Best alternates/complementary games to NLHE? (1 Viewer)

[GamingWithChips]

I’ve tried to do a little research on alternate games to NHLE, but haven’t found too much online. I see a lot of names, and I can read the rules of most games but it’s hard to get a feel for the game.

So I thought I’d just ask for a recommendation from you guys. Basically, I’m looking for an alternate game to play to mix things up from always playing NLHE. Can someone recommend a game that is very simple like NLHE (ie quick and easy for NHLE players to pick up and understand), but is also different in a meaningful way?

Thank you!

 

[ES_Threeper]

Crazy Pineapple should be easy enough for your Hold em players to learn.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Omaha is the second most popular. 4 cards can only use two.

Super hold em is 3 cards, use as many as you like.

Otherwise, play some cowboy games. 5 card draw, 7 card stud.

 

[GamingWithChips]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

I was considering Omaha as I’ve heard of it a lot, it sounds fun but I really like the idea of being able to discard a card. It adds a layer of decision making that I haven’t considered for poker which I think sounds interesting.

I’ll have to force my players to do a night with 2-3 of these games to see how we like them.

Thanks again!

 

[Omar65]

You could add double board bomb pots to your game. We play one bomb pot an hour but most the guys in my game would do it every 30 minutes if they could.

We play $1/$2 blinds in the game but on the bomb pots we have a $5 ante. Everyone gets two cards as normal, and the $5 serves as the preflop bets.

Two boards are dealt, then the hand plays out as normal. Except that there is $40 in the pot already (we play 8-handed). There are two burns/turns and two burns/rivers. Pots can get big. Typically there are two winners (one for each board) but the real fun is when someone’s able to scoop the pot by winning both boards.

It’s still NLHE, so not exactly what you asked about, but it’s a way to still mix up the game a bit.

 

[Machine]

I get excited when people want to branch out from hold'em. I find hold'em to be small, not exciting. Hold'em as a game has been solved.

I would suggest there is an order or path to playing new games, especially for those less inclined to seek them out. I have a project I'm working on, and I'll post more about it later, but basically, there are new concepts with new games. There is an effective way to learn these things.

Start with Omaha, it forces you to 1) learn Pot sizing, or calculate the pot, and 2) most other games are based on Omaha and forced to play 2 cards from your hand. You'll learn about pot control and 'outs'.

One of the things I hate about hold'em is the gap between AA and QQ; it's statistically HUGE. Well, in Omaha, the best hand and an average hand, you're never really behind so badly that you can't win the hand. Omaha has more post-flop play, sure it's for stacks, but there are often more than two players vying for the pot post-flop.

There is a lot of fun to be had with Omaha. Once everyone understands it, and enjoys it, then look to move to other games.

I would only introduce pineapple as a stopgap for people who are too stubborn to get out of their own way, but it is a transition game from hold'em to Omaha and can help move players along.

 

[GamingWithChips]

You could add double board bomb pots to your game. We play one bomb pot an hour but most the guys in my game would do it every 30 minutes if they could.

We play very boring standard poker and since I’ve been creating my own set I’ve been wanting to add things like this in as well!

Start with Omaha, it forces you to 1) learn Pot sizing, or calculate the pot, and 2) most other games are based on Omaha and forced to play 2 cards from your hand. You'll learn about pot control and 'outs'.

One of the things I hate about hold'em is the gap between AA and QQ; it's statistically HUGE. Well, in Omaha, the best hand and an average hand, you're never really behind so badly that you can't win the hand. Omaha has more post-flop play, sure it's for stacks, but there are often more than two players vying for the pot post-flop.

There is a lot of fun to be had with Omaha. Once everyone understands it, and enjoys it, then look to move to other games.

I like that idea, thank you for explaining a bit more about Omaha. Our group loves family pots, we are not competitive gamblers looking to steal each others money, so having more people in post flop is always fun for us!

But yes, I have watched Chris Manzoni’s videos (and was really hoping he’d continue his series on alternate games, I think he was going to mostly do limit games) but he made sure to say many times “there is a lot of fun to be had, but be careful with PLO” haha.

