H.O.R.S.E. is a multi-game form of
poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
commonly played at the high-stakes tables of casinos and in tournaments. It is most often played in a
limit
Limit or Limits may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Limit'' (manga), a manga by Keiko Suenobu
* ''Limit'' (film), a South Korean film
* Limit (music), a way to characterize harmony
* "Limit" (song), a 2016 single by Luna Sea
* "Limits", a 2019 ...
format, but can be played with other betting structures. The format consists of rounds of play cycling among:
*
Texas Hold 'em,
*
Omaha hi-low split-eight or better,
*
Razz,
*
Seven card Stud, and
*
Seven card stud hi-low split-Eight or better.
Variations
HOSE
A hose is a flexible hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are also sometimes called ''pipes'' (the word ''pipe'' usually refers to a rigid tube, whereas a hose is usually a flexible one), or more generally '' ...
drops razz from the game mix.
C.H.O.R.S.E adds
Chowaha or
Crazy Pineapple to the mix. This results in an even split of community card games and stud games. C.H.O.R.S.E.L adds
lowball.
T.H.O.R.S.E.H.A. is another 8-Game Mix which includes more games than most other mixed poker games.
PokerStars
PokerStars is an online poker cardroom that was a part of The Stars Group until it was sold to Flutter Entertainment on May 5, 2020. It can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for the Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It is the large ...
started offering this game in 2008. It consists of limit 2-7 Triple Draw, limit Texas hold 'em, limit Omaha Hi-Lo, limit Razz, limit Seven-card Stud, limit Seven card Stud Hi-Lo, no limit Texas hold 'em and pot limit Omaha.
World Series of Poker events
H.O.R.S.E. made its debut at the
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...
in
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
with a $2,000 buy-in.
John Hennigan won the event, earning $117,320.
A record-setting $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament made its debut at the
2006 World Series of Poker
The 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) began on June 25, 2006 with satellite events, with regular play commencing on June 26 with the annual Casino Employee event, and the Tournament of Champions held on June 28 and 29. 40 more events in various ...
.
Chip Reese
David Edward "Chip" Reese (March 28, 1951 – December 4, 2007) was an American professional poker player and gambler from Centerville, Ohio. He is widely regarded as having been the greatest cash game poker player.
Early life
Reese suffe ...
won the event, earning $1,716,000 for first place. After Reese died at the end of 2007, the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy was created in his honor. The trophy is awarded to the winner of the $50,000 championship event since the
2008 World Series of Poker
The 2008 World Series of Poker was the 39th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). Held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, the series began on May 30th, 2008, and featured 55 poker championships in several variants. All ...
.
The $50,000 buy-in tournament returned for the
2007 WSOP, along with seven satellite events with a $2,250 buy-in whose winners earned seats into the $50,000 buy-in event. The $50,000 event, which awarded $2,276,832 to first place, was won by professional player
Freddy Deeb
Kassem Ibrahim "Freddy" Deeb ( ar, قاسم إبراهيم ديب; born November 27, 1955 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese professional poker player.
Before poker
Deeb was attending Utah State University when civil war broke out in Lebanon in ...
. Separate H.O.R.S.E. events with $2,500 and $5,000 buy-ins were also on the 2007 WSOP program.
The
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
$50,000 H.O.R.S.E event was won by
Scotty Nguyen
Thuận B. "Scotty" Nguyễn (born October 28, 1962) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player who is a five-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, most notably as the winner of the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event and ...
, who received $1,989,120 for his victory. This was also the first time that the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy had been awarded to the winner of the competition.
The
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
$50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event was won by
David Bach, for $1,276,802.
For
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship event was replaced by
The Poker Player's Championship
The Poker Players Championship is a $50,000 buy-in event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Added in the 2010, it replaced the former $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship as the highest-stakes mixed-games event. It is considered among the mo ...
, with an identical buy-in. The 2010 WSOP also featured a new $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, joining already-existing events with $1,500 and $3,000 buy-ins.
Notes
{{World Series of Poker $50,000 Players' Championship Winners
Poker variants