HORSE - Poker Tournament Tips and Strategy

Horse poker games are played using five different games, which are Hold 'Em, Omaha Limit, Razz, Stud, and Stud Hi-Lo. If you want to be good at Horse poker, then you will need to first learn the rules of each of these games, and how to effectively read other players to make each one of your bets count toward helping you win the tournament.


Learning the Games
With Horse poker, the most important thing that you can do is to take the time to learn all of the games rules, and how to effectively bet within each one of them. You can download poker software online for free, and play using chips that are given to you by the site to learn the basic rules of the game. While you are playing, you will want to make sure that you memorize which hands are the best for each game, as well as which hands should be folded.
There are many different types of sit and go games and tournaments that are relatively inexpensive to buy into, which will give you the edge over your competitors when it is time to bet real money on the Horse tournament. Once you have the basic knowledge of the games, and which hands are good, you are ready to begin honing your playing style to confuse players.


Erratic Play
Even though it may seem counterproductive at first, choosing to bet a small amount on a losing hand and then showing your cards to the table will help you later on by fooling the other players into thinking that you do not know what you are doing. For example, placing a bet on a low pair, or even with nothing in your hand, is a good way to let other people think that you do not know how to play poker correctly.
Once you have placed a bad bet, then more people will be willing to bet against you in the future. To keep the mystery alive, you can randomly show winning hands and losing hands, but make sure that you keep some of the wins and losses a secret. This will help keep other people guessing, and more willing to bet against you since they do not always know that you know what you are betting on.


When to Bet
If you are new to playing Horse, then you will want to make sure that you begin betting in smaller increments until you are used to the game and the way that it is played. You will need to place a blind on some of the hands, so if you let your pot get too low, you are going to lose even if you aren't betting indiscriminately. Once you know which players are at your table, then pay careful attention to the way that they bet, and whether or not they show their cards after winning a hand.
If they do show their cards occasionally on losing hands, then you may want to consider the fact that they could be playing Horse to win, and have a good knowledge of the game, but are simply trying to bluff other players into thinking that they are inexperienced. It does take some time and losing a few games to learn the basic tips and tricks of winning a Horse tournament, but it can pay off to take your time and learn when you finally win yourself.


Manage Your Bankroll
The first few times that you play Horse poker, then you will want to keep your bets small. This will help you keep most of your chips while you learn, and at the same time will help you learn more about what hands are winners. If the people that you are playing in the tournament with tend to keep their winning hands hidden, then you will want to make sure that you check out the winning hands using a poker guide.
You can find many different rule guides to Horse poker tournaments online, and checking these for the winning and losing hand combos will eventually help you become more familiar with the game. Knowing which hands to bet on can be the key to winning your next Horse tournament.

Most of your tips are based on bet sizing, but I've never seen Pot or No Limit HORSE online; only Limit, across all games. I guess the non-limit varieties are played more in casinos.

In every HORSE tournament I've ever been in, live or online, the Omaha is, specifically, Pot Limit, Hi/Lo8. This is important, as Omaha High is a very different, and easier, critter to play than Hi/Lo8, at least for me.

Isn't it rather limit omaha hi/lo8 ?

Just wondering - never saw a pot-limit omaha-hi/lo in a horse game

I might be confused on the Limit issue in HORSE, as I also play Pot Limit Omaha Hi. If so, my apologies.