Mixed Poker Games For New Players

H.O.R.S.E poker and other mixed poker games have been growing in popularity in recent years. One of the most prestigious poker tournaments is the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event at the WSOP. Mixed games seems to be limited to the major U.S. poker rooms but I would imagine that the top international rooms will be adding these variants due to the success rooms like Pokerstars have had by creating their own mixes like 8-Game Poker. Playing in a mixed game format enables poker players to pit combined skill at two or more card games against another player’s combined skill at those particular games.

For instance, if you consider yourself a strong Texas Holdem and Omaha player a game like Full Tilt Poker’s H.A. poker would be a great match. This game combines pot limit Texas Holdem and pot limit Omaha. Some mixed games consist of only one game but mix up the betting formats. A good example would be Holdem Mixed which rotates between fixed limit Holdem and no limit Holdem.

How do mixed poker games work?

Each poker room has a predetermined structure for mixed poker games. H.O.R.S.E poker for example consists of Holdem, Omaha H/L, Razz, Stud & Stud H/L. This will be the same regardless of which room you are playing at. The only real variable is the number of games in each rotation. Some rooms will play 10 hands a game before moving to the next game and others will play 8.

Which mixed poker game is best for me?

When choosing a mixed poker game to play it is best to look at your strengths and weaknesses as a poker player. You don’t have to be an expert at all 5 games to be a successful H.O.R.S.E player. I consider myself a horrible Razz player but I do pretty well at H.O.R.S.E poker. I just tend to play ultra-tight during the Razz rotation. If there is a game or even a betting structure (ie: fixed limit, pot limit) in the mixed poker variant you are interested it is always best to play that game at the play money or micro-stakes tables to gain experience. I’ve read countless strategy articles on Razz poker so I’ve gotten a lot better but even before that I still did well overall because Razz is only 1/5th of H.O.R.S.E poker. You just have to win more money during your “strong” games than you lose when you are playing your “weak games”.