Online poker used to be relegated to just No-Limit Hold’em cash games but these days there are literally hundreds of variants available to poker players. Here’s a quick look at some of the most common types of poker games you will encounter online.

Cash Games vs. Tournaments

Every poker game that is offered online can be labeled as a tournament or a cash game (also known as a ring game). These two different poker games are vastly different in format and strategy.

Players buy into a tournament for an entrance fee and receive a select number of chips. When those chips are gone the player is out of the tournament. Those who place high will receive a cash reward. Tournament buy-ins vary from $.10 all the way up to $25,000.

In cash games players buy in and play with their money on the table. Everything they win from other players they can keep if they leave the table ahead. If a player loses his money he can rebuy. Stakes range from $.01/$.02 all the way up to $2,000/$4,000.

Below are a list of variants that can be played in tournaments or cash games and in some cases both.

Short-Handed

Usually a six-handed table that will tend to be more action-oriented than a table of nine or 10 players. Sometimes these games are also offered with a maximum of four or five players. Short-handed games exist in tournaments and cash games.

Limit or Pot-Limit

Cash games can also be played with limits in place to restrict the betting. In others words it’s impossible to lose your entire stack in one hand (unless you have a very small stack). Limit games are available in cash games or tournaments.

Heads-Up

Many consider heads-up poker to be the most pure form of the game. Heads-up is a one-on-one battle where one player wins and the other loses. It can be played in a sit & go style, across multiple tables in a shootout tournament or in cash games.

Sit & Go

A Sit & Go is a short tournament is usually made up of one table although some include multiple tables. The game begins as soon as there are enough players signed up. Many players prefer this form of poker because it's perhaps the least time-intensive variant.

Multi-Table Tournament

A multi-table tournament (MTT) lets players sign up for a certain period and when that time has expired the tournament begins. These tournaments usually take more time than Sit & Goes but the prizes are usually much better. These tournaments can range anywhere from 20 players up to 50,000.

Bounty

Bounty tournaments are simply MTTs where there is a bonus for busting certain players. Many online poker rooms put bounties on their pros in select tournaments to help generate interest.

Turbo or Super Turbo

Turbo tournaments are exactly what they sound like – sped up versions of regular Sit & Goes and MTTs. Starting stacks are usually very small and the blinds escalate at a rapid pace. These can quickly turn into a shove-fest.

Shootout

Shootout tournaments are essentially a series of Sit & Goes where the winners move on to the next round. For example in certain Shootout tournaments if you make it through five rounds you get to the final table where there is serious money to be won.