If you’re familiar with Seven-card stud poker, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s a variation of this game that involves a twist of Texas Hold ‘Em. The game is called Iron Cross. Just like in Seven Card Stud poker, players use seven cards to create the best five-card hand possible. The only difference is that the game uses a rule from Texas Hold ‘Em wherein you use a community pile in building the hand.

Iron Cross starts with all players getting two cards face down and one card face up. Five cards are placed in the center of the table to be used as the community pile. As its name suggest, the cards will be placed in a cross formation – three cards arranged horizontally and the other three vertically. A round of betting will begin, starting with the player who has the worst face up card.

Once the first round of betting is over, one of the community cards in the cross is flipped over. You can choose to flip any of the cards, except the one in the center of the cross. Another set of betting starts, which is led by the player with the best poker hand using the community card.

Another card in the cross is turned over, particularly the card counterclockwise from the first card you flipped over. A new set of betting will begin, starting with the player who has the best hand. The next community card is revealed, followed by another round of betting. Continue to flip the community cards followed by a round of betting until all the cards in the cross are flipped over.

Once all cards in the cross are turned over, each player is dealt with one face down card. A final betting will start. The cards will be revealed and the player with the best five-card hand using three community cards and two of his own cards will be the winner of Iron Cross.

Billabong is another variation of Texas Hold ‘Em poker. Although Billabong is a lesser-played type of poker, anyone who’s looking for a new twist of Texas Hold ‘Em can enjoy this game. To introduce Billabong to your weekly poker night, you will need the basics – a deck of playing cards, poker chips and at least three players.

Just like in Texas Hold ‘Em, the first player on the left side of the dealer places a small blind bet, while the player to his left side places a big blind bet. Each player is given three cards face down and one card face up. The one to the left of the person who made the big blind starts the round of betting. After everyone has placed their bets, three community cards will be dealt face up in the center of the table. A new round of betting will start, but this time, the player to the left side of the dealer will start to place his bets.
A fourth community card is dealt face up and the player to the dealer’s left will start another round of betting. A fifth and final community card is dealt face up. The last round of betting starts again by the player to the dealer’s left.

The action begins at the showdown. The cards from all players are shown and the one who can make the best 5-card hand using 3 or 4 of his hole cards and 1 or 2 from the community cards wins the game and takes the pot home.

Just like any other variations of Texas Hold ‘Em, or poker games for that matter, it is important never to gamble more than you can afford to lose. As such, when playing Billabong, take all the rules and guidelines of Texas Hold ‘Em into play, so you’ll always have an enjoyable poker experience every time.

Due to the popularity of Texas Hold’em, variations of this game have begun to invade the world of poker. One of the variations is the Crazy Pineapple poker. If you’re familiar with Texas Hold’em, you’ll see that the only difference with Crazy Pineapple is that you get 3 hole cards and discard one of them in the middle of the game.

If you wish to take a new twist on Texas Hold’em, try Crazy Pineapple poker by placing blinds before a hand starts. Like Texas Hold’em, the player to the dealer’s left side should place the small blind followed by the person to his left with a bigger blind.

Three cards, called the hole cards, are now dealt face down to each player. Each player should check his hole cards to determine the strength of his hand. A round of betting will begin and the player to the left of the person who made a big blind will be the first one to make a move – either by making a bet or by checking. The betting will continue around the table until all players who are still in the hand has finished betting the same amount, which will be added to the pot.

The dealer will lay down the flop or the three community cards dealt face up in the center of the table. Another round of betting will begin until all active players have placed the same amount of pot. After the bets have been placed, each player will discard his chosen hole card before the play continues, just as with Texas Hold’em.

Winning a Crazy Pineapple poker game is just like winning a Texas Hold ‘em game – You have to have the best five-card hand using a combination of the five community cards and your two hole cards.