Play Live Horse Poker Games
HORSE Poker is a mixed game where every certain number of hands, or after a fixed time interval, the game changes to the next game scheduled on the rotation. H.O.R.S.E. is an acronym representing the 5 games on the rotation which are; Holdem, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, 7 Card Stud and finally E which is 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Eight or Better (The S was already taken so the E was used.) While HORSE is one of the more common mixed game formats used in poker tournaments, it is difficult to find a live game using its format.
Horse Poker in Las Vegas
In Las Vegas casinos known to host H.O.R.S.E., ring games include the Mirage, Bellagio and Venetian. Live HORSE games are played elsewhere in Las Vegas, but are rare. For example, Harrah’s poker room has a scrolling sign which claims that they offer H.O.R.S.E. based on request, but having spent a lot of time in that card room, I can only recall one occasion where the game ran.
Those who live in Las Vegas might have an easier time finding where the H.O.R.S.E. games are running, if they’re good at networking. Generally, in Las Vegas at least one Horse poker game is running somewhere, however finding it is the trick one needs to perform. If you live in Vegas, or are a frequent traveler to Las Vegas, a good idea is to make friends with dealers, floor men and other players. This way your cell phone might get a text message not only when a rare game that you’re looking to play is spread, but perhaps also when a few drunk fish spewing money show up in any game. As a tip, treat dealers and floor people well and make friends; dealer abuse does not make sense anytime, but especially not if you’re looking to make a lot of money in Vegas.
Those who are just occasional travelers to Las Vegas will have a bit more difficult time finding a H.O.R.S.E. game. In reality, if you’re in this spot your best chance to play live Horse poker is to have a game started for you. If you walk up alone and say, can you open an interests list for H.O.R.S.E., the casino will often do it, but there is little chance the game will actually run. The best way to get a live H.O.R.S.E game going is to bring a few buddies along. Open the interest list together with 3-4 names on it and then recruit. If you get other players to add their names to that list, then there is a decent chance that the game will actually be spread.
Live Horse Games outside of Las Vegas
Southern California: In Southern California, the two casinos most willing to accommodate players looking to play H.O.R.S.E. poker are the Bike and the Commerce. Much of what we’ve covered about live Horse games in Vegas applies also to live horse games in southern California.
Atlantic City: The two casinos you’re most likely to get a H.O.R.S.E game going in are Taj Mahal and Borgata. These games were popular for a while at the Taj, but have died out in recent months. Perhaps during the US Poker Championship or the Borgata Winter Poker Open, interest will pick back up again.
Southeastern Connecticut: Connecticut has two casinos with poker rooms, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Foxwoods is the casino that you’re more likely to get H.O.R.S.E. poker games going in, as they have a few semi-regular mixed games, such as $8/$16 O.E and $75/$150 H.O.E. The nice thing is that Foxwoods has enough dealers experienced in multiple games to support H.O.R.S.E; so while it’s not often spread, if you get enough players interested, there is a decent chance they’ll open the game.
Tunica Ms: In 2006 mixed game poker was booming in Tunica, now four years later it is difficult to get a game going. Historically, the Gold Strike and the Horseshoe do accommodate if there is enough interest, just unfortunately at this time that interest is small.
New Orleans: I’ve read blog posts on several occasions about H.O.R.S.E. poker games going on in New Orleans. Unfortunately, that’s about as far as my knowledge of New Orleans casinos goes, having only spent two nights in their casinos during a very short trip to New Orleans.
To find other live Horse games such as in Reno and Lake Tahoe, you can try your luck plugging “Live Horse games (+ city)” in a search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing, or you can head over to a website such as twoplustwo.com and ask in the brick and mortar or games section of their forum.
