Poker Variant Rule Differences (NLHE / PLO / Short Deck / Stud)

A comparison of rule differences across Texas Hold'em and major poker variants: hole-card count, deck size, betting structure and special rules (e.g. flush beats full house in Short Deck; Omaha must use exactly two hole cards).

Variant	Abbr	Hole cards	Deck	Rule difference
No-Limit Texas Hold'em	NLHE	2	52	No-Limit Texas Hold'em is the most popular variant: each player gets 2 hole cards and forms the best five-card hand with 5 community cards; any bet up to a player's entire stack (all-in) is allowed at any time.
Pot-Limit Omaha	PLO	4	52	Pot-Limit Omaha deals 4 hole cards, but a hand must use exactly two of them plus three community cards; the maximum bet equals the current pot size.
Short Deck (Six-Plus) Hold'em	SDH	2	36	Short Deck (Six-Plus) Hold'em removes the 2s through 5s, using a 36-card deck; as a rule difference, a flush beats a full house in this variant.
Seven-Card Stud	7CS	3	52	Seven-Card Stud has no community cards; each player receives seven cards (mixed face-up and face-down) and makes the best five; it seats up to eight players.