As No Limit Hold’em poker games have become tougher and harder for many players to beat, some have branched out in search of both softer games and a new challenge. One popular variation that’s gained in popularity is HORSE poker, which stands for “Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Stud Hi/Lo, and Seven Card Stud Eight or Better.”
While this may be an intimidating mix of five different poker variants, it can actually be a lot of fun to play, particularly since each game is played for a set amount of time before the table rotates on to the next one. This process is generally completed in a single orbit (or one full rotation of the dealer button) and typically starts with Hold’em, moves on to Omaha Hi/Lo, then Razz, and finally ends with Stud Hi/Lo or 7 Card Stud Eight or Better.
When playing HORSE poker, players must be familiar with the rules of each of these different games. It’s also important to understand the betting structure that HORSE uses, which is fixed-limit. This means that bets must be made in a certain amount, so players can’t push other players out of hands as easily as they can in no-limit poker.
The first game in a rotation of HORSE poker is Hold’em, which is the world’s most popular poker game. In this form of the game, each player is dealt two cards and must use these in conjunction with community cards to construct a winning hand, going by traditional poker hand rankings.
In a HORSE game, Hold’em is played in a fixed-limit format, which means that the bets must be equal to or greater than the size of the big blind ($4 in a $4/8 game). There are two rounds of betting before the flop, and the player to the left of the button can raise up to half of the total bet ($8 in a $8/16 game).
After Hold’em comes Omaha Hi/Lo poker, another split pot game. In this form of the game, players receive four hole cards and must build a hand with two of them and three of the community cards. This game is also played in a fixed-limit format, and raises must be of the same amount as the previous player’s bet.
Next up is Razz poker, a low-pot game in which players must construct the lowest possible five-card hand over a series of betting rounds. This is a fixed-limit game like Omaha Hi/Lo, and raises must be of the same value.
The final game in a HORSE rotation is Stud Hi/Lo, which is a split pot game that’s similar to both Razz and Omaha Hi/Lo. In this game, players are dealt five community cards and must create a low hand that contains five unique cards 8 or lower to qualify for the low portion of the pot. This is also a fixed-limit game, and raises must be of the same size as the previous player’s bet.
