Horse, Schmorse

I've been playing tons of HORSE lately. For those that don't know, HORSE is a rotating game of Holdem, Omaha Hi/low, Razz, Stud and Stud8. With more and more "players" entering the online world, these young, up and coming studs all want to specialize in one game. Generally that one game is NL Texas Holdem. They play holdem as if its the only game that matters. Granted the Main Event is a NLHE spread, however, if you can learn all the games, it will make you a much more profitable player.

I played the $20 HORSE tourney on Full Tilt last night to mixed results. I made the final table but still found some very questionable plays and calls late in the game. During the FT chat talk, most of those remaining were only NLHE players who dabbled in a few of the other games and decided to give HORSE a try. I felt I was playing strong but never really amassed a huge amount of chips. Seemed that when I was playing well or had monster draws/hands, someone would come out of nowhere to call me down with a suspect hand and catch on 7th. No worries. In the end I lost a 25k pot in RAZZ that would have put me in 2nd but instead I finished 6th out of 84 for a cash of $64. Hardly what I wanted with first being over $500. I'll give it another try soon. If i get it down to 3 I felt I would win this thing. With all the heads up HORSE i've been playing I felt i woulda pwnd.

I may need to reevaluate my style of play in an MTT setting. There is one game in particular that I try to avoid - stud. For me, this is the most robotic and standard textbook play of the session. I play only split Jacks or wired 9s down. I'll play 3 cards to a flush if i see less than 5 of my cards are gone and I'll steal occassionally in late position if my door card is the highest card showing. I don't get involved with other hands in this section. Far to easy to lose tons of chips to overzealous players who won't give you credit. I think I have to get involved in more hands in this section if i want to finish 1st. I may need to read a book or actually practice in a cash game.

The split games (o8b and s8)are the key in HORSE. But for me the stud8 section is my favorite. To me this is the easiest spot to get some huge chips. I sat at a s8 tournament a few months back and got some advice from rjs162. Bob told me to play only for the low and ditch on the turn if you aren't 4 to the low. Sometimes you will flush or catch a str8 and scoop the whole thing. And unlike o8b, you can raise with only the low in a multi-way pot. I've since added the high with flush draws and wired pairs, but i'm always careful on playing the high only and will fold when I sense danger. Too many chances to get chips in this section so no sense overplaying one or two pair. His advice was simple and i've put it into practice with no variance to good results.