HORSE Poker Strategy



HORSE Poker is one of the most challenging variations of the game that can be played, earning it the nickname “The Hated Game” among professional players. Hated or not, HORSE is quickly making a big splash on the professional poker scene, in large part because it is a game that separates the true professionals from the amateurs.









HORSE Poker is actually a mixed game tournament that consists of five different forms of poker combined in a single game. The poker games that are combined to make HORSE Poker are:



(H) Holdem

(O) Omaha

(R) Razz

(S) Seven Card Stud

(E) Eight or Better (also known as Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo)



When playing HORSE Poker, the form of poker being played switches after a set increment. This is usually when the blinds increase after each timed round, but is sometimes changed each time the dealer button moves once around the table.



This unique combination makes HORSE Poker a particularly difficult form of poker to make, especially since most people are not on a professional level of play at one of more of these games. This makes it important to play strong during the rounds that feature a game you are good at playing, so that other rounds do not hurt you as much. For example, if you are great at Holdem and Omaha, you want to play strong during those rounds, not passive, so that your chip stack won’t be hurt as bad if you perform poorly during the Razz round.



Another important aspect of playing HORSE Poker is that it is absolutely imperative to pay close attention to when games are switched. If you aren’t careful, you could find yourself playing a different game than everyone else at the table, which will certainly come with disastrous results. This is especially true when the game switches from Seven Card Stud to the Hi/Lo version of the game.



HORSE Poker is a classic poker game, but one that had disappeared into obscurity in an age of televised Holdem Tournaments. HORSE Poker regained some of it’s popularity during the 2006 World Series of Poker. In 2006 the WSOP introduced a professional HORSE Poker event that carried a buy-in of $50,000.



The WSOP HORSE Tournament came as a result of complaints from the professional poker player community, who felt that the WSOP had been downgraded into an internet lottery for amateur players who won random seats at internet better sites. These players sometimes played based on blind luck, which was somewhat insulting to those who actually paid the $10,000 entry fee to be part of the tournament.



Due to complaints about professional vs. amateur players, the WSOP implemented the high stakes HORSE Poker Tournament, with incredible success. Because HORSE Poker can be a difficult game for even the top professional poker players to master, the event was one of the most interesting games the poker world has seen in a long time.



During that first WSOP HORSE Poker tournament, Chip Reese went on to beat out other high stakes poker players, including Phil Ivey and the legendary Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, to be the first professional player to put HORSE Poker on the WSOP map.



In the end, HORSE Poker is a game that continues to gain momentum and popularity on a consistent basis. Must of the market has grown tired of playing strictly no limit Holdem, and the limit rounds of the HORSE Poker tournament, leading up to the familiar no limit Holdem final table, makes HORSE a version of poker that waters the mouth of modern poker players.

By: Jerry G.

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