What is HORSE poker and how to play?

By Chips_Middle | October 17, 2008

I was playing HORSE again and was about to write a bit about how it went, when I realised it is entirely possible to be reading this blog and not have a clue what HORSE is. So here goes. HORSE is a mixed game format of poker where 5 games are played in rotation.

Each game is played for a round (the dealer button makes a complete circuit of the table) and the games rotate in order. The games played in a HORSE tournament or cash game HORSE play (as opposed to horse play) are:

H - Holdem
O - Omaha Hi / Lo
R - Razz
S - Stud Hi
E - Stud Eight or Better

All games are played in limit format. In cash games, the rotation seems to move on each round of play. In the Sit n Go tournaments that I have played online, each game is played for a blind level. The games rotate each time the blinds increase.

That’s about it as far as HORSE goes, although a lot of people probably aren’t familiar with some of those games.

Limit Holdem should be fairly obvious. The fixed limit form of Texas Holdem is, I am told, popular in casinos and card rooms throughout the USA and should be familiar to most people, I think.

Omaha, in the HORSE rotation, is the split pot form of the game which is known as Omaha Hi / Lo or Omaha Eight or Better. Players are dealt 4 cards and must use 2 from their hand and 3 from the board to make high and low hands. The high part of the game is exactly like the Pot Limit Omaha covered in the rest of the site. The best 5 card hand wins and the deal includes a flop, turn and river as with Holdem or the other forms of Omaha. At the end of the hand the pot is split with half going to the high hand and half to the low.

Razz is a version of 7 card stud where the lowest hand wins the pot. Hands are made up of 5 cards of distinct rank. The best possible Razz hand is A 2 3 4 5, the wheel straight. The worst is QQQKK. In my limited experience, I am yet to see a winning Razz hand with a pair in it. Flushes and straights do not count against making a winning hand (low) in Razz. Unlike with the 8 or better games (Omaha 8 and Stud 8) there is no qualifying low.

Stud is standard 7 card stud.

Stud 8 or better is the high / low version of 7 card stud. The pot is again split between the high hand and the best qualifying low (if there is one).

Stud Play

There are 3 variations of 7 card stud played in a game of HORSE (Razz, Stud and Stud 8). Each of these games plays with the same structure. Players are dealt 3 cards to begin (possibly after antes have been posted). Two of these cards are dealt face down with the last one being dealt face up and visible to the other players. There is a bring in and a round of betting before 4th street is dealt. The 4th, 5th and 6th cards are all dealt one at a time with a round of betting taking place between each. 4th, 5th and 6th streets are all dealt face up and visible to opponents.

Throughout a hand of stud then, a player will see not only his own hand develop but also the separate boards of each of his opponents. The last (7th) street is dealt face down and is followed by a final round of betting and then a showdown. Players use any 5 of their 7 cards to make up their best hand.

Split Pot Poker

There are two forms of split pot poker in the HORSE poker rotation. Both are played with 8 or better qualifiers for the low hand. What this means is that the low hand cannot contain any card above an 8. If nobody can make a qualifying low hand, the whole pot goes to the high hand.

In each Hi / Lo game, the high half of the pot is won by the hand that would win the standard high only form of the game. That is, essentially, the best possible 5 card poker hand from your cards. In Omaha, of course, you must use 2 cards from your hand together with 3 from the board.

The low hand is ranked according to it’s highest card. A 7 low (e.g. 7 6 4 3 2) beats an 8 low (e.g. 8 5 4 2 A). If 2 hands have the same highest low card then the next lowest card is compared. And so on, etc. etc.

Suits and straights are irrelevant (i.e. you can still win low with 5 cards of the same suit. I am pretty sure that in the high / low games, pairs will disqualify your low. I.e. A 2 2 3 4 is not a qualifying low.

You should note that the high and the low do not need to be made by the same hand. Each player gets to make his best Hi hand and his best low hand. A player can win either Hi, low or both ( or of course neither). In Omaha, for example, players can use 2 separate 2 card combinations. One to make their best high hand and another to make their best possible low hand.

Wow. That that was a long one. That, in a nutshell, is how HORSE poker is played. I am sure there are rules missing and things I should have described in some of the individual games but it will give you an idea.

Maybe, I’ll get a chance to post about how today went but for right now, I’m out of here.

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