Some questions about Horse
 

I've recently discovered Horse on Stars, and I'm totally hooked. I've got a couple of questions about playing in a casino, though:

1) What casinos (on the Vegas strip or in Atlantic City, Vegas preferred) spread Horse?
2) What is typically the lowest limit game spread? (I typically play 2/4 or 3/6 Hold 'Em live, but would be willing to sit at a 4/8 horse game and maybe even 5/10 if that's as low as it goes)
3) How do the Stud games work at said limit (Is there an ante? What's the bring-in?)
4) How do the dealers keep track of how many hands have been dealt each round? And is it always 8 hands per game?
5) Generic question: is the Omaha game always O/8, or is it sometimes just high hand? (Did I mention that I only recently started playing the game, and only at one place?)

So I guess this could have been posted in the "beginner" forum, but the majority of the questions are about live play... sorry if this was the wrong place to post.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

It's not going to be PLO and there will be an ante in all stud games.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/po...p;Board=otherp

Try the "other poker" forum above for some of the questions and answers with more detail. There are always threads about obscure and various games up there.

As for these:

1: none in Vegas
3: stud games usually have antes
4: lammers or rotating button to mark the number, when it gets back to the 1 seat (8 handed game), the game changes
5: can be either upon request of the players, unanimous decision usually required, otherwise O8.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

Cool, I'll repost it in Other Games. Sorry bout that!

edit: Where are my manners? Thanks for the answers (:

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

1) Las Vegas: Caesars spread a 5/10 HORSE game for us. We had to teach the dealers how to deal Stud/8. Venetian runs a 6/12 mixed game, with all the HORSE games spread. Sam's Town apparently has a Sunday afternoon HORSE tournament.

2) They would never go below 4/8.

3) 5/10 I think we did 1 for the bring-in, maybe 2 at 6/12? I don't exactly remember.

4) They'll move the button just to track the number of hands.

5) "O" is always limit Omaha/8.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

[ QUOTE ]
Cool, I'll repost it in Other Games. Sorry bout that!

edit: Where are my manners? Thanks for the answers (:

[/ QUOTE ]

My post in no way was an attack towards you. It was merely a suggestion for better answers or more details on the specifics of the games. I answered them to the best of my knowledge as I haven't seen a lot of horse regularly anywheres.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

Elite - Wynn has 20-40 mixed on certain nights. It's not quite Horse, but the game is a lot of fun. The mix when I played was Omaha8, Stud8, Triple Draw, Badugi (maybe there was something else but I forget).

Jeff

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

In addition to the big games at Bellagio and Wynn, and the already mentioned smaller games at Venetian and Caesars, Monte Carlo does 4/8 HORSE every Thursday evening. Two tables were going a week ago. RIO gets various mixed games going which may be HORSE-like (typically skipping the H and S and R and adding other things to the O and E). TI will spread a mix game of various sorts if they have critical mass (Tangerine Mixer, they call it).

4/8 stud is played with $1 ante, $2 bring-in, $4 to complete.

And yes, they DO go below 4/8. We've done 3/6 mix games at Rio and Caesars in the past. But that's not the norm.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

There isn't much live HORSE. In AC, there are regular 3/6, 10/20, 15/30/45, and 50/100 OE games at the Taj or Borgata. There are also fairly high stakes HOE, OE, SHOE, or othere lixed games at Borgata. I think in LV there are regular high stakes mixed games and probably some at mid limits.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

It depends.

It really depends on the cardroom and how open they are to player suggestions. I played 3/6 HORSE twice at Caesars and the players actually discussed what games to play and built a consensus when the table opened. The stud/8 was no ante with a $1 bring in, Omaha was played hi/lo one night and high only the next, and all the players were adament about no Hold Em. One night Badugi was used instead of Hold Em.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

Bellagio had a few horse tables going last time i was there, about a year ago. I think the lowest limit was 20/40. Not sure if they still have them.

www.allvegaspoker.com should have an updated list.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

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As for these:

1: none in Vegas

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Wrongo (as has already been pointed out in this thread), HORSE is spread semi-regularly at quite a few Vegas casinos. Yes its true that sometimes the game morphs into a multi-game rotation, but thats a positive trend IMHO. Also just last week there was an active thread discussing a HORSE tournament at SAMS'S TOWN every Sunday - link , where they have also announced their intention to start spreading HORSE cash games.

Rotation games are back on the map at lower limits in Vegas, I think its he next stage in the evolution of the "new" poker player.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

I also have high hopes for the future of mixed games.

I will be in town from April 8th-11th with a few of my home game regulars. We play a variety of games including O8, Stud S8, TD, Budugi, Razz, and Hold 'em. Do these mixed games go on Sun, Mon & Tues or is it mostly weekends?

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

Paris spread a HORSED (TDL) game on request for a table of myself, some friends, and a couple donators this summer.

Was either 4/8 or 5/10, don't remember which.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

After their (poorly-structured) HORSE tournament, Seneca Niagara in Niagara Falls, NY spread a 3-6 limit HORSE game. $1 ante and $1 bringin for all the stud games, $1-$3 blinds for HE and O8.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

[ QUOTE ]
It depends.

It really depends on the cardroom and how open they are to player suggestions. I played 3/6 HORSE twice at Caesars and the players actually discussed what games to play and built a consensus when the table opened. The stud/8 was no ante with a $1 bring in, Omaha was played hi/lo one night and high only the next, and all the players were adament about no Hold Em. One night Badugi was used instead of Hold Em.

