[Tom Bayes]

One reason why a lot of HORSE topics (or Razz topics, etc.) end up in Other Poker is that not all posters know what games go to what topics (i.e. Razz is part of the Stud Forum domain) and that most of the regular posters in Other Poker play lots of games and aren't interested in making a scene if a Razz or Omaha/8 post ends up here.

I've got a couple of general observations on my limited experience with online HORSE. Most of my play has been in SNGs and satellites, with a bit of play at the $1/$2 cash games. My first observation is that I have run into a lot of players that I am going to classify as "split-personality". By that, I've seen several players who play one game, say Holdem, with one particular stereotypical style. But when the game is switched, say to one of the stud games, the player will take on a completely different poker stereotype. The most common manifestation of this that I have seen are playes that are rather tight (either TAGs or rocks) in Holdem and possibly Omaha/8 who turn into complete calling stations in RSE.

My speculation is that almost all players have a default playing style that they use when playing an unfamiliar game or when they are tired, on tilt, etc. This default style is usually suboptimal. A minority of players are naturally too tight or too aggressive, but the most common default style appears to be loose-passive (i.e. calling station). I think there are a lot of players who have a few years of experience and/or have read up on limit holdem and have adapted from a chip-spewing call station to a decent tight player. I'm sure many of these players have played very little of the RSE games and have not educated themselves in them like they have in H, and thus revert back to a weak loose-passive style.

Another thing I've noticed that happens in HORSE tournaments (single table or multi table) is that a lot of players go batshit crazy during the second or third round of holdem (H2 or H3). Play is usually reasonable during H1 and 01. Many players are terrible at the stud variants and blow most of their stacks playing too passively or maniacally during the stud games. Others suffer big hits getting chased down. I've seen a lot of players go on tilt and/or feel pressured to accumulate chips when they get to the 2nd/3rd round of holdem and the play during H2/H3 is horrible. I've had some very positive results building up a stack during these rounds of holdem exploiting these tilting desperate players