Dealing HORSE
 

I was thinking about hosting a HORSE (Holdem, Omaha, Razz, 7-stud, 8-or-better) home game. Does anyone know the ante/blind and dealing format? Do you mix posting blinds with the flop games and anteing with the stud games? Should the 1st guy deal holdem and the next guy deal Omaha or should the first guy deal all 5 games before passing the deal? Is this/was this ever a WSOP event? If so, there should be some official answers to my questions above and maybe some other rules I missed. Any insights welcome.

Re: Dealing HORSE
 

i always wanted to know what 8 or better was. please shed some light. thx.

Re: Dealing HORSE
 

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i always wanted to know what 8 or better was. please shed some light. thx.

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The term is for when you have a split pot for the best high hand and best low hand. With 8 or better, the qualifier for the low is five non paired cards that are 8 or lower. Some games do not allow flushes or straights to qualify for low, but with Stud/8 and Ohmaha/8, same suit or consecutive cards usually don't matter.

I'm sure someone else can explain it a little better than me. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Dealing HORSE
 

It's a hi-lo game. Usually applied to 7-stud or Omaha. Best high hand and low hand split the pot (assuming there is a qualifying low). To qualify for low you must be able to make an 8-high hand or better. If no one can, the high hand takes the whole pot.

Re: Dealing HORSE
 

Also, when playing 8 or better there is no declaring your intent, cards play themselves.

Re: Dealing HORSE
 

I thought razz was 7-stud/8.

Re: Dealing HORSE
 

As far as I know Razz is simply stud lowball, the high hand wins nothing.

Re: Dealing HORSE
 

You deal a round of each game in HORSE. Everybody deals a hand of Holdem, then everybody deals a hand of Omaha, then everybody deals a hand of Razz, etc. You can do blinds for the flop games and antes for the stud games.

If your players are accustomed to a dealer's choice game, you can try a less-structured HORSE-style game. For example, alternate dealing two rounds of flop games (dealer can choose Holdem or Omaha; maybe add Pineapple and its variants) and two rounds of stud games (dealer chooses high only, hi-lo, or low only; maybe make five- or six-card stud an option as well). It provides a little variety while sticking to the same basic games you'd play in HORSE.

Re: Dealing HORSE
 

Nails nails it.

To deal HORSE or variants, someone is "it". Host is a good person for "it". When it's "it's" deal, the game changes. If your home games are drunkfests then spraypaint and label a regular die. You'll have one blank side unless you play HORSEH. Fun stuff.

Re: Dealing HORSE
 

I asked this question here. The guy who answered gave betting structure.