Historically speaking, hold'em is still in the realms of being a poker fad, having succeeded stud and draw as the format of choice. Admittedly, hold’em shows no signs of going away and is in fact even more ubiquitous than many realise – Omaha is properly known as Omaha hold’em poker, and together with its bigger brother, it accounts for the vast majority of action taking place across casinos and online sites alike.

However, there have always been other variations popular in certain parts of the world and it’s well worth looking at them. Hold’em alternatives – which all consist of community cards and two to four hole cards, often with discarding at some point – force you to borrow aspects of strategy from both hold’em and Omaha and try to evaluate how to use them for yourself rather than according to what the book says.