10 Mistakes Hold'em Players Make When Learning HORSE

This page is about what goes wrong. If you want the order to learn the games in, read the learning path for Hold'em players first and come back here when you have a few sessions behind you.

Two habits do most of the damage: treating a fixed-limit river bet like a no-limit river bet, and treating a cheap third street like a cheap flop. Both come from the same place. In no-limit the price of a mistake is set by your opponent; in fixed-limit betting every price is fixed and small, so the math shifts toward calling late and folding early.

1. Folding the river for one bet into a big pot

In no-limit a river bet is often a pot-sized question, and folding a marginal pair is routine. In Limit Hold'em the river bet is one big bet into a much bigger pot; limit vs no-limit Hold'em works through the arithmetic in Situation 1. Folding second pair every time an opponent bets the river is one of the most expensive habits Hold'em players bring to HORSE, because the fold costs you a large pot and the call costs you one bet.

Example. Limit Hold'em, three players saw a raised flop. You hold A♥ 10♦ and the final board is K♣ 10♥ 6♠ 2♦ 4♥. By the river the pot holds 13 small bets, six and a half big bets. Your one remaining opponent bets one big bet.

• Mistaken thought: "He bet the river on a king-high board. He has the king. Fold."
• Corrected thought: "I'm getting seven and a half to one, so I only need to be good about one time in eight. Missed straight draws like Q-J and 8-7, a smaller pair and an ace-high bluff all bet here. Call." He shows Q♠ J♠, a missed straight draw, and your pair of tens takes the pot.

Drill: In your next Limit Hold'em session, before every river fold, say the pot size in big bets out loud; if it is more than six and you hold a pair, ask whether this player bluffs often enough for a call to pay; if you can't rule it out, call and see what the bet meant.

2. Calling on third street because it is "only one bet"

In Hold'em you can see a flop with a wide range and fold when you miss. In the stud games three of your seven cards are already dealt when you make your first decision, so a weak start is nearly half of a weak hand, and from fifth street the bet doubles. The hands you "see cheaply" are the ones that catch just enough to keep paying. The Stud 8 starting-hand guide covers the hi-lo version of this; the discipline is the same in all three stud games.

Example. Razz. The player showing K♠ posts the bring-in, the player showing 5♣ completes to a full small bet, and you hold J♥ 9♣ 4♦.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

• Mistaken thought: "My four is the best door card at the table and it's one small bet. Call."
• Corrected thought: "My door card is good; my hand is not. With a jack and a nine hidden, I need three good cards out of the next four just to make a rough nine low, and he completed from a five with, most likely, three good cards already. Fold."

The same trap in Seven Card Stud looks like 7♠ 2♥ K♣: the king shows, so the hand feels strong, but it is king high with nothing behind it.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

Drill: For your next 30 stud-game hands, before you act on third street, say whether all three of your cards work together; if only the door card does, lean toward folding, and write down why whenever you play anyway.

A Hold'em player has never had to ask "which half of this pot can I win, and with how many people?" In Omaha 8 and Stud 8 that question decides most hands. The four mistakes below are all failures to ask it; split-pot poker explained has the full mechanics of halves, quarters and counterfeits.

3. Playing every A-2 in Omaha 8

A-2 is the best low start in Omaha 8, and Hold'em players hear that and play any four cards that contain it. But A-2 with two unconnected high cards can rarely win more than the low half, and only if nobody else holds A-2. In a multiway fixed-limit pot someone often does, and then you split the low half: a quarter of the pot for a full share of the bets.

Example. You hold A♠ 2♣ 9♦ Q♥, your opponent holds A♥ 2♦ K♦ K♣, and the final board is 3♠ 5♦ 8♣ J♦ K♥. You both make the nut low, 8-5-3-2-A, with A-2 and the board's 3-5-8. He also makes three kings. In a 60-chip pot he collects 30 for high and 15 for his share of the low, 45 in all; you collect 15. Heads-up you put in 30 of those chips, so you lost 15 holding the nut low.

• Mistaken thought: "I have A-2, the nut low draw. Raise."
• Corrected thought: "My A-2 comes with a nine and a queen that make no high hand. This wins the low half at best and a quarter when another A-2 shows up. I want A-2 with a suited ace, a third low card or a high pair; without them, fold before the flop or call only when it's cheap and the pot is multiway."

