The letters represent each of the five games played:

• H for Limit Hold ‘em
• O for Omaha High/Low,
• R for Razz
• S for Seven Card Stud
• E for Seven Card Stud Eights or Better.

The tournament begins with Texas Hold ‘em and proceeds at set intervals through the remaining four games. All five stages may take place at different times on the same day or over several days depending on the size of the tournament.

While all of the games in H.O.R.S.E. have draws, the same playing style won’t cover the board when you’re aiming for a high hand in Hold ‘em and a low one in Razz. In fact, this is a common mistake when playing a H.O.R.S.E. tournament—not knowing the games. Before you even pay your buy-in, you should be comfortable with all five games. The internet offers a terrific opportunity to sample such rarities as Razz and to familiarize yourself with the unique betting structure of Limit.

H.O.R.S.E. Strategy

Because this type of tournament requires strong play in five significantly different games, it can be hard to develop a comprehensive strategy to cover all of them. The basic idea though when playing in a H.O.R.S.E. poker tournament is the same as in any other tournament—to win more than you lose. To do this, you will need to approach each game stage independently. The best way to come out on top overall is to focus on your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. This usually means playing your best games aggressively and playing your worst games tight and conservative.

Another thing to consider is that most of these games are accelerated (also called “Turbo”) to keep the tournament from dragging on. That means that playing too conservatively won’t cut it for long with blinds going up every few hands (or even every few minutes). For Turbo H.O.R.S.E. tournaments you are often forced to play as if you were already at the final table—betting big and strong on hands that are marginal at best in hopes of building a stack fast. The final round is as always the one that will determine your placing, but remember that to get there you will have to hold your own through four other games first.

To newbies, this concept may be somewhat confusing. After all, regardless of where you sit you have the same odds of drawing good or bad cards and the same options to bet, raise, call or fold. How then could playing position possibly matter? The truth of course is that to observant players it can matter a lot.

The early position is obviously the least advantageous position. You must start the betting, and all of the other players will be able to observe and analyze your decisions. If you bet aggressively early, you are forced to continue on this way or admit to a weak hand and fold, and unlike the late position you do not know if calling will get you through to the flop. If you are in the early position, unfortunately there’s not much you can do about it, but you should be taking advantage of your opponents when they are in it, the same way they will take advantage of and manipulate you.

The middle position is true to its name in that it offers very little in the way of advantages or disadvantages. While you will be able to see and react to the first players’ decisions, you will also be judged in kind by the players betting after you.

Virtually all seasoned players believe that the best position you can have in a hand is the late position. As the late position player, you get to see everyone else’s bets first. This has two-fold advantages. For one, if you have a average hand you can gauge your ability to get your opponents to fold on a raise, thus stealing the blinds. If you have a strong hand, you can allow other players to bet and pump the pot for you instead of betting yourself and causing them to fold. Alternately, if you have a weak hand, you may be able to limp through to the flop if all other players call. Later in the hand, this also gives you a good idea of where your opponents stand prior to making your own bets and allows you to raise accordingly.

You should take advantage of your late position every time it comes around in the same way you would take advantage of a good starting hand.

What Kind of Bonuses Are There

There are three common types of bonuses you can expect to see: money bonuses, match bonuses, and fixed bonuses. Money promotions are usually used as a sign-on bonus. For signing up and creating a member account, you may get $5-10 of free play. Alternately, some sites will give you free entrance to special tournaments. Match bonuses are the preferred promotion for first deposits. With these bonuses, the site agrees to match your first deposit up to a certain dollar amount. Most sites will match 100% of that first deposit, essentially doubling your money, but a rare few offer a 200% match. Finally, fixed bonuses are like match bonuses but are usually offered for future deposits. With a fixed bonus, you may get a fixed percentage (like 50%) or a fixed dollar amount (like $25) for every future deposit of a certain amount. For long-term players, most sites also offer loyalty programs and special monthly promotions to keep their older members coming back.

Terms and Conditions of Online Poker Bonuses

Virtually all online poker bonuses have terms and conditions. For example, with money bonuses you cannot simply cash out the $10 received for signing up. That money is only good for playing cash games. For match and fixed bonuses, you usually have to play a certain amount of raked hands in cash games or buy into a set number of tournaments before that money will be released. Sometimes the money is released in increments as you earn it and other times you must meet the full requirements of the terms and conditions before you can access or “clear” your bonuses.

Bonus Whoring

New players may find it challenging to clear their first bonuses. In the beginning, you’ll be losing more than you win, so clearing your bonus could take more money than it’s actually worth. But as you get better at the game you’ll get better at clearing bonuses too. Many amateur and professional players take full advantage of bonuses by joining several rooms. When players join and play in a room for the specific purpose of clearing a bonus from it, this is called “bonus whoring.” Obvious bonus whoring can get you banned from poker rooms, but done subtly and in conjunction with regular play it can be a great way to make more for your money.

Fight Fire with Fire

If the game dictates it, then you shouldn’t let another aggressive player prevent you from likewise playing aggressively as long as your betting is always backed by a good hand. If you are at the final table, and especially in a heads up situation, then you should expect your opponents to play aggressively. Don’t let it intimidate you, or you’ll end up losing anyway as the blinds slowly chip away at your stack.

Avoid Playing Overly Aggressive

Many players naturally respond to aggression with more aggression. This is not the same as playing aggressively as a strategy but is instead more of a head-on challenge. The problem with this is that betting on anything and everything can easily backfire, as your overly aggressive opponent will likely find out themselves. Alternately, if your opponent has a bigger stack, then they can outlast you at this little game, making it pointless if not reckless to take them on in this way. Some players even do this intentionally to try to bait their opponents into going all in when they shouldn’t. The only way to protect your chips is to stick to your strategy. With more experience and knowledge of the strategy, you will be better prepared to take on these other aggressive players.

Learn how to Set a Trap

The best part of playing an overly aggressive opponent is that little to nothing fazes them. They’re betting and raising anyway, so why would they let your betting and raising deter them? Ultimately this mindset will be the end of them. Trapping an aggressive player takes very little work, because all it takes is a good hand to steal the pot they’re so eager to build for you. You may have to forfeit a few blinds waiting for a good hand to come along, but if you’re down to a few players, don’t be afraid to make your move on a marginal hand either—you’re going to have to eventually anyway to stay in the game. The best way to finish off an aggressive player is to go all in yourself. They’ll either have to stick to their strategy and call, or break their streak and back off, forfeiting the pot. Either way, it’s a win-win situation.