The early part of the 21st century saw hordes of newcomers and experienced poker players flocking to Texas Hold’em, especially the No Limit variety. As this decade has rolled along, though, many have decided to look to other disciplines of poker to test their skills. While Omaha has its fans, many have started to learn about the game that is considered the true test of a poker player’s knowledge: H.O.R.S.E.
H.O.R.S.E. is a contest that combines five different disciplines of poker – Texas Hold’em (H), Omaha Hi/Lo (O), Razz (R), Seven Card Stud (S) and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo (E, for Eights or better) – all played in a limit format. In cash games, the limits are preset but in tournaments the blinds, antes and completions (for the non-flop games) go up after the completion of play of each of the five games (in some online rooms, however, the levels go up with each game played). The strategies that players should take to the tables depend upon which games are a particular player’s strong suit and which games they are weaker at.
Texas Hold’em (H)
Every poker player is familiar with this particular segment of the H.O.R.S.E. equation, but there are some nuances that make it more challenging than the traditional Hold’em game at a full table.
With an eight handed starting table in H.O.R.S.E. – done this way to make sure the deck doesn’t run out of cards in the non-flop Razz, Seven Card Stud and Hi/Lo parts of the game – there are fewer cards dealt and an Ace high can sometimes be the best hand out there. Even with this said, you want to still play your prime game of Limit Hold’em here. Between this and the Omaha segment, you can make a good deal of chips back into your stack (we will get into this in a moment) if you aren’t as strong a player in the non-flop games.
Use your cards and position accordingly, as you would if you were strictly playing Hold’em alone. Because it is limit, you can take a few more chances here without the threat of all-in moves and, most of the time, you are getting proper odds to make a run at certain draws. However, because everyone playing the game is well-versed in Hold’em, you have to be able to read those moments when you need to release a hand and preserve chips for the other legs of the round down the road.
Omaha Hold’em Hi/Lo (O)
This is the segment of H.O.R.S.E. where things can get a bit frantic. Because of the four hole cards dealt to each player, as well as the Hi/Lo component of the game where both the best and worst hands are awarded half the pot, there can be huge pots built and the strategic player can make significant increases in their chip stack.
As with playing just Omaha Hi/Lo alone, the object is to “scoop” the pot rather than split it with an opponent. You want to go with hands that have significant potential to improve on each of the board segments of the flop, turn and river, such as A-A-K-2 (the best pre-flop pair, draws to the nut straight and the nut low and, if one of the Aces are suited with the other cards, a draw to the nut flush) or strong drawing hands such as runs (6-7-8-9, for example). You can play paired cards but be able to get away from them if you do not hit the set on the flop, as you will most likely be in a tough situation. You also want to stay away from hands that offer no potential for growth (such as rainbow suit hands and cards without logical connection).
Be mindful of those low draws, also. Taking half the pot, or the entirety if you catch The Wheel, can be profitable in a multiplayer pot. Just be careful that you aren’t quartering the low, which can hurt your stack more than help it.
Razz (the R)
Here is where the game starts to get interesting. After the flop games come three consecutive non-flop games in variations of Seven Card, where antes are posted and a player with either the best up card or the worst puts in the opening bet. These three games, for the inexperienced player, can prove to be a downfall as you always are putting chips in the pot. If either you can’t catch good starting cards or you get in with the worst of it, the chips that you have built up in the flop games can quickly vanish.
Razz is one of the most difficult games for poker players to get their minds around. Because the objective here is to get the worst hand possible instead of the best, many players will make mistakes. It isn’t played much as a stand alone game and, as such, most poker players aren’t proficient in its nuances.
To build the lowest hand, you want to start with at least an Ace and preferably a deuce or trey in your opening three-card set (such as an A-3 with another card). It is preferable to have those three cards all be on the lower end as you already are 60% of the way to making the low hand (such as A-3-5, for example). With four more cards to come, the likelihood of making a strong low is more likely with good starting cards such as that.
You can play if you don’t have an Ace, however. Say you are holding 2-4-5 as your first three cards; the low hand is made from the lowest cards and straights and flushes do not matter. Over the seven card run, you have a nice chance to make a solid six-low or even The Wheel (A-2-3-4-5, the best Razz hand).
What you want to stay away from are hands where you have pairs or face cards. While you may have to bring in with your King or Queen showing, unless your down cards are mighty strong (in this case, A-2 or A-3), there is no reason to be playing this hand. If your hand is K-J-2, toss them into the muck; the odds of hitting four cards perfectly to make the low hand are almost infinitesimal and you are wasting valuable chips. If you are ‘rolled up’ – the term for having three of a kind in your starting hand, such as 8-8-8 – you should run away from this as quickly as possible. It would be most valuable in the two Seven Card games coming up, but in Razz those are death cards!
The best hands to play in Razz are those where you have built a six, seven or occasionally an eight-low over your seven cards. Be mindful of what your opponents are showing in their up cards, though. Like the two other Seven Card games, there is a wealth of information that you can read from their up cards (and those that have been discarded) to determine if you are good or not. Remembering what has been dealt can sometimes tell you whether to proceed with a hand.
Seven Card Stud (S) and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo (E)
Older poker players more than likely learned the game by starting with Seven Card Stud. It is a game that is built upon memory, the boldness of a player to attempt to catch a hand on the seventh card and reading the cards of other players to determine if the hand you have built is better than their possible hand. With this said, those newcomers to the game that are weaning themselves from Hold’em can be taken advantage of if they aren’t experienced at Seven Card.
With Seven Card, you want strong paired cards (either hidden face down or “gated,” where one of the hole cards are paired with the first up card), a rolled up hand (that 8-8-8 hand you held in Razz is excellent here) or running cards (6-7-8). One of the big tricks here is to scan the other players’ up cards; if you see that there are two Kings in other players’ hands and you have the final two, then you may not want to attack aggressively.
When adding in the Hi/Lo segment, you can open up to building that low hand (as with Omaha Hi/Lo, the low has to be eight or lower). Always be on the lookout for the up cards of the other players, though, as you could be trying to build a hand that isn’t going to get there or, if you do, isn’t the best low possible.
Summary
H.O.R.S.E. is arguably the most exciting, intelligent, aggravating and boring derivation of poker available. As is true with most of poker’s disciplines, the players that demonstrate patience are often rewarded. H.O.R.S.E., most of all, is a patience game; if you try to ramrod the table, you are going to bleed chips. If you are selective in your attacks and follow a solid strategy, the game can be profitable and fun instead of draining the bankroll and frustrating.