I've been around Texas Hold'em all my life, and for a while it was the only game I really cared about. In the past year I've gotten sick of hold'em and have been way more interested in Omaha and it's many variants. I'm able to play Omaha online and at my home games I run, but my local casino NEVER runs PLO games. Hold'em is the only game people seem to care about. I'm aware there are omaha games that run in some of the bigger cities around the US, but it's annoying that I would have to travel out of state to even play live PLO. It seems like there may be a bit of a poker boom happening again with the new access to online poker again in the US and the many popular poker vlogs and live streams. But everything is still centered around NLH. Will PLO ever become more popular? Or will it remain overshadowed by Hold'em for the foreseeable future? I'm curious to hear what people think. Maybe PLO is actually more prevalent than I realize, and I'm just in a bad location.
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Will No Limit Hold'em always be king? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter skipton
- Start date
If you hang around here too long, probably not. I play holdem with my regulars, but I usually don’t if I meet with PCFers …. Except for an occasional holdem tourney in the middle of a meetup, it is usually a Circus 
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Old State
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Holdem I believe is the final evolution of the game based on the traditional 5 card hand. Stud improved greatly upon 5 card draw as it added more skill The issue is it requires you memorize cards other fold to play optimally. Hold’em is really the perfect version of poker.
I’m 51 and play with some of the same guys for 25 years. We all learned poker with circus games (which I hated) and then 7 card stud (which first got me hooked in poker). We switched to holdem as it got popular and no one has ever asked to change games. We tried PLO around 2006-7 era but no one liked it enough to continue
I host a monthly game and settled on $1/1 NLHE $120 max buyin as the perfect stakes for a healthier game having host higher and lower over the years. The game has got very popular post COVID and I now have to cap the Evite at 10 as 14 signed up and 2 tables is tight in my basement setup.
We play only holdem and the games often go to 3am. No one ever ever gets tired of it.
I think there are card game players that like poker and just straight up poker players. We definitely seem to be the latter.
I’m 51 and play with some of the same guys for 25 years. We all learned poker with circus games (which I hated) and then 7 card stud (which first got me hooked in poker). We switched to holdem as it got popular and no one has ever asked to change games. We tried PLO around 2006-7 era but no one liked it enough to continue
I host a monthly game and settled on $1/1 NLHE $120 max buyin as the perfect stakes for a healthier game having host higher and lower over the years. The game has got very popular post COVID and I now have to cap the Evite at 10 as 14 signed up and 2 tables is tight in my basement setup.
We play only holdem and the games often go to 3am. No one ever ever gets tired of it.
I think there are card game players that like poker and just straight up poker players. We definitely seem to be the latter.
extreme517
Straight
@skipton You know I only like games with a minimum of 4 hole cards. I definitely need to drag you out to @Josh Kifer 's next year and then watch your brain melt at the games @RocAFella1 comes up with...LOL!
skipton
Sitting Out
I'd love to come out and play some of the insane games. Sounds super fun
legend672
Full House
5 card draw and 7 card stud are way better games than Texas Hold em
ekricket
Royal Flush
Go to meetups. Close this thread
ashetoother
High Hand
NLH will probably always be king. Part of its beauty is how easy it is to learn and get people playing quickly.
Labrat
Straight
7 card stud 8 is my favorite game and the most often called at the table.
skipton
Sitting Out
LOL love this. Bob Ciaffone said "If Texas Hold'em is the Cadillac of poker games, then pot limit Omaha is the Rolls-Royce."
Yes.
upNdown
Royal Flush
Right. And once people learn some basics, they feel like they’ve mastered the game. That’s important - people can be reluctant to play a game for money, when they think they’re at a disadvantage. So yeah, I think because of the simplicity of Holdem, it will remain king. But that’s a good thing - it means you can walk into any poker room and immediately sit down and play, because there are always multiple Holdem tables going.
Other games are fun too, but that’s neither here nor there.
When NLHE got harder to beat (pool of good players deepened), the "innovators" switched to PLO. It seems to me most of the circus variations are Omaha-based anyway.
When our game began in 2001 in the college apartment, we played a lot of 7-Stud, and variations of it (and it was all no limit, showing how little we knew ... now we play it spread limit). We played some Hold'em because "that's what they play at the World Series" and it made its way into the cash games, and became the exclusive tournament game because it was easiest to run a tournament in.
In a current broader sense, NLHE remains king, but in niche corners like ours, I'm not sure it is anymore. What will it be like in 20 years? 10? 5? I have no damned idea.
When our game began in 2001 in the college apartment, we played a lot of 7-Stud, and variations of it (and it was all no limit, showing how little we knew ... now we play it spread limit). We played some Hold'em because "that's what they play at the World Series" and it made its way into the cash games, and became the exclusive tournament game because it was easiest to run a tournament in.
In a current broader sense, NLHE remains king, but in niche corners like ours, I'm not sure it is anymore. What will it be like in 20 years? 10? 5? I have no damned idea.
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Yes
ekricket
Royal Flush
Haha they used to say that about Gin when it was spread in the casinos. “Everybody knows how to play Gin and it will always be popular”. Maybe in the 60’s.
Moxie Mike
Full House
The simplicity of HE is it's main selling points. It's also the most versatile. It works for tournament and cash formats, and is most suited to no-limit betting structures.
It also works best for TV. An audience completely unfamiliar with poker can immediately identify who's ahead and who's won the hand at showdown.
Most other games are enhanced by hi-lo split dynamics which complicates things - NLHE is not. Confusion = intimidation = resistance.
PLO is fairly popular but will never reach NLHE levels of acceptance. So many inexperienced players still see PLO as a crapshoot/card catching contest.
Yeah - in areas with larger poker communities PLO isn't hard to find. Most casinos/card rooms will run it, and it's common in private environments.
Old State
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Holdem is the perfect version of poker because it eliminates the most non skill related aspects of the game and reduces the luck factor the bare minimum that can be accomplished
You may have got bored with it but I strongly feel that is the objective factual truth. Omaha would be the next but the luck factor is significantly increased.
You may have got bored with it but I strongly feel that is the objective factual truth. Omaha would be the next but the luck factor is significantly increased.
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Frogzilla
Straight Flush
My guess is the dominance in TV/streaming as well as all the coaching/tutorials about it is probably going to keep it up top for the foreseeable future
suitedpair54
Waiting List
NLHE is my preference and I think is the foundation for poker to gain new players. I like PLO but I find that my local games don't know how to handle the pots and sometimes play no limit Omaha which to me is more bingo than poker.
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