Outside all the glitz and of casino gambling, the lights of Las Vegas, and the high stakes of tournament poker, there is a large group of people who play “junk poker.” While it is officially known as dealer’s choice poker, this nickname has stuck.
Dealer’s choice poker is an interesting game, largely because the game changes every hand. The deck is passed around the table each hand and the new dealer chooses the game for that hand. The pots for these types of poker games are generally very small and the games are generally played among family and friends.
So, is there any benefit from playing junk poker? If you think about, there are many ways in which playing junk poker could be very beneficial to even the serious gambler. Here are just a few of the benefits:
Practice, Practice, Practice
Dealer’s choice poker, with it’s low stakes and friendly environment, allows the player to learn new strategy and practice putting that strategy into effect (against real people, not computer intelligence) and enjoy the game without the risk and pressure of a Vegas casino environment.
Variety is the spice of life after all.
Junk poker encourages players to learn new variations of poker and expand the number of games they can play. Often, players can discover a new variant that they really enjoy just playing dealer’s choice with friends. Also, knowing how to play all the esoteric games increases a player’s understanding of the games they play regularly. In most poker games, the hand rankings are the same, and the odds are inter-related, so playing more and more different games makes a player better at poker in general. In dealer’s choice, it is not uncommon to play Hold ‘Em, five card, seven card, draw, stud, guts, and even casino games like blackjack all in the same half-hour.
So try it sometimes, just get together with some friends and just play whatever game comes to mind, you won’t be sorry.