If you are a poker fan, you might have heard of a poker variation known as H.O.R.S.E. poker. This is a variation played at the World Series of Poker. You may be wondering what is H.O.R.S.E. poker. In this variation of poker, there are five rounds played and each round has a different kind of poker. So, the first round is Hold’em followed by Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud High and Seven Card Stud High-Low Eight or Better, or Hi-Lo.
Basically, every time one full round is over, the game changes in H.O.R.S.E. poker. Usually in tournaments, the game can change either after each round is over, or after a set amount of time.
In order to player H.O.R.S.E. poker, you have to be an outstanding poker player. Otherwise, you will not last very long on the table. But then, this is true for any kind of poker.
When you look at it, H.O.R.S.E. poker is not really a poker game. It is a format of poker that requires a player to use different strategies for each round. It goes without saying that observation is a vital part of playing this format of poker. You have to observe how your opponents play, look for their weaknesses and then make use of those weaknesses.
There are many online casinos that offer H.O.R.S.E. poker as it is fast becoming popular. When it comes to learning strategies for playing this format, it goes without saying that you first have to learn the strategies for individual games used in H.O.R.S.E. poker. While Hold’em is one of the most popular formats of poker, not many poker players, especially beginners could have played Razz poker. So, if you are one of those, then it is time to learn some strategies of Razz before you try your hand at H.O.R.S.E. poker.
In case you did not know, Razz is a seven card stud. It is played just for its low hand. For beginners, this version of poker can be confusing, but if you are serious about H.O.R.S.E. poker, then you should learn the nuances of this game first before attempting to play H.O.R.S.E. poker.
Omaha hi-low and Seven Card Stud hi-low are poker variations where half the ante goes to the high hand and half the ante to the low hand. If you do not know these formats, then you first need to get familiar with them.
Usually it has been seen that many H.O.R.S.E. poker players come to play this format after mastering Hold’em. This means that this round would be a strong round koreapoker for all the other players too. So, do not attempt to play high stake games at the very beginning. It is advisable to go for middle stakes initially. Just make sure that you have the same limits that you had while playing Hold’em. This way you will not lose that much while playing H.O.R.S.E. poker initially. But bear in mind that there might be players who are good in all the variations used in this format of poker.
The first strategy for playing H.O.R.S.E. poker is to ensure that you can hold your end in each round of the game. If you are unable to do so, then you can be sure that you will lose money. That is it is important to first master the techniques and strategies of playing the individual games before coming in a H.O.R.S.E. poker room.
In the beginning, you have to be rather selective with the hands you are playing. However, if you decide to enter the pot with the hand you have, you immediately need to adopt an aggressive style. In order to do this, you need to know which good hands for each type of poker game.
If you are playing low stakes H.O.R.S.E. poker, you will find that some players are good at one format, but cannot handle other games. Usually this will be seen for the Razz and Omaha hi-low rounds. If you are good at these to games, then you can easily win in these rounds of H.O.R.S.E. poker.
If you have hands that are good, then it is time to bet and raise. This is especially true for blind games. This helps to weed out players who may be prone to call you and go for long shot draws. This is the only way in which you can achieve this.
As mentioned several times, the only way to learn strategies for H.O.R.S.E. poker is by first mastering the strategies for the different variations of poker used in the game play. If you learn to master these variations, you will definitely enjoy H.O.R.S.E. poker. It is a very challenging game that requires you to think and observe other players. So, hone these skills before attempting to play H.O.R.S.E. poker.
Author and publisher since 1999. Articles, stories and commentary have appeared in national magazines and are published on the internet. Mr. Fabiano has also been a featured speaker at online publishing and affiliate marketing conferences in the US, Canada and Europe.