Differences in Thinking between HORSE and Hold ‘Em

April 6, 2009 - by admin · Filed Under HORSE Strategy Leave a Comment 

There are a number of differences in thinking between HORSE poker and the more popular Texas Hold ‘Em variant and some of those differences are discussed below.

The biggest difference in thinking between the two actually has to do with the game of Hold ‘Em itself. As many people are aware, Texas Hold ‘Em is currently the most popular poker variant in the world and in addition to that it also happens to be what the letter H in the acronym HORSE stands for. Therefore, it is very difficult to understand HORSE without first understanding Hold ‘Em, but the difference lies in the fact that as part of HORSE, Hold ‘Em is just one part. You have other games to master as well and therefore the way you approach Hold ‘Em as part of a multi-disciplinary poker learning campaign might be different.

Another difference in thinking between HORSE and Hold ‘Em has to do with the betting structure. In Hold ‘Em, the betting structure can either be fixed limit, spread limit, pot limit or no limit. In HORSE poker, the limit betting structure is always the one that is imposed. It is already complicated enough to learn the strategies of HORSE poker without having to worry about betting structures changing in between the games.

However, while betting structure does not change in the sense that limit is always used, there are other changes in the betting structure within the scope of limit. In the Hold ‘Em and Omaha parts of the HORSE game, the blinds are the primary forced bet. However, in the other three parts, all of which are based on the seven-card stud structure, the primary forced bet is the ante, with a bring-in that occurs later on. Switching back and forth between these forced bets can be difficult for some people and it is just another difference in thinking a person would have to make when switching from Hold ‘Em to HORSE.

Finally, there is the idea of position. If you play Hold ‘Em, then chances are that you are aware of how important position is in that game. However, if you switch over to HORSE what you will find is that position is less important in the three stud games because of the simple fact that it changes multiple times each hand. This is one more difference in thinking between the two variants and one of the things that makes HORSE far more complicated than Hold ‘Em.

General HORSE Strategy Points

April 6, 2009 - by admin · Filed Under HORSE Strategy Leave a Comment 

If you are interested in becoming a good HORSE poker player, then there are a number of finer strategy points that you need to learn. However, for the beginning HORSE poker player, it is sufficient to take a look at the overall way in which the game is played and try to learn as much about it as possible. To that end, below are some of the general strategy points that you should consider when sitting down at a HORSE poker table.

Basic HORSE Strategy

The first strategy point to consider has to do with game specialties. Now, it is impossible to be a good HORSE poker player without having a good skill level in all of the five poker variants that are played in HORSE, but at the same time most people will have one or two variants that they really excel at. This usually corresponds to whichever game they happened to learn first, which means that if you happen to be a Razz or a Stud/8 poker player by trade, your specialty is going to be within the minority as opposed to people that came to H.O.R.S.E from Hold ‘Em, Omaha or Stud.

One of the things that you should consider doing, especially when you are a beginner HORSE player, is to change gears depending on the variant that you are playing. For example, if you happen to be a limit Hold ‘Em specialist and you are learning the other four variants in order to switch to being a HORSE player, play very aggressive when you are in the H of the HORSE and then play somewhat more passive when you are in the other four. HORSE is really a trial by fire variant and therefore if you want to play like a rock while you learn the appropriate levels of aggressive strategy for each game, there is certainly nothing wrong with doing so.

Additionally, you want to try and find the variants that other people are weak in. There is generally one round that each player does not like playing in and the key is to figure out what that round might be and then exploit that player by continually putting pressure on them during that round of HORSE poker play. People tend to be very timid when playing in a mode that they deem themselves to be weak in and of course when an aggressive player plays against a timid player, the aggressive player will almost always win.

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