Home Game Tutorial #6: Changing Games

When setting up a night of mixed poker games, one question that is posed is how to switch between the games. There are two main ways to introduce a change of mixed games.

The first way is seen in home games across the country: Dealer’s Choice. In this form, the person in the dealer seat can choose any game they want to play, or select from a list of games chosen beforehand. Dealer’s choice is very popular when playing mixed games, as well as having its own event in the World Series of Poker. The biggest benefit of this method is that everyone can play their favorite game when the button is on them.

The other common method of organizing mixed games is a rotation. In it, after every orbit, the game changes. One common rotation is H.O.R.S.E., where five limit games are played in the order of Hold’em, Omaha 8, Razz, Stud Hi, and Stud 8. Others include 8-game, which adds big-bet games such as No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha, or T.O.R.S.E., which replaces Hold’em with Triple Draw. The biggest benefit of a fixed rotation is that it allows good players to adapt to the games because they know what will come next.

When playing mixed games, you may be playing both big-bet and fixed-limit games. In that case, you need a different betting structure. Generally, a big—bet game plays 4 to 8 times bigger than a limit game of the same stakes. So, to compensate, limit betting sizes should be quadrupled. So 25-cent/50-cent big bet games should be paired with 1/2 or 2/4 limit games.