Guide for H.O.R.S.E Poker Tournaments
and Cash Games
written by BeatTheFish.com
...Fishy says, "A Horse is a horse, of
course."
In the inaugural
$50,000 buy-in HORSE poker tournament event at the 2006 World Series
of Poker, Chip Reese beat out fellow high-stakes cash game players
like Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey to take the title. The event made
headlines for bringing back professional purity to a tournament now
known for being a lottery of online amateurs and many have taken an
interest in this classic but obscure form of poker. HORSE is an
acronym for mixed games. The letters stand for: Limit Hold’em (H),
Omaha H/L (O), Razz (R), 7 Card Stud (S), and
Stud 8/b (E).
While the wealthiest professional often play mixed limit games in
the biggest cash games in the world, HORSE can be difficult for the
rest of us. Here are a few reasons why:
1. HORSE is
a limit game. For tournament play (or even cash game play in my
case) most of us are used to no-limit. This means that you can’t
defend as much against draws or extract as many chips as you might
have been able to in no-limit.
2. Many of
us are unfamiliar with games like Razz or Stud Eights or Better,
which are both incorporated as the R and E of HORSE.
If you’re weak or completely clueless at certain games, you’ll have
a major disadvantage.
3. You’re
forced to switch off between games every round. If you aren’t paying
attention (especially with the Stud games) you could be playing a
different game than the rest of the table.
4. All
HORSE games are filled with draws. This can both work for and
against you.
That being said, HORSE is an extremely fun and addicting form of
poker. While I’m coming from the same area as most of my readers
(playing strictly no-limit Hold’em), I’ve enjoyed learning how to
play HORSE and I’ve played several small-stakes tournaments played
in the mixed-game format. As far as I know, HORSE is played in both
tournament and cash game varieties at
PokerStars.
HORSE tournaments are also played at
Full Tilt
Poker.
While I haven’t become an expert at mixed games as of yet, I feel
like I’m picking up the flow of the game and have been improving in
my tournament results. I’d like to give some HORSE tournament
strategy tips for those of you wanting to pick the game:
-Limit Hold’em (H): While many players are already regulars
in limit hold’em cash games, many of us have come to prefer no-limit
both in cash games and tournaments. If you aren’t in practice with
limit, you should realize that draws are much more common, pots are
smaller, and bluffing is much less important. If you are unsure if
you have the best hand on the river in limit, it is almost always
worth it to call a single bet as you’ll frequently be getting 10:1
pot odds or better. Finally, slowplaying rarely improves your value
in limit hold’em (especially against multiple opponents) as there
aren’t many opportunities to build a big pot and you’re voluntarily
giving a free card to draws.
-Omaha High/Low Split (O): Omaha H/L is played like Hold’em
but each player is dealt 4 cards and you must play 2 of them. The
best high hand splits the best low hand and it is possible to have
both. You can use different cards for the high and the low. To
quality for a low hand, your hand must have 5 cards 8 or lower. The
best possible low hand is A,2,3,4,5. While it is easy to play too
many hands in Omaha, in High/Low you should restrict your starting
hands to those that can win both the High and the Low. Great
starting hands include A,A,2,3 or A,K,2,3 with both suited Aces.
That way, you can make the nut flush, a strong full house, and/or
the nut low hand. Remember that pairs count against a low hand so
there must be 3 unique cards under 8 to qualify.
-Razz (R): This is 7 Card Stud played only for the low. The
best hand in Razz is A,2,3,4,5 and this can be a very tricky game.
Otherwise solid mixed-game players can lose massive amounts of chips
in this game if they aren’t careful. In fact, the nickname for Razz
amongst pros is “The Hated Game”. You shouldn’t even consider
playing a starting hand that doesn’t contain 3 unpaired cards lower
than 8. Remember that you need 5 low cards to even qualify, so you
should easily release a hand if you’re drawing cards like Queens,
Kings, or Jacks. Some players don’t even know the rules to this
game, so be on the lookout for clueless opponents who have 3 Queens
and an Ace showing. In this situation, you might have the best hand
with a 9 or 10-high.
-7 Card Stud (S): This is the classic high-card Stud game.
The best possible starting hand is A,A,A and you can play this game
with the drawing odds you’ve learned from Hold’em. Remember that
even a pair of unimproved Aces rarely wins the pot. The average
winning hand in Stud is 2 pair, so continue to pay attention to your
opponents’ betting patterns and their exposed cards.
-7 Card Stud Eights or Better (E): This is another name for
Seven Card Stud H/L. This is the third HORSE game where you’ll need
to pay attention to the low. As in Omaha H/L and Razz, the low hand
must contain 5 unique cards 8 or lower to qualify. The low hand
splits the pot with the high hand and it is possible for one player
to scoop the entire pot. Good starting hands in 7 Stud 8/b include
A,2,3 or A,A,2. The best possible hand is a straight flush:
A,2,3,4,5. A more realistic, and usually unbeatable hand, is just a
wheel straight.
In HORSE tournaments, you’ll need to pay attention to the changes in
games and adjust accordingly. Most HORSE events are Turbo, so the
stakes will rise every few hands or minutes in order to speed up the
game. If you’re weak in any particular game, make an effort to learn
the rules and watch to see hands that consistently win. While they
may initially be a challenge, HORSE is a great way to expand your
ability to play mixed games, take a break from Hold’em, and perhaps
find another type of game that you’re strong enough to play in cash
games.
Back to
Poker Strategy
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