Poker Ghetto

What’s H.O.R.S.E Poker?

HORSE poker stands for the following: H = Limit Texas Hold ‘Em, O = Limit Omaha Eight or Better (Hi/Lo), R = Razz Poker, S = Limit 7-Card Stud, E = Limit stud Eight or Better (Hi/Lo).

HORSE poker has been gaining popularity following the poker boom and influx of new and increasing ‘career’ players who have entered the poker circuit in recent years. As these seasoned players perfect the game of their choice, they look to branch out into other variations of poker to give themselves a well-rounded game or relieve boredom by mixing it up a bit. HORSE is perfect for this as it offers combination play of the above five games. Basically, for normal cash ring games, every time the dealer button completes a circuit of the table and returns to the original dealer, the game changes. So, you may have started out with Texas Hold ‘Em as your opening game and on completed rotation of the button, the game would change to Omaha Hi Lo and so on through the five games continuously. Tournaments usually see a change of game at the end of each round and in combination with the raising of the blinds.

Learn the rules

HORSE does require you to know the rules of the five games it consists of. Learning on the trot, so to speak, is quite difficult as no sooner are you getting into one game, it changes. You could end up having continual peaks and troughs depending on your strongest and weakest games in the mix. Your opponents will be changing gears all the time too, so reading them will be more difficult. However, HORSE is always played in a limit format so if your overall game is shaky, start at low limit tables until you’ve found your rhythm. Be warned – the games most beginner HORSE players often get caught out for are Razz and Omaha Hi/Lo, indeed, more accomplished HORSE players will actively cruise low stakes tables and watch for weakness in these games. Don’t enter thinking you can clean up in your strong games. Many players join HORSE tables regarding their Texas Hold ‘Em experience as their secret weapon – that often means Hold ‘Em is everybody’s strong game so you could get caught out using this strategy.

Two quick tips for Razz and Omaha Hi/Lo:

Top 10 best Razz hands

Razz is Seven Card Stud but with a key difference – the lowest hand wins the pot. Aces are low, flushes and straights have no ranking and the best possible hand is A-2-3-4-5, also known as the ‘bike’ or ‘wheel’. Take a look at the top 10 winning hands in Razz:

A-2-3-4-5
A-2-3-4-6
A-2-3-5-6
A-2-4-5-6
A-3-4-5-6
2-3-4-5-6
A-2-3-4-7
A-2-3-5-7
A-2-4-5-7
A-3-4-5-7

Best starting hands in Omaha Hi/Lo

Omaha Hi/Lo is very different to Texas Hold ‘Em in that you need to pick your starting hands for play wisely. In Hold ‘Em you can turn a diabolical hand into a pot winner. Hands that look strong are generally weak in Omaha Hi/Lo e.g. A-K-Q-J double suited would be a strong hand in Omaha Hi but it’s a questionable Omaha Hi/Lo hand as there is no chance of winning the low side of the pot. In Omaha Hi/Lo, your aim is to scoop the pot i.e. take both the high and low side of the pot. Splitting the pot returns barely more than you originally put into it. Here are 10 of the top starting hands in Omaha Hi/Lo (X represents any card):

A,A,2,3
A,A,2,X
A,A,3,X
A,2,3,4
A,2,3,X
A,2,K,K or A,2,Q,Q
A,3,4,5
A,A,4,5 or A,A,X,X
A,2,Q,K or A,2,K,J or A,2,X,X
A,3,K,K