I’ve played Omaha and Stud, Razz and Triple draw, Hi-lo and plain old fashioned draw. What do you get after playing all these? Well, a better understanding of what your grandparents were talking about when they spoke of ‘standing pat’, but also a better grasp of the ins and outs that each variety of the game entails. It also gives you the keys to the game H.O.R.S.E. Or should that be the saddle?

H.O.R.S.E. The combination of all things holy in poker, the ultimate all round test for those people who think they know the game – every game. The initials stand specifically for Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Stud and Eight or better. Had they added Draw to the mix they could have called it H.O.R.S.E.D.

That missed opportunity aside it has become the game that denotes the toughest challenge – and stands as the costliest, most prized event at the World Series of Poker beyond the main event. It takes $50,000 to play in the HORSE event at the World Series but the winner is widely considered to be the best player in the world –the true world champion.

Last year that was Freddy Deeb who won over $2.2million in a field packed with the world’s best. The year before, in the first event of its kind, the late Chip Reese took over $1.7million for first place.


Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein made the H.O.R.S.E. final table at the WSOP 2007

My experience was a few leagues below this, the 10/20 Chimaera table on PokerStars.net and the last stop on my tour of the PokerStars.net lobby. Incredibly, by tightening up, learning from mistakes and keeping careful look out I’d got to this point with a slight profit, just a few hundred, but enough to prove that anyone, with the right dedication can be a winning poker player.

Maybe. There was still plenty of time to ruin that with a donkey display on the H.O.R.S.E. table. Played for an hour was just over one tour of the five games, and all played with limit stakes. So when I jumped in on Limit Stud Hi/Lo I knew there were just a few minutes to wait for a different game – which was good, because for the moment at least, I’d forgotten how to play Limit Stud hi/lo.

Thinking it best to fold (my signature move) I quickly got the idea back. Stud – two cards face down one up, a bring in, four more cards, all but the last dealt face up and some more betting on the end. Several rounds of betting bump up pots; I remembered that, particularly on the loose tables, adding value everywhere.

So what did I learn before I got here? That as your hand develops you need to keep track of everyone else’s hands – they might be showing the cards you need or looking for the same ones. You also have to remember what cards are folded. We were onto limit hold’em before I’d remembered all this.

One thing about H.O.R.S.E. is that when you’re up to your neck in it Hold’em seems a bit, well, familiar, and compared to the possibilities of Omaha hi/lo or stud, it seems a little pedestrian and slow.

The flip side of this if you’re not careful is a total disregard for safe play – so I lost a few. My bad. But then I won a few. After fifteen minutes and a ridiculous play with 8-2 my morale picked up during the limit Omaha hi/lo round where a raising war – which I usually feel better fighting blindfolded – was good for the low and a pot worth over 500. Normally playing for just the high or low pot can spark trouble, but it was good enough to get me back on track.

Then I walked into a full house followed a few minutes later in Razz when I made six-low for a pot worth close to a thousand. A similar thing happened during limit stud, up some more to over 3,300 total.

It sounds a little theatrical but it comes from what I suspect many players on PokerStars.net have already discovered for themselves. Practice – and by that I mean regular play involving a conscious effort to improve your game – will give you the ability to come to your own rescue. Patience can take the fear from a losing spell and playing according to your new skills will make you a winning player on the tables of PokerStars.

I finished the hour back where I’d started on Stud hi/lo. At least over the course of these last few weeks I’d managed on average to add to my stack even if with only modest amounts. You should try the same – dip into games you’re not familiar with –improve your poker repertoire and perhaps discover a talent for games you never knew you had.

Good luck. Who knows where it could lead?