even ask a friend if they want to take the challenge with you – loser buys the lunch! When lunch arrives, you can both sit down and discuss strategy, learn and improve each other’s games.

Chart your progress!

Armed with your knowledge of games, stakes your bankroll allows for and the time you can afford to spend playing, keep a progress tracker. This way, you can set yourself a number of games/sessions to play in a day/week. Then check your results and note your profit/loss numbers and any trends in your results.

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