The Best Poker Variant?

So lately I've been dabbling more into pot limit omaha and 7 card stud. These feel like completely different games to holdem requiring different skillsets. I haven't gotten too deep into stud but Omaha is by far the most scientific and math intensive poker game I've played.

I've got a few questions.

First, in your opinion what is a poker variant you know (it can be as obscure as you want) that has a good balance of all the skills, and requires more skill than NLHE? Omaha is obviously much harder but due to the extreme closeness of equities between all hands it makes bluffing nearly impossible (and for this reason I don't see it as having a balance of math and creativity like holdem does). Not to mention that due to the close equities the variance is far too wild.

Stud on the other hand I haven't learned deeply enough to judge skill gap but I think the memorization aspect adds a new dimension of skill. However it feels like I'm playing too transparent of a game where hand selection matters too much and it's much harder to play the player than play your own cards (especially given that position isn't fixed and theredore matters less).

So question 2 is, which do you think requires a deeper strategy. Holdem or 7stud?

So if you know any, please suggest poker variants you think combine the best of all these variants and explain why (and don't have crazy variance like omaha does) . I dont care if it's obscure or if you created it yourself.

So far it seems holdem has the best balance of everything and the least variance, not sure about stud.

Sometimes, I played Omaha or Horse. But lately, I play only NL Hold'em. I think Hold'em is more interesting but also more complicated.

The issuse is it seems not many ppl playing other formats now. I mean back then there was limit holdem, 0/8 etc. Now its nl and pot limit omaha only.

I think the omaha is the best variant, it is very exciting to play this game, all the action there.

I’m unlikely to answer your questions) I only play MTT-SnG Hold'em. but yesterday I sat down to play AKR freeroll. it turned out to be PLO) in principle, without really knowing the combinations, I almost reached the prizes) I want to say that I liked it) it seemed to me that PLO is easier than Hold'em.

777jeton777 said:

I’m unlikely to answer your questions) I only play MTT-SnG Hold'em. but yesterday I sat down to play AKR freeroll. it turned out to be PLO) in principle, without really knowing the combinations, I almost reached the prizes) I want to say that I liked it) it seemed to me that PLO is easier than Hold'em.

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Omaha is definitely exciting but the swings are huge. Basically the more hole cards you have, the closer all your hands' equities become to your opponents' equities, as a result, that means you will face bad beats more often which creates a high variance. Also as a resukt of equities being close, you start to play more by math/odds and bluffing becomes less effective. In holdem, the equity gaps are massive. That's why i think omaha is a badly balanced game lol, it's mostly math and getting a clear read is nearly impossible often times.

Hold 'em is a popular 7 card stud, only with more ego. It is really the same thing. If you really want to explore Omaha, try Omaha 8. It makes Hold 'em look like poker with training wheels. I'll play Hold 'em for money, but that doesn't mean I enjoy the game at all.

Before the poker craze happen 5 card draw was very popular on tv and in recreational play. It seem to lose steam after holdem came along and dominated the poker scene.

omaha is poker with planty of variants and barley never you can with with hi card or one pair

I like poker a lot, holdem is the best, but I also like to vary from time to time with a Badugi and Razz game.




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Omaha Hi/Lo and Big O

Having played Big O for years has helped my NL Hold'em game immensely

Better at NLHE but Hi/lo game especially Big O can be situationally better (with less skilled players). 3/6 limit is best for learning the dangers which are many.

Key lessons to keep in mind:
Dangler is one card that doesn't play well with the others AK23 good A923 bad
Prime cards A2345 GOOD Broadway AKQJ10 GOOD Bandits 9876 (take your money)
4 cards make 8 2-card combos 5 cards make 24 combos (much more variance)
Dangler in Omaha means playing with half a deck because only 4 combos are "good"

omaha has a lot of variance, so I prefer holdem