8-Game Mix rules: change the game, then check the stakes
The awkward moment in 8-Game is often the first hand after a change. You may know both games perfectly well and still reach for the previous betting unit, count a low that no longer exists or use one hole card when the new game requires two.
Jun has put a blank reminder sheet beside the table. The HPD spade wants to fill it with eight game names. Jun asks for something more useful at the top: the game being played now. This guide gives you a rotation map, a local decision trainer, a handoff worksheet and six rehearsals for the changes that are easiest to miss.
We use the order described in PokerStars’ 8-Game rules. Its cash-game profile changes games after six hands; its tournament description changes games by level. Those are source-specific procedures. An event called “8-Game” elsewhere may publish a different sequence or rotation length, so read its structure rather than importing this schedule.
Use the page as a rehearsal sheet
Read the eight-game order, then try a boundary in the local decision trainer. The practice stake sheet keeps blinds separate from betting units. Work through the six handoff stations with a notebook. Each station states its current game and keeps its answer closed until you want to check it.
The eight-game order in this profile
| Stop | Game | What wins at showdown |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Limit 2-7 Triple Draw | Best five-card deuce-to-seven low |
| 2 | Limit Hold’em | Best five-card high hand |
| 3 | Limit Omaha Eight or Better | High and qualifying eight-or-better low split the pot |
| 4 | Razz | Best five-card ace-to-five low |
| 5 | Limit Seven Card Stud | Best five-card high hand |
| 6 | Limit Stud Eight or Better | High and qualifying eight-or-better low split the pot |
| 7 | No-Limit Hold’em | Best five-card high hand |
| 8 | Pot-Limit Omaha | Best five-card high hand |
After Pot-Limit Omaha, return to Limit 2-7 Triple Draw. The first six stops use fixed-limit betting, including Razz. The last two are the no-limit and pot-limit sections. “Mixed game” is a wider label; it does not guarantee this list, and a dealer’s-choice game is not automatically this rotation.
H.O.R.S.E. contains the five fixed-limit games from Hold’em through Stud Eight or Better. This eight-game profile adds Triple Draw and the two big-bet games. The difficult addition is more than remembering three names. You must change how a legal bet is measured, then change how the next hand is constructed.
Use the room’s current-game display or the dealer’s announcement as the live authority. Counting from memory is a useful check, but a missed hand can put the count out of step. If the two disagree, resolve the game before acting. Do not guess which rules apply because the last board looked familiar.
Separate a rotation block from a betting round
In the six-hand cash profile, one block is six completed hands of the same game. Each of those hands has its own betting rounds. Six blocks is not a full cycle; there are eight blocks, giving 8 × 6 = 48 hands before the order repeats.
A tournament level is a different counter. When the structure changes the game by level, a fast table and a slow table need not have played the same number of hands. Do not run a six-hand alarm through a level-based event. Record the current game, the level and the scheduled change rule separately.
Finishing a block does not change the rules halfway through its last hand. Settle that hand under its game, then follow the announced transition for the next deal. Hand numbering in our rehearsal starts at one, with zero completed hands before the first deal. The count assumes no missed hands; it is not a reconstruction of a real table’s floor procedure.
A local trainer for the next decision
Enter how many hands have finished, predict the next game and its position, then check the result. The second part gives you a named betting situation and asks for the call, minimum full raise and maximum legal total. Feedback explains the arithmetic and points out each amount that needs changing.
This trainer runs only on this page. It sends no answers, makes no network requests and uses no browser storage. Reloading starts a fresh practice attempt. Reset trainer clears its answers, but leaves your separate handwritten or page notes alone. Use Tab to move through fields and buttons; Enter in an answer field checks that part of the trainer.
Try the rotation and bet-limit trainer
The interactive checker needs JavaScript. The reference answers and worked stations below remain readable without it.
Reference answers without the checker: after 36 completed hands comes No-Limit Hold’em, hand 1; after 42 comes PLO, hand 1; after 48 comes Triple Draw, hand 1. Betting answers are shown in the trainer reference table below.
Reference answers if the checker is unavailable
The table keeps the lesson usable with JavaScript off. The figures are totals for a player who has committed zero on the current betting round. A fixed-limit row asks for one ordinary full raise, not a sequence of later re-raises. No listed example involves a short all-in that changes reopening rights.
| Situation | Call | Minimum full raise total | Maximum total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limit 4/8, flop, facing 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| No-limit 1/2, raises to 6 then 14, 100 available | 14 | 22 | 100 |
| PLO, pot 30 before a bet of 10, 200 available | 10 | 20 | 60 |
| PLO, pot 18 before a bet of 6, 100 available | 6 | 12 | 36 |
| No-limit 4/8, unopened, 240 available | 8 | 16 | 240 |
| Limit 12/24, turn, facing 24 | 24 | 48 | 48 |
| PLO, pot 30 before a bet of 10, only 45 available | 10 | 20 | 45 |
Try a deliberately wrong answer once. In the PLO 30/10 situation, enter 40 as the maximum total and read why the checker rejects it. Then enter 60. You have corrected a missing-call calculation, rather than merely memorising a correct result. The checker does not recommend making a maximum raise; it checks the requested call, minimum full raise and maximum total under the stated assumptions. A raise to 40 is legal here, but it is not the maximum.
Read the numbers after the game name
A pair of numbers needs a label. In fixed-limit games, 12/24 usually names the small and big bets. In no-limit and pot-limit listings, a label such as 3/6 names the small and big blinds. Neither label tells you a safe amount to risk, and equal-looking labels do not necessarily describe equal forced bets.
PokerStars describes reducing blinds and antes when its mix reaches the no-limit and pot-limit section. Its general rules page does not supply a universal numeric conversion. The following stake sheet is our own fictional practice setup, using imaginary chips. It is not a quoted live table, recommended stake level or tournament structure.
| Practice section | Forced bets | Betting amounts |
|---|---|---|
| Limit Triple Draw, Hold