| 15 November |
H.O.R.S.E: Where The Experts Face The Heat |
If there’s a game that is complex yet fascinating, it has to be H.O.R.S.E. Of all the poker games being played online, this game has found a place for itself as a favorite with many. H.O.R.S.E. Stands for Hold’em (H), Omaha (O), Razz (R), Seven-card Stud (S), and Seven-card Stud Eight (E). More players are experimenting with this mixed game structure in the online poker tournaments.
The final aim of any poker game is to make money. In H.O.R.S.E., you can make money either by betting high so everyone else folds, or by showing the best hand at the end of the game. But making money is not so easy with the player having to keep pace with and adapt quickly each time the game changes.
There can be a maximum of eight players at the table because that’s how many Seven-card Stud can accommodate. When playing H.O.R.S.E, the rotation of games is handled differently by the different poker sites. The rotation of games is decided by the time limit or by a hands limit for each game.
The complexity of dealing has not yet made H.O.R.S.E. popular at live casinos where hand held poker games rule the tables. The surge in its popularity online started after its inclusion in the 2006 WSOP, where a $50,000 buy-in was seen as a poker player’s true test of skill. Since then, it has taken the live and online poker world by storm and is found at major poker sites. Other variants of mixed games have emerged like HOSE (HORSE without the Razz), or H.A., H.O., H.O.E. or O.E.
One can be an H.O.R.S.E. player par excellence, if you know each game thoroughly, be able to switch from one game to another, focus on the strength and weaknesses of the opponents as well as self.