Drill: Before entering any Omaha 8 pot in your next session, name the high hand your four cards could make; if the answer is "none", you are playing for half at best, so play it only when the price and position are good.

4. Forgetting the exactly-two rule in Omaha

Hold'em lets you play one hole card or none. Omaha never does: exactly two cards from your hand and exactly three from the board, for high and for low separately. Hold'em players "see" flushes with one suited card and lows with one low card, and they pay off the whole way with a hand they do not have.

Example. You hold A♥ K♦ 9♣ 9♠ and the final board is 4♥ 8♥ 10♥ J♥ 2♣. Your opponent holds Q♥ 6♥ 5♦ 3♠.

• Mistaken thought: "Four hearts on the board and I hold the ace of hearts: nut flush. And ace-two-four-eight is a low. Raise."
• Corrected thought: "I have one heart, so I have no flush, and one low card, so I have no low. My hand is a pair of nines. Four hearts on the board means anyone with two hearts beats me. Fold to a bet." He uses Q♥ 6♥ with three board hearts for a queen-high flush and 5-3 with 2-4-8 for an 8-5-4-3-2 low, and scoops.

Drill: In your next Omaha 8 session, before every call, point at the exact two hole cards you are using for high and the two for low; if you cannot, you do not have the hand.

5. Chasing a low that will often lose in Stud 8

Hold'em players count low cards the way they count outs to a flush, and four low cards feels like a made hand. It is not. A qualifying low needs five different ranks, all 8 or lower, with no pair among them (see low hand rankings). Four low cards on fifth street in Stud 8 is a draw, and against an opponent showing three low cards it is often a draw to second best.

Example. Fifth street. You hold 2♣ 4♦ 7♠ Q♥ 8♦. Your opponent shows 3♥ 6♠ A♥, acts first because his ace high is the best exposed hand, and bets the big bet.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

• Mistaken thought: "I have four to a low. Call."
• Corrected thought: "Right now I hold queen high. He shows A-3-6 and is betting, so I assume a made low. If I catch once, my best low is an eight; if I catch twice, it's a seven, and a seven cannot beat a six. I have nothing for high either. Fold." He held 5♣ 2♥ 3♥ 6♠ A♥: 6-5-3-2-A, already made on fifth street.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

Drill: For your next 20 Stud 8 hands, say "made" or "drawing" out loud before calling on fifth street; if drawing, name the best low you can still make.

6. Raising with a low when another player is going low too

Hold'em players think about one opponent at a time. In hi-lo games you have to count how many players are drawing to each half. In a three-way pot with one high hand and two low hands, the two lows are fighting over half the pot, and if they tie, a quarter each, and the low that raises is paying full price for it.

Example. Stud 8, sixth street, three players. You hold A♥ 2♣ 3♠ 4♦ 6♥ Q♣, a made 6-4-3-2-A low. One opponent shows 3♣ 6♠ 4♥ T♣ and has called every bet. The other shows 9♥ K♥ J♣ 5♦, acts first because his king high is the best exposed hand, and has bet every street. He bets; the first opponent calls.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

• Mistaken thought: "I have the nut low, a six-four. Raise."
• Corrected thought: "I'm ace high now; only a five gives me a straight, and just three fives are live, so I'm mostly playing for low. The player showing 3-4-6 and a ten has called every street, so he may well hold an A-2 as well and the same six-four low. If we are tied, every big bet I add comes back to me as a quarter of three bets. Call, and let the high hand do the betting."

At showdown the low caller shows A♦ 2♦ 3♣ 6♠ 4♥ 10♣ 9♦, the same 6-4-3-2-A, and the bettor shows J♦ J♠ 9♥ K♥ J♣ 5♦ Q♥, three jacks. Your own last card is the K♠. He takes the high half; you and the other low take a quarter each.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

Drill: In your next Stud 8 session, before raising with a low-only hand on fifth street or later, count the players showing three or more low cards; if someone besides you is going low, ask whether a raise wins you more of the pot or just builds one you will split.

Three rules have no Hold'em equivalent: pairs are bad in Razz, exposed cards change your outs, and the order of action moves every street. Each one produces its own mistake.

