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Mixed Poker Games
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A Guide To Mixed Poker Games
Mixed poker games have been growing in popularity over the last several years. The two largest online poker rooms currently offer a variety of mixed poker games and are even creating new variations. A mixed poker game is when you combine two or more different card games and play them in rotations. A good example is H.O.R.S.E poker, the most popular mixed poker game. In H.O.R.S.E poker you play five different card games. The number of hands you play each game in a rotation varies from room to room but the number is usually 6-10. History Of Mixed Poker Games
People have been playing mixed poker games for many years. The S.H.O.E variant was a popular game at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in the 70's and 80's. Since then H.O.R.S.E has become the most played mixed game for both tournament play and cash games. This is a little known fact but the tournament with the largest buy-in each year is the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event at the WSOP. This is one of the most prestigious tournaments ever played and it attracts a large number of well known professional poker players which only adds to its popularity. Five years ago the mixed game tables at the few online poker rooms that offered them were almost always empty. While the number of rooms that offer mixed poker games remains small today, the poker rooms that do are the largest and most successful.
There has been some new mixed games that have came out in the last year. Full Tilt Poker's H.A. Poker has been a major success and attracts hundreds of players to the tables around the clock. The premier online poker room, Pokerstars, currently offers three unique mixed games that can't be found anywhere else. These are the new 8-Game poker, Omaha Hi-Lo Mixed and Hold'em Mixed. 8-Game poker has also been a huge success and is arguably the 2nd most popular mixed game played online. When you consider the fact that this game isn't even a year old it really proves that online poker players are looking for something new.
The appeal of game like H.O.R.S.E and 8-Game poker for most players is the increase in profitability. Being able to play well at one or two games is not enough, you must master each of the games to be a successful player. The Texas Hold'em action at online poker rooms has changed a lot over the last few years. More and more players are using software programs to assist them with or compliment their strategy. It is for this reason that the games are not as soft as they used to be and poker players are looking for new juicy games to play. Mixed poker games are an obvious solution to this problem.
Top Three Mixed Poker Games
With the steady addition of new mixed games I expect this list to change in the next couple years. Currently the most played mixed game is H.O.R.S.E poker. H.O.R.S.E is a mix of Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Seven card Stud Hi-Lo, all played in fixed limit (FL). With three stud poker variations the competition at the H.O.R.S.E tables is pretty soft. According to recent traffic analysis the second most played mixed game is 8-Game poker. This is perhaps the most challenging mixed game I have come across. Fixed limit, pot limit and no limit games are included but what makes this game so challenging is the game line-up:
- T - FL 2-7 Triple Draw
- H- FL Texas Hold’em
- O - FL Omaha Eight or Better (Hi/Lo)
- R - FL Razz
- S - FL Seven Card Stud
- E - FL 7 Card Stud Eight Hi-Lo
- H - NL Texas Hold’em
- A - PL Omaha
27 Triple Draw is typically the 'problem game" for most players. Triple Draw has never been popular and is very odd when compared to the other games in the line-up. This is good news for Triple Draw poker fans though. The traffic to the Triple Draw tables has experienced huge growth since the addition of 8-Game poker.
The third most played mixed game is Full Tilt's H.A. poker. H.A poker is a mix of pot limit Texas Hold'em and pot limit Omaha. The fact that this game has become so popular is somewhat of an enigma to me because Texas Hold'em is rarely thought of or played as a pot limit game. The fixed limit and no limit formats account for over 95% of all the Texas Hold'em traffic found at online poker rooms.
