HORSE and Other Mixed Games Online

The top online poker rooms for mixed games such as HORSE, HOSE, HOE. HA, HO, and OE are Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, with PokerStars having the higher amount of mixed poker ring game traffic and Full Tilt having the higher amount mixed game tournament traffic. If you’re not familiar with HORSE or other mixed forms of poker basically each letter of the game stands for a different variant of poker with games rotating in order based on either a fixed amount of time or by number of hands. Here are the different games:

H – Texas Holdem
O. Omaha Hi/Lo
R – Razz
S – 7 Card Stud
E – 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo (Eight or Better)

Also mixed games that include Omaha Hi use the later A to represent that game.

Tips on Beating Online HORSE and Other Mixed Games

In other locations of this website we’ve included tips on beating each of the various games individually, see the left hand sidebar for specific games. In this section we’ll cover tips unique to beating the HORSE Games at both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.

A requirement to beating HORSE and other mixed cash games is to only play in games you have an edge in. Personally I’m a big fan of scouting poker tables and getting an idea of each player’s style long before ever taking a seat. In HORSE when scouting the table you’ll not only be looking for who the fish are, but you’re also attempting to spot weaknesses in good players games. In five game versions of mixed poker tables near all players will have a least favorite game and many of them have glaring weaknesses in that particular game. The first tip I have is to make a note each time a player sits out. This could provide a hint as to which game a player least prefers as it makes sense that if a player needs to get up to make a coffee or to use the bathroom they do so during a game they least prefer. By adding notes each time players sits out you’ll get an idea of which game is probably their weakest or at least their less preferred game and you’ll be able to key in on paying attention to that opponent during that particular game looking to spot their weaknesses.

It should go without saying that in order to beat HORSE or other mixed poker games you should be well versed in them all. My suggestion for learning all the games would be to first master Texas Hold’em and then work to master Omaha Hi/Lo and then 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. You’ll find that the best 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo players are usually those who can hold their own in just about any form of poker. The catch to this is the best way to master 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo is to master each of the other games included in HORSE as each emphasizes different skill sets that will make a player better at Stud Hi/Lo. This brings me to my next tip, if you’re a novice HORSE player, start your session during Holdem and leave the second time Stud Hi/Lo comes around. This way you’re playing each game two times while playing Stud Hi/Lo once without it being as obvious that you’re dodging playing the game that most advanced players are best at.

To be honest there is not much else I have as far as tips relevant to mixed games as a whole, so if you’re ready to get started playing HORSE head on over to the Full Tilt Poker website and get started.

The Growth in Popularity of Mixed Game Poker

Mixed Poker Games have grown in popularity over the past couple of years which is mostly attributed to the WSOP adding several mixed game events to their tournament line up. The biggest of these tournaments was introduced at the 2006 World Series of Poker where a $50K buy-in HORSE event was won by Chip Reese.

Chip Reese was considered by many of his peers including his good friend Doyle Brunson to have been one of the best players to ever have played the game. Reese died unexpectedly in his sleep on December 4, 2007 due to complications related to pneumonia. This prompted Harrah’s (the owner of the WSOP brand) to pay tribute to Chip Reese each year by giving the winner of the $50K HORSE event a special trophy called the David Chip Reese Award. The first winner of this award was Scotty Nguyen at the 2008 WSOP.

The WSOP has since added an additional $10K buy-in Mixed Game Championship and PokerStars has added an eight game mixed game championship to their WCCOP line up. All these changes are helping fuel the popularity of HORSE and other Mixed Games and as it looks now each of these games will continue to grow.