Non Hold'em games (1 Viewer)

[Rakrul]

So my home game has always done Hold'em. We started around the pokerboom and played FL until we eventually moved over to NL. During the pandemic we fired up PMavens and have dabbled a bit into the various PLO variants but online only. I've been trying to get some enthusiasm around stud but they won't bite as going back to FL seems to be the last thing they want. If they can't shove pre or flop, and double up, it's meaningless it seems.

I've been looking at abby99's mixed-game cards to prepare in case people want to play it live as well. I've also seen people here refer to circus game(s?) but I have no idea what it's referring to. Is it just a term for every game but HE? Anyways, it seems like many of the variants that are popular here, are FL games? Educate me!

 

[TheBigTater]

There is soooo much more to the poker world besides the limited scope of Hold Em' either fixed limit or no limit. First suggestion is to read and try to familiarize yourself with a lot of the (so called circus games) mixed games. You can find a pretty good list of them here: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/resources/abby99s-mixed-game-cards.45/

Oh well never mind you have already found Abby's mixed games list.......

 

[Beakertwang]

Circus games just basically refers to lots of different games. A good gateway game for my crew was double board crazy pineapple. SOHE (simultaneous Omaha/Hold'em) is another good one. You may want to play a lot of these fixed limit, or lower your stakes to make the losses more bearable. For instance, if you typically play .25/.50 NLHE with a $50-100 buy-ins, you could play 1/2 fixed limit mixed games, or play 5¢/10¢ or 25¢/25¢ pot limit with $20 max buy-ins. I've found the mixed games are good for engaging players as more people are chasing more hands, but they can be frustrating to players used to straight NLHE.

 

[SteveEH]

I've taken my group, which is mostly poker noobs/people that don't study the game/gamble, from fixed limit Hold'em to include pineapple variants and Omaha. I'd recommend starting the pineapple as it's similar. We've been playing spread limit .25-$5 and pot limit lately.

 

[TheBigTater]

Omaha variants and some of the pineapple games are an easier to stomach change of pace gateway for HE players to move towards mixed/circus games.

Here is a good flow chart by @inca911 that shows a good transition to mixed games: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/beginners-gateway-mixed-game-rotation.36296/#post-668326

 

[Rakrul]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.
We did play some Crazy Pineapple many years ago, but some people didn't really like it.

So are you guys playing these variants mostly as fixed, pot or no-limit? I'm guessing some of these games would lead to a lot of all-ins on flop in my crew if they're NL.

 

[Frogzilla]

Circus games is usually used for a variant that’d we all kind of raise an eyebrow to see it spread at a casino. I don’t consider PLO a circus game. 6 card PLO8 with a 2 card turn (6 card board) on the other hand…

Pot limit with microstake blinds is more common but fixed limit, but normal limits, is probably a better game

 

[churlbut18]

I definitely prefer (fixed) limit for mixed/circus games. Below is a nice progression to transition Hold’em only players to mixed Hold’em & Omaha variants:

Hold’em (2 card)
Double-Board Hold’em (2 card, Split)
-
Pineapple (3 card)
Crazy Pineapple (3 card)
-
Omaha Hi (4 card)
Double-Board Omaha Hi (4 card, Split)
-
5-Card Omaha Hi (5 card)
5-Card Double-Board Omaha Hi (5 card, Split)
-
Dra2maha (5 card, Split, Draw)
SOHE (6 card, Split)