7. Overvaluing a pair in Razz

A pair is the first thing a Hold'em player looks for. In Razz a pair is a defect: your best hand wants five different ranks, and any paired hand loses to any unpaired one. Hold'em players read "four low cards and a pair" as strength when it is a draw, and they bet into made hands.

Example. Fifth street. You hold 3♣ 3♥ 5♦ 6♠ 8♣. Your opponent shows 2♦ 7♥ 9♣. Your 8-6-5 is the lowest exposed hand, so you act first.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

• Mistaken thought: "Five cards, all eight or lower. Bet."
• Corrected thought: "My hand is 8-6-5-3-3, a pair of threes. He shows 9-7-2; if his hole cards are any two unpaired low cards, he already has a made nine and I am the one drawing. I need an ace, two, four or seven in the next two cards. Check, call one bet, and fold if I pair again." He holds A♥ 4♠ 2♦ 7♥ 9♣: a made 9-7-4-2-A.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

Drill: For your next 20 Razz hands, say your actual five-card hand out loud before acting on fifth street, pairs included: "8-6-5-3-3" is a pair, not an eight.

8. Ignoring dead cards in Stud

In Hold'em the only cards you see are yours and the board, so your outs are a fixed number. In the stud games every door card and every later exposed card changes your count, and folded cards never come back. Hold'em players raise three suited connectors in Seven Card Stud without noticing that their suit is already thin. Reading exposed cards in Stud covers the counting in detail.

Example. Third street, 6-max Seven Card Stud. You hold 9♥ 8♥ 10♥. The other five door cards are K♥ 6♥ 2♥ J♦ 7♠. The two of hearts posts the bring-in and the king completes.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

• Mistaken thought: "Three to a straight flush. Raise."
• Corrected thought: "Three of the ten hearts I could catch are already showing, along with a jack, a seven and a six that my straights need. This hand lost a third of its flush outs before I acted, and the king may be paired. Fold to the completion."

Drill: Before acting on third street in your next 20 Stud hands, count the cards of your suit showing around the table and say the number out loud.

9. Misreading who acts first in stud

In Hold'em position is fixed by the button for the whole hand. In the stud games it moves. On third street the bring-in is the lowest door card in Stud and Stud 8 and the highest door card in Razz. From fourth street on, the best exposed hand acts first in Stud and Stud 8, and the lowest exposed hand acts first in Razz, and it is recalculated on every street. Hold'em players plan a street around acting last and then find the order has changed.

Example. Seven Card Stud, fourth street. You hold K♠ Q♦ A♣ 7♦. Your opponent shows 8♠ 3♥. On third street the two of clubs posted the bring-in and folded, he completed from the eight, and you called last with the ace showing.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

• Mistaken thought: "I acted last on third street, so I'll act last again and see what he does first."
• Corrected thought: "My A-7 is now the best board showing, so I act first on fourth street, and on every street my board stays ahead of his. I have to plan the hand from out of position: decide now whether I bet or check, and what I do if he raises."

Drill: In your next stud session, before each street's first bet, say which exposed hand acts first and why, then check whether you were right.

The game changes every 6 hands in the app's HORSE, TORSE and THORSE rotations, and the first hand of each new game is where the leftover habits show. Hold'em players have no switching habit at all, because Hold'em never switches.

10. Playing the last game's hands after the switch

One of the hardest switches in HORSE is Razz to Seven Card Stud: the dealing is identical, the betting structure is the same (though the bring-in and action order flip), and the goal flips from lowest hand to highest. The Omaha 8 to Razz switch adds a dealing change on top of the goal change, and the Stud to Stud 8 switch brings back the low half. Every one of the nine mistakes above gets worse in the first hand after a switch, because you are still valuing cards the way the previous game valued them.

Example. First hand after the switch from Razz to Seven Card Stud. You are dealt A♦ 3♠ 5♥.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

• Mistaken thought: "Ace-three-five, a great start. Complete."
• Corrected thought: "This is Stud. Three low cards in three suits with two gaps is ace high with little to build on. Usually fold." The mirror image applies when the rotation reaches Razz: K♥ K♦ 9♠ is a strong Stud start and a hopeless Razz start.Underlined cards are hole cards, dealt face down.

Drill: Every time the game name changes, say the new game and its goal out loud ("Stud, high only"; "Razz, low only"; "Stud 8, both") before you look at your cards. Day 7 of the seven-day practice plan has the full table, one line for every game.