Mix Games
Poker has become so easy to most of its advanced players that other variations needed to be incorporated to make the game more challenging, and to make tournaments worth watching. This is where mixed games come in. Most tournaments incorporate mixed poker games in order to determine the poker champion, as opposed to being an expert in just one poker vaiation. Because mized poker games incorporate different kinds of poker variants played one after the other, players need to be extra alert and extremely skilled. If a player who is strong with one poker variant – Texas Hold’em, for instance – only practices heavily on that and puts all of his focus on it, then there’s no chance for him to win the mixed games. Some examples of mixed poker games include:
- HORSE Poker – The word “HORSE” is actually an acronym for the five poker variations played in this type of mixed game: Texas Hold’em, Omaha High, Razz Poker, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud Eight-High. All five games are played consecutively. The number of times each game is played depends on the number of players participating in the game. If there are 8 players, then there will be eight rounds of H – O – R – S – E. This is probably one of those times when the more does NOT mean the merrier.
SHOE or HOSE Poker – These two types of mixed games can be used interchangeably because they incorporate the same variations. The only difference is the order in which the games are played, because the order follows the acronym. In this type of mixed game, the variations of poker played are: Texas Hold’em, Omaha High, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud Eight-High. The same rules of play apply – the number of rounds is based on number of players participating.