Names of Poker Games: Why We Call Them That and Which Ones Actually Matter

You’re sitting at a grease-stained felt table in a basement, or maybe you’re scrolling through a slick app on your phone, and you see it: Anaconda. Or Chicago. Or the ever-present Texas Hold’em. Ever wonder why? Poker isn't just one thing. It’s a messy, sprawling family tree of gambling that’s been evolving since the early 19th century. Honestly, the names of poker games are often more interesting than the hands themselves. Some are named after cities where they supposedly started, others after the way the cards move across the table, and a few are just weird linguistic leftovers from a time when cheating was considered part of the strategy.

Poker started in New Orleans. Or maybe it was a Persian game called As-Nas. Historians like David Parlett have spent years debating this, but the consensus is that the French settlers in Louisiana brought Poque, which sounds suspiciously like "poker" if you say it with enough bourbon in your system. From those muddy riverbanks, we got a localized explosion of variants.

The Big Three: Names of Poker Games You See Everywhere

If you walk into a casino today, you’re mostly going to see three names.

Texas Hold’em is the undisputed king. It wasn't always. Back in the 1960s, it was just a game played in Robstown, Texas. When it moved to Las Vegas, the "Texas" part stuck because it sounded rugged and dangerous. Before that, everyone played Seven-Card Stud. Stud is a brutal, grinding game where you see some of your opponent's cards but not all. The name "Stud" likely refers to the "standing" nature of the cards—they stay in front of you rather than being shared.

Then there’s Omaha. This is the game for people who think Hold’em is too boring. You get four cards instead of two. Interestingly, Omaha has nothing to do with Nebraska. It’s a variation of a game called "Twice Three," but when it landed in the Golden Nugget in Vegas, the name Omaha was used to differentiate it from other "tight" games. People like Robert Turner, a professional player who claims to have introduced the game to Bill Boyd (the legendary manager of the Golden Nugget), helped cement the name in the early 80s.

Why Do We Call It "Draw"?

Draw poker is the classic Western movie game. You know the scene: five cards, a smoky room, and someone gets shot for having an ace up their sleeve. The name is literal. You "draw" new cards from the deck to replace the trash in your hand. While it's largely disappeared from professional tournament circuits, Five-Card Draw remains the gateway drug for most kitchen-table players.

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The Weird, The Wild, and The Regional

Once you get away from the bright lights of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the names of poker games get significantly weirder.

Take Pineapple. It’s basically Hold’em with an extra card that you eventually have to throw away. Why Pineapple? Nobody knows for sure. It’s just one of those "island" names that stuck during the tropical-themed craze of mid-century Americana. Then you have Crazy Pineapple, where you keep the third card until after the flop. It’s chaotic. It’s messy. It’s exactly what the name suggests.

• Razz: This is Seven-Card Stud, but the worst hand wins. It’s miserable. The name sounds like a raspberry—a Bronx cheer to the traditional rules of poker.
• Badugi: This one comes from South Korea. It’s a four-card draw game where you want different suits and different ranks. The word roughly translates to a "black and white spotted dog," which is a pretty vivid way to describe a mismatched hand of cards.
• H.O.R.S.E.: This isn't one game, but a rotation. It’s an acronym for Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, and Eight-or-Better (Stud Hi-Lo). If you win a H.O.R.S.E. tournament, you’re basically a god of the felt.

The Logic (Or Lack Thereof) Behind Lowball Names

In most games, an Ace-High Flush is great. In Lowball games, you want the absolute bottom of the barrel. The naming conventions here are specific.

2-7 Triple Draw is often called "Deuce to Seven." It’s the "purest" form of lowball. You want a 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 that aren't the same suit. Why not a 6? Because a 6 would give you a straight, and straights count against you in this version.

Then there’s California Lowball, which is usually Ace-to-Five. In the Golden State, they decided that straights and flushes don't count against your low hand. It’s a friendlier, sunnier version of the game, hence the regional branding. It’s these tiny geographical shifts that created the massive library of names of poker games we navigate today.

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Why Mixed Games Are Taking Over

For a long time, if you said "poker," people assumed you meant Hold'em. But the high-stakes world is shifting. Go to the "Bobby’s Room" at the Bellagio (now officially renamed the Legends Room), and you won't see much straight Hold'em. You’ll see the 8-Game Mix.

This includes things like 2-7 Triple Draw and No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw. The naming here is functional. It tells you exactly how many times you can swap cards and what the betting structure is. "No-Limit" means you can shove your whole stack at any time. "Triple Draw" means you get three chances to fix your mistakes.

It’s less poetic than Mississippi Straddle or Cincinnati, but it’s what the pros use to separate the whales from the sharks.

The "Split Pot" Confusion

If you see "Hi-Lo" or "Eight-or-Better" attached to the names of poker games, prepare for a long night. These are split-pot games. Half the pot goes to the best hand, and the other half goes to the "low" hand—but only if the low hand is "eight or better" (meaning five cards with no card higher than an 8).

Omaha Eight-or-Better (O8) is the most famous of these. It's a game of "scooping." You want to win both halves. If you only win one, you're "chopping," and in a high-rake game, chopping is just a slow way to go broke.

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How to Choose the Right Game for Your Skill Level

Not all games are created equal. If you’re a math nerd, Omaha is your playground. There are so many permutations and "outs" that your brain will catch fire. If you’re a "people person" who likes to bluff and play the player, No-Limit Texas Hold’em is still the gold standard.

But if you want to have fun? Look for the "dealer’s choice" names. Guts. Baseball. Follow the Queen. These aren't "serious" poker games in the professional sense, but they are part of the cultural fabric. Baseball is a Seven-Card Stud variant where 3s and 9s are wild (3 strikes, 9 innings) and a 4 gets you an extra card (a walk). It’s ridiculous and usually involves a lot of laughing and a lot of losing money to your uncle.

Actionable Steps for Mastering New Poker Variants

Don't just stick to the same game every Friday night. Expanding your repertoire actually makes you better at your main game because it forces you to think about card removal and hand values in a different way.

1. Start with the "Omaha Transition": If you know Hold’em, move to Pot-Limit Omaha. It’s the easiest jump. Just remember: you must use exactly two cards from your hand and three from the board. You can't use just one like in Hold'em.
2. Learn the "Wheel": In almost all lowball games, the best possible hand is 5-4-3-2-A. This is called "the wheel." Memorize it. Seek it.
3. Track Your Results by Game Type: Use an app like PokerBankrollTracker. You might find you're a losing Hold'em player but a crushing Razz player. Some people's brains are just wired for the "low" side of life.
4. Watch the Mixed Game Streams: Check out the PokerGO broadcasts of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. You’ll see the names of poker games rotating every few hands. Watch how the best in the world, like Phil Ivey or Daniel Negreanu, adjust their aggression when the game flips from a "flop" game to a "draw" game.
5. Respect the "Hi-Lo" Split: Never play a split-pot game unless you are drawing to the "nut" (best possible) low and have a backup for the high. Playing for only half the pot is a mathematical trap that most amateurs fall into.

The world of poker is vast. Whether you're playing Short Deck (where the 2s through 5s are removed) or a classic game of Seven-Card Stud, the name tells a story of the game's history and its soul. Pick a new name tonight and see how it plays.