Definitely have to try that out as a “transition” to other games. But also knowing our group they are content with poker, so I feel like only 1-2 variants will be enough to spice things up. I’ve seen people talk about circus game and dealers choice and it seems to make my head spin and I’m sure my players would just be like “why are you making this complicated, let’s just play poker!” lol

 

[Bacon Dad]

Crazy Pineapple should be easy enough for your Hold em players to learn.

Could you please explain how to read this card? I think I understand, but I’m not 100% sure.

 

[suchj0sh]

Could you please explain how to read this card? I think I understand, but I’m not 100% sure.

The bets being described as “sb” and “bb” make it kind of confusing, as it’s being described like a fixed limit game. 3 cards are dealt face down, round of betting, flop is spread, round of betting followed by each player discarding one of their hole cards face down. Turn and river play as regular hold’em.

Pineapple definitely works for a lazy group like mine. I think NL 5 Card Draw could work too, or NL 2-7 single draw if you can get a group of guys that care enough to learn a different form of hand ranking.

 

[TheYeti]

Could you please explain how to read this card? I think I understand, but I’m not 100% sure.

Players get 3 cards>betting round>flop>everyone discards one card from their hand>proceeds as usual

 

[ekricket]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

I was considering Omaha as I’ve heard of it a lot, it sounds fun but I really like the idea of being able to discard a card. It adds a layer of decision making that I haven’t considered for poker which I think sounds interesting.

I’ll have to force my players to do a night with 2-3 of these games to see how we like them.

Thanks again!

You should consider three handed holdem.
You get six cards.
You form three holdem hands. Once set the cards cannot be moved.
Betting is as normal except:
After the flop bet each person discards one hand.
After the turn bet another hand is discarded, leaving only one hand for the river showdown

This game is kinda a deconstructed Omaha. It’s also useful to show how suited connectors fare vs pairs vs junk.

 

[mickeydoo98]

We play very boring standard poker and since I’ve been creating my own set I’ve been wanting to add things like this in as well!


I like that idea, thank you for explaining a bit more about Omaha. Our group loves family pots, we are not competitive gamblers looking to steal each others money, so having more people in post flop is always fun for us!

But yes, I have watched Chris Manzoni’s videos (and was really hoping he’d continue his series on alternate games, I think he was going to mostly do limit games) but he made sure to say many times “there is a lot of fun to be had, but be careful with PLO” haha.

Definitely have to try that out as a “transition” to other games. But also knowing our group they are content with poker, so I feel like only 1-2 variants will be enough to spice things up. I’ve seen people talk about circus game and dealers choice and it seems to make my head spin and I’m sure my players would just be like “why are you making this complicated, let’s just play poker!” lol

I also like Omaha as good transition game, also Irish Hold'em which is popular.
I really enjoyed Chris Manzoni's videos and only recently found his channel. Hope he comes out with more soon.

 

[BigGrizz]

He's been inactive on YouTube for a while, but we all hope he goes back. I really want him to show off any of his new chips.

 

[ekricket]

Irish Hold'em

Is this where your cards just quietly disappear after the turn?

 

[mickeydoo98]

Is this where your cards just quietly disappear after the turn?

Bingo. Discard two cards post-flop.

 

[GamingWithChips]

Bingo. Discard two cards post-flop.

Your response is so cute because you missed ekricket's joke lol

 

[mickeydoo98]

Your response is so cute because you missed ekricket's joke lol

No lol I got it... "irish goodbye". Sorry you didn't see me laughing.
With a name like 'Mick' I practice the irish goodbye quite often.

 

[GamingWithChips]

Damn, now I'm the clown lol

 

[odorf]

Once per round, we played a special game where everyone posted 5 BB. The hand was played on 2–3 boards, with at least one always being Omaha. The game was pot-limit, and the preflop was dealt face-up before the first betting round.


Variants included: 2× Omaha; 3× Omaha; 5-card Omaha with a Stud hand; and 5-card Omaha with both a Stud hand and a 49 hand.


When playing three boards, we usually used a majority-win rule: winning 2 out of 3 boards wins the entire pot.

Another variant: each player is dealt six cards and must split them into a 2-card hand and a 4-card hand. The game is then played as Hold’em and 4-card Omaha, using the same community cards.

By the way, during the first few rounds, players who weren’t familiar with Omaha kept making the same mistake: forgetting that you must use exactly two cards from your hand.