'Thecommonest mistake in history is underestimating your opponent;
it happens at the pokertable all the time.'
- David Shoup, U.S. Marine CorpsGeneral

Player A/Dealer deals one card at a time, face down, starting on the dealer's left and moves clockwise to Player B, C, D and A until all players have 5 cards. Betting starts with the player to the dealer's left, Player B. They have the option to check or make a wager. Video Poker is not a game to be afraid of, it is a game that offers you the best odds and therefore should be a casino game that is embraced, nurtured and then plundered for all you can get away with! If you have never played Video Poker before then this learn how to play video poker step by step guide is all you will need, give it a good read through and in no time at all you will be playing. Although the rules of poker online may appear intimidating, constant practice and learning how to play poker can help one appreciate the game. In this guide, we help you learn how to play poker using a step-by-step guide. Read on and find out the basic rules of online poker real money before playing in your preferred Indian online casino.

You bought cards and chips (or betting tokens of some kind),learned the suits, the language, the rules, hand rankings, strategyand how to shuffle (hopefully), so now it's time to play. There areso many poker variants to choose from, but beginners should startout slow with the simplest (and oldest) game of poker. We're goingto apply everything you've been introduced to so far, and once youlearn the easiest poker game, you'll be prepared to move on to morechallenging variations.

5 Card Draw is the original game of poker, andthe easiest to play. With Draw poker, players are dealt a completehand that only they can see and have the option to improve it byreplacing cards. Players ante up, five cards are dealt face downone at a time, there are two rounds of betting and a showdown. It'selegantly simple.

So, here's our learning scenario. To make it easy, we'll beplaying with 3 other players. Every poker game has its own 'house'rules and pot limits - card rooms, home games and casinos all setlimits. Here are ours: Antes are $1 and we'll limit betting at$2-$10, with a maximum of 3 raises. We are Player A and thedealer.

All players put $1 in the pot as an ante bet.Pot total: $4

Player A/Dealer deals one card at a time, face down,starting on the dealer's left and moves clockwise to Player B, C, Dand A until all players have 5 cards.

Betting starts with the player to the dealer's left,Player B. They have the option to check or make a wager.If they decide to check (not to bet), each player after (C, D, A)has the option to check as well, as long as no bets come beforethem. If Player B decides to bet, players C, D and A must match (orraise) that bet, or fold their cards. So let's say Player B checks.In our scenario, all players stay in the hand to 'draw' for bettercards later after the first round of betting to, hopefully, make ahand that pays them off when the game ends.

Player B: checks

Player C: bets $2

How To Play Poker Instructions

Player D: calls (matches) $2 bet fromPlayer C

Player A (us): calls $2 bet fromPlayer C

Player B: calls $2 bet from PlayerC

Pot total: now $12

When the last player acts - checks, calls a bet, calls araise, calls a raise and re-raise, or folds - the betting round isfinished.

Starting with the player on the left (B), PlayerA/Dealer moves around the table clockwise asking players how manynew cards they would like to 'draw' (exchange).

A common house rule and in many social games, a player with anAce can receive 4 new cards if they keep the Ace. Generally, noplayer can replace all 5 cards (which avoids depleting the deck)and most casinos don't allow a draw of five consecutive cards.However, if a casino does allow it, the procedure calls for thatplayer to receive 4 cards when it is their turn, the rest of theplayers receive their draws and the dealer returns to that playerto deal their fifth replacement card. If no other players drawcards after the player who wants 5, 4 are dealt, one card is burned(burn cards are set aside face down away from players) and then thefinal card is dealt.

Another common house rule is that the last card in the deck isnever used as a replacement (in case a player saw it during thedeal). If the deck is depleted during the draw, players willrandomly receive cards from the other players' discarded cards. Thedealer deals the last of the cards he is able to give, shuffles upthe deck's bottom card, burn card(s) and other players' cards(minus the discards from the player(s) still drawing), and dealsthe remaining replacement cards to the last player(s).

Once all players have had a chance to draw new cards andanalyze their hands, Player B starts the new round ofbetting. Again, Player B can check or bet. Remember, ifthey check, Player C has the option to check as well. If Player Bbets, Player C can call, raise or fold. If Player C raises, PlayerD can call, re-raise or fold.

Player B: bets $2

Player C: folds

Player D: calls $2, raises $2

Player A (us): calls $4

Player B: calls $2 raise

Pot total: now $24

Players reveal their hands face up on thetable. The highest ranked hand wins and takes the $24pot.

Easy, right?

If you haven’t heard of HORSE Poker, then you are in for a surprise. HORSE Poker is really hard to master since it involves a series of poker variations. HORSE Poker has been now introduced to the World Series Of Poker tour for a $50,000 buy-in. This game is now recognized all over the world. HORSE Poker is most often played in a limit format but can be played with other betting structures also.

How To Play Poker Basic Steps

HORSE Poker is not a single Poker Game. It is a combination of Texas Holdem Poker, Omaha Hold’em, Razz Poker, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud Hi-Low split-Eight or better. The format consists of rounds of play cycling around these variations of Poker.

HORSE Poker is now potentially called the Masters Game Of Poker. The reason for this is because you end up mastering not one variant, but five in total. So, only those who are dedicated to succeeding in all five of the variations can win this tournament.

How Do You Play Poker Step By Step

In order to achieve success in HORSE Poker, You must do the following.

• You must understand the rules of each of the variations and memorize them.
• Since the rules for each of the variant are different, you need to learn and master different strategies for different games.

Learning the rules for the different variations is the easy part. But, each game has its own strategies and mastering each one of them is the difficult part. It takes years mastering one variant. But, to master in 5 different versions is a whole different Ball-Game. This is the reason why HORSE Poker is called the Masters Game of Poker.

Different Variations involved in HORSE Poker

So, the five different variations in HORSE POKER are as follows:

How To Play Poker Steps

1. H: Texas Hold’em Poker
2. O:Omaha Hi-Low split-Eight or better
3. R: Razz
4. S:Seven Card Stud
5. E: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low split-Eight or better

1. Texas Hold’em Poker

Texas Hold’em is the first poker variant in the HORSE poker. This is the poker variation that everyone knows about. This is the game that everyone learns when they want to learn poker in the first place. I am assuming that everyone knows the rules. But for those who don’t know the rules, can just look at the summary below. For those who are looking for the complete guide, they may do sofrom here.

1. Texas Hold’em is played between 2-9 players and each player is dealt with 2 cards facing down.
2. To deal with the cards a dealer will be present. If there is no dealer then a dealer button is placed in front of one player and the cards are dealt from him and in the clockwise direction. After each hand, the dealer button moves one step in the clockwise direction.
3. The two players left of the dealer has to pay the small and the big blind respectively. These are the minimum bets that every player must pay in order to play the hand. The small and the big blind has to be placed without even seeing their cards.
4. The person sitting to the left of Big blind starts the game and he can bet the minimum amount or fold his hand. After he has played the same is repeated for the remaining players in the clockwise direction.
5. After each one of them bets then three cards are dealt on the table facing up and is known as the flop. After seeing the flop each player can bet, check or fold.
6. Similarly, a fourth card is dealt on the table facing up after each one of the players bet and is known as the turn card. Again each player can check, bet or fold his hand.
7. After the betting is finished, a fifth card is dealt on the table facing up and is known as the River. Again each player can check, bet or fold his hand.
8. After the betting, the winner is decided and the player that betted last has to show his card if he has the better hand than the other players, he wins everything that is present on the table.

These are the rules for Texas Hold’em poker which is the first version game of HORSE poker. If anyone’s interested in looking at the tips for mastering the Texas Holdem, they can learn from here.

2. Omaha Hi-Low split-Eight or better

Omaha Hi-Low is the second variant of the game HORSE Poker. This is the extended version of the gameOmaha Hold’em. I suggest people to learn the rules of Omaha Hold’em first before they learn Omaha Hi-Low. I won’t be mentioning the Omaha Hold’em rules in this article. You can take a look at the link I have given if you don’t know the rules for the game yet.

Rules for Omaha Hi-Low Split-Eight or better are as follows:

1. Each player makes a separate five-card high hand and five-card ace-to-five low hand (eight-high or lower to qualify).
2. The pot is split between the high and low hand. If the same player has the best of both high hand as well as a low hand, he takes the entire pot.
3. To qualify for low, a player must be able to play an 8-7-6-5-4 or lower (this is why it is called “eight or better”).
4. Each player can play any two of his four hole cards to make his high hand, and any two of his four hole cards to make his low hand.
5. If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins (scoops) the whole pot.

These were the rules for the Omaha which is the second version of HORSE poker. If you haven’t understood this fully, you can take a look at some of the examples from here. Remember this is just the extended rules from the Omaha Hold’em. The only difference between the two is how the pot is split in the end. So, learn the rules of Omaha Hold’em poker first before learning this game mode.

3. Razz

Razz is the third version of the game HORSE poker. Razz is a lowball poker game which means the card and hand rankings are flipped upside down. Aces are of low value in Razz and Flushes and Straights doesn’t count. This is a really fun game to learn and to play with your friends.

Rules for the game are as follows:

1. The game is played between 2-8 players and each player is dealt with 7 cards, 3 facing down and 4 facing up.
2. Before the cards are distributed, each player must pay an ante which is usually 1/10th of the minimum betting size.
3. After the ante is paid, each player receives 3 cards, 2 facing down and 1 facing up.
4. The player with the highest (value) face-up card will start the game and must pay the minimum bet which is called the “Bring it in“. He can even bet double of the bring-in amount. But, the player to start cannot fold.
5. The betting continues in the clockwise direction with each player having the option to fold or pay the bring-in amount. They can also bet the double of the bring-in amount similar to the player that starts the game.
6. After everyone has played their turn, a 4th card is dealt with all the players face-up called the Fourth Street.
7. The player with the lowest value hand with their face-up cards has to start the bet now. After him, the remaining players will play in the clockwise direction similar to the last round.
8. After everyone has played their turn a 5th card is dealt facing up to all the players. This card is called Fifth Street. Similarly, after each one has bet similar to the previous round a 6th card is dealt with all the players facing up known as the Sixth Street.
9. Now after everyone plays after the sixth card, the seventh street is dealt with all the remaining players face-down.
10. Anyone still in the hand after the final betting ( Betting after the seventh street is dealt) must show their hands and the person with the lowest value five-card (The best lowball hand) wins the hand and takes all the money from the table. After that, the next hand starts.

These are the rules for the razz poker which is the third version game of HORSE poker.

4. Seven Card Stud

Seven Card Stud is the fourth variant of poker in HORSE Poker. It is the exact reverse of Razz. Here instead of low cards, we focus on the high cards.

Rules for the Seven Card Stud are as Follows:

1. The game is played between 2-8 players and each player is dealt with 7 cards, 3 facing down and 4 facing up.
2. Before the cards are distributed, each player must pay an ante which is usually 1/10th of the minimum betting size.
3. After the ante is paid, each player receives 3 cards, 2 facing down and 1 facing up.
4. The player with the lowest (value) face-up card will start the game and must pay the minimum bet which is called the “Bring it in“. He can even bet double of the bring-in amount. But, the player to start cannot fold.
5. The betting continues in the clockwise direction with each player having the option to fold or pay the bring-in amount. They can also bet the double of the bring-in amount similar to the player that starts the game.
6. After everyone has played their turn, a 4th card is dealt with all the players face-up called the Fourth Street.
7. The player with the highest value hand with their face-up cards has to start the bet now. After him, the remaining players will play in the clockwise direction similar to the last round.
8. After everyone has played their turn a 5th card is dealt facing up to all the players. This card is called Fifth Street. Similarly, after each one has bet similar to the previous round a 6th card is dealt with all the players facing up known as the Sixth Street.
9. Now after everyone plays after the sixth card, the seventh street is dealt with all the remaining players face-down.
10. Anyone still in the hand after the final betting ( Betting after the seventh street is dealt) must show their hands and the person with the best five-card wins the hand and takes all the money from the table. After that, the next hand starts.

These are the rules for the Seven Card Stud poker which is the fourth version game of HORSE poker. If you are looking for a detailed guide, then you can learnSeven Card Stud from here.

5. Seven Card Stud Hi-Low split-Eight or better

Seven Card Stud Hi-Low split-Eight or better is the fifth version of the game HORSE Poker. This is the extended version of the game Seven Card Stud. This is pretty much similar to Omaha Hi-Low split-Eight or better. Where the pot is split between the player with the highest hand and the player with the lowest hand.

Rules for the Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-Eight or better are as follows:

1. Each player makes a separate five-card high hand and five-card ace-to-five low hand (eight-high or lower to qualify).
2. The pot is split between the high and low hand. If the same player has the best of both high hand as well as a low hand, he takes the entire pot.
3. To qualify for low, a player must be able to play an 8-7-6-5-4 or lower (this is why it is called “eight or better”).
4. Each player can play any two of his four hole cards to make his high hand, and any two of his four hole cards to make his low hand.
5. If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins (scoops) the whole pot.

These are the rules for the Seven Card Stud split-Eight or better which is the fifth version game of HORSE poker. Remember this is just the extended rules from the seven-card Stud. The only difference between the two is how the pot is split in the end.

These were the rules for the HORSE Poker variants. Hope you learned something new today. Thanks for reading. 🙂

Popular FAQ’s

What is HORSE Poker?

HORSE Poker is not a poker version by itself. It is a combination of 5 other poker variations. Texas Holdem, Omaha Hi-Low, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud split-Eight or Better. All these variations are played in cycles for certain time durations.

Is HORSE Poker difficult to master?

Yes. HORSE Poker is extremely difficult to master. Because you're playing 5 different versions of poker in it. So, you have to master in 5 games, not just 1. This requires extreme skill and determination to do so.

Is HORSE Poker Popular?

Yes, in recent times HORSE Poker has really shown its progress. It even has its own tournament in WSOP tournament for a $50k buy-in.

Which is the most difficult poker variant in HORSE poker?

Each of the variants has its own ups and downs. All of the variations are equally challenging. Texas Holdem might be known to all, but it still requires a lot of strategies to win the game. So, none of the games are easy. You have to learn each one of them and master them one by one.

How To Play Poker Simple Steps

I am the owner of the site rohithebbar.com. I love playing poker and other card games.