H.O.R.S.E. is a form of poker commonly played at the high stakes tables of casinos. H.O.R.S.E. is a collection of limit poker varieties.

Rounds of play in H.O.R.S.E. cycles among the following poker varieties: Texas Hold 'em, Omaha eight or better, Razz, Seven card Stud, and Seven card stud Eight or better.

- Texas Hold 'em is one of the most popular community poker variant. Each player may use any combination of the five community cards and the player's own two hole cards to make a poker hand. Players starts with only two cards and the remaining cards are shared. The objective is not winning every individual hand, but maximize long-term winnings by making correct decisions regarding when and how much to bet, raise, call or fold.

- Playing Omaha Eight or Better, each player makes a separate five-card high hand and five-card ace-to-five low hand (eight-high or lower to qualify). The pot is split between the high and low - which may incidentally be the same player. To qualify for low, a player must be able to play an 8-7-6-5-4 or lower

- Razz is a form of lowball stud poker, normally played for ace-to-five low. The object is to make the lowest five-card possible hand from the seven cards the player gets.

- In Stud Poker, each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards in multiple betting rounds. Stud games are non-positional games, the player who bets first on each round may change from round to round. The cards dealt face down are called hole cards.

- Seven card stud Eight or better: played as seven-card stud, but the pot is split between the player with the highest hand and the player with the lowest hand (using the ace-to-five low values). An 8-high hand or lower is required to win low.

Source:  Poker777Staff

Tuesday, 19 May 2009