[/ QUOTE ]

ooh, 3/6 with no ante in the stud games seems perfect! I'll have to check out Caesars next time I'm in town (I think I stopped in last time, but didn't play). Does $150 seem like a reasonable buy-in for that structure? I don't really know how much a decent buy-in is for limit stud games, but I like the 25BB level for Omaha / hold 'em

Thanks again to everyone for all the info.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It depends.

It really depends on the cardroom and how open they are to player suggestions. I played 3/6 HORSE twice at Caesars and the players actually discussed what games to play and built a consensus when the table opened. The stud/8 was no ante with a $1 bring in, Omaha was played hi/lo one night and high only the next, and all the players were adament about no Hold Em. One night Badugi was used instead of Hold Em.

[/ QUOTE ]

ooh, 3/6 with no ante in the stud games seems perfect! I'll have to check out Caesars next time I'm in town (I think I stopped in last time, but didn't play). Does $150 seem like a reasonable buy-in for that structure? I don't really know how much a decent buy-in is for limit stud games, but I like the 25BB level for Omaha / hold 'em

Thanks again to everyone for all the info.

[/ QUOTE ]
Actually a no-ante stud format is far from ideal, the pot size will commonly be too small to make some calls such as a 3-straight or 3 flush without a live A. I wouldn't play in that game, you will probably have to play so tight that it isn't worth playing. An ante induces action, you want action. I recommend a 4/8 structure with a 1 ante and 2 bring in if you have to play that small.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It depends.

It really depends on the cardroom and how open they are to player suggestions. I played 3/6 HORSE twice at Caesars and the players actually discussed what games to play and built a consensus when the table opened. The stud/8 was no ante with a $1 bring in, Omaha was played hi/lo one night and high only the next, and all the players were adament about no Hold Em. One night Badugi was used instead of Hold Em.

[/ QUOTE ]

ooh, 3/6 with no ante in the stud games seems perfect! I'll have to check out Caesars next time I'm in town (I think I stopped in last time, but didn't play). Does $150 seem like a reasonable buy-in for that structure? I don't really know how much a decent buy-in is for limit stud games, but I like the 25BB level for Omaha / hold 'em

Thanks again to everyone for all the info.

[/ QUOTE ]
Actually a no-ante stud format is far from ideal, the pot size will commonly be too small to make some calls such as a 3-straight or 3 flush without a live A. I wouldn't play in that game, you will probably have to play so tight that it isn't worth playing. An ante induces action, you want action. I recommend a 4/8 structure with a 1 ante and 2 bring in if you have to play that small.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

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No ante would be an awful structure for 3/6 stud/8 if it were not part of part of mixed rotation. The other games in the rotation had blinds, and they didn't want to bother with quarters for one game.

As TT points out, the proper stategy would be to play so tight that the game would be boring. Tight play was not an issue at Caesars as most of the players were off duty dealers, with a very high percentage seeing 4th street.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

[ QUOTE ]
I also have high hopes for the future of mixed games.

I will be in town from April 8th-11th with a few of my home game regulars. We play a variety of games including O8, Stud S8, TD, Budugi, Razz, and Hold 'em. Do these mixed games go on Sun, Mon & Tues or is it mostly weekends?

[/ QUOTE ]

Your odds of getting a mixed game going are greatly improved if you have a few buddies with. Rooms that are open to mixed games, such as Treasure Island, Caesars, MGM, etc. will not have a game going on a Monday or Tuesday night, but they were gladly start a list and it could fill up.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

[ QUOTE ]
Your odds of getting a mixed game going are greatly improved if you have a few buddies with. Rooms that are open to mixed games, such as Treasure Island, Caesars, MGM, etc. will not have a game going on a Monday or Tuesday night, but they were gladly start a list and it could fill up.

[/ QUOTE ]
And if you want to play TD and Badugi, skip Caesars. I've had a debate with different floors twice and both just flat said we were NOT gonna do TD and Badugi...it was HORSE and that was that. Which is odd since a few months ago they were doing anything-goes mix games. I also asked at Monte Carlo and was told MC will not let you play any draw game because they think it's too slow and it hurts the table rake too much.

Rio is my favorite place for random 4/8-sized mix games, though I haven't been by to check 'em out since about Christmas. They will spread pretty much anything the players want, and the dealers (mostly) know how to deal the games. But like everywhere else, it's tough to get a critical mass to get a game going.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

[ QUOTE ]
And if you want to play TD and Badugi, skip Caesars. I've had a debate with different floors twice and both just flat said we were NOT gonna do TD and Badugi...it was HORSE and that was that. Which is odd since a few months ago they were doing anything-goes mix games. I also asked at Monte Carlo and was told MC will not let you play any draw game because they think it's too slow and it hurts the table rake too much.



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That's too bad, Caesars used to be very opened minded about low limit non Hold Em games. Badugi is certainly a slow game compared to Hold Em, but nothing is slower than a low limit Omaha HiLo game with players not familiar with the game.

I always seek out mixed games while on vacation as my local rooms will never spread alternative games.

Re: Some questions about Horse
 

Venetian will spread Badugi (and draw games) at pretty much any limit, but obviously, you need to be able to get yhe players. I have seen them spread $10/point Chinese as well, 4 handed, IIRC.

Toke the front desk (at least a redbird) when you start a list and ask them to announce it over the PA. During evenings (especially the weekend), the annoucnements alone should get you a full table. It has been a while since I have done this, but it worked pretty much every time, and the game got going.