How to play H.O.R.S.E.

A wise owner of thoroughbred horses and a semi-regular player at NPP – The Wall – told me the secret to making a small fortune betting and investing in horses. The secret he said was to, “Start with a BIG fortune.”

This is a good thing to visualize when you start playing H.O.R.S.E. – the poker game.

There is talk that H.O.R.S.E. – with a $50,000 buy-in, but with a NL Holdem final table – will be the new ‘main event’ at the World Series of Poker. The professionals already consider the HORSE WSOP tourney the most prestigious bracelet of them all.

The format is a mix of limit poker in this rotation:
Hold'em,
Omaha eight-or-better,
Razz,
Seven-stud and
Seven-stud eight-or-better.

This all but ensures a wild tournament ride. Throw in the fact that Holdem, Omaha and Razz could be played pot limit instead of limit – and you have a statistical nightmare and brain drain for most players.

The game follows the rotation shown above. That is a key fact to remember. Some players may play much more aggressively in what they consider to be their ‘best’ game and much tighter in the game they don’t feel comfortable with. Take that into consideration when watching the table action.

Keep in mind that you usually cannot win the tournament the first time thru the rotation. The blinds are not big enough compared to the player’s stacks to make the kills. So collect chips if you get cards, but giving away chips early will hurt you on the next pass thru these games.

On the flip side, recognize that as the blinds increase in the later rounds of these limit games, even a simple call may make you pot committed. So raising or folding may be the only two options if you get on the short-stacked side of the players left.

Holdem I think you all have a handle on, so I will move onto the rest.

Omaha eight-or-better: Played like Holdem, but you HAVE to use two cards in your hand! There has to be 3 cards on the board 8 or lower and you have to have 2 cards that are lower than an 8 that DO NOT pair any of the low cards out there. For instance:

Board cards: A359K
Player 1 = 46KQ
Player 2 = A26T
Player 3 = A23J

Player One loses as his low cards give him hands of A3456 for low and pair of Kings for high.
Player Two wins low as his A2356 beats Player One’s A3456. Player Two does not use the Ace in his hand as it paired the board.
Player Three wins high as his two pair of Aces and Threes beat Player Two’s pair of Aces.

If the players have the same hands but the board was AA39K, there would be no low hand possible since there are only two unpaired cards under 8 showing. Player Three's full house would win the entire pot.

Razz is a 7-card stud – low only game where A2345 is the best hand. Straights and flushes do not count against the low cards but pairs do! You can win with a pair, but it is not likely.

Seven Stud is standard but the low man brings in the first bet. A pain when you get short stacked.

Seven-stud eight-or-better combines the rules of Omaha 8 or better (but all the cards are in your hand) and Seven Stud.

I hope this helps a little. I would like to see BOSHMER played:
Bagudi
Omaha eight-or-better,
Seven-stud
Hold'em
oMaha
sEven-stud eight-or-better
Razz

Now you have nearly every poker game dealt in the casinos – except Draw Poker. The action in the middle on each pass would be wild. Hell, lets put that in too – BOSHMERD – Nik Faldo