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H.O.R.S.E is a poker game or tournament. The type of poker played differs in each round of five games. It has actually been around since the early years of poker but has not been very popular until it was played in the 2006 World Series Of Poker (WSOP).
Poker professionals world-wide have always tried to mix up games to make poker even more fun and challenging.
Today many players from all levels, including top professional players enjoy playing Horse poker.
The name ‘H.O.R.S.E” is actually an acronym for Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Seven-card stud high and Seven card stud high-low, Eight or better, or hi-lo.
H.O.R.S.E poker is a combination of five different popular poker games. The house rules always determine how the games are to be rotated.
Some rotations are based on the number of hands played, while others set time limits on the length of time a game is to be played.
H.O.R.S.E poker offers players an opportunity to develop their game skills in all games and can also be played on-line.
When playing H.O.R.S.E rotation games, the games change with every full round of the dealer button.
During tournaments, the game changes at the close of each round, or once a pre-determined set amount has been reached. All games played in horse poker are fixed limit.
There are no pot-limit or no-limit games. Limits remain the same for all game rotations.
Here is a brief outline of common H.O.R.S.E poker terminology:
Antes: The bet players put in the pot at the beginning of each hand.
Betting Round: Is complete only when all players decide to either fold or bet.
UTG: (Under the gun) The first player of the round.
Door Card: The card facing up.
Bring-in: The player with the worst cards who starts the game with an initial low bet.
Hole Cards: The hidden cards that they players each receive and are not shared with other players.
Community Cards: Cards dealt face up and shared among the players.
Dealer-Button: Looks like a plastic game chip and is used to identify the last player of a hand. It is moved clockwise with every hand.
Blinds: Small and Big blinds, with “Small blind” calling the starting bet and the “Big blind” being the next bet.
The same rules that normally apply in poker still strictly apply when playing Horse poker. They are as follows:
Check: When no wager exists in the betting round, a player may check. Checking simply refers to passing the action to the next player in a clockwise direction.
A check only applies to the current betting round and not the pot itself. If all players check during the same round, the round is then considered complete.
Bet: When no wager exists in the betting round, players may bet. Once a player bets, the next clockwise player may decide to fold or call.
Fold: When a player folds a hand, he no longer has any interest in the pot and is not allowed to make any additional bets for that game.
Call: When a wager is made in the betting round, a player may call. This means the player must match the latest bid made by his opponent(s).
Raise: When a wager is made in the betting round, players may raise the bet. Raising a bet means that the player has to match the latest bet.
Betting continues until the player immediately counter clockwise to the last betting player bets or raises. Only once this player plays does the next round begin or the hand is over.
Once the last bet or raise is called, the “Showdown” begins. This is what is typically know as the time to read ‘em or weep and find out which player wins. Of course, if all other players have folded, that player automatically wins.
In addition to the above rules of basic poker play, there are also poker plays referred to as “Table Stakes” and “All-in”. In the case of Table Stakes, only the chips in play at the start of a hand are allowed to be used during that hand.
Included in Table Stakes is a feature called All-In, which means that players do not have to forfeit their hand if they do not have enough chips for the bet.
Players without enough chips to match a bet are automatically considered “All-In”, though this means that the player only earns a portion of the pot according to his bet amount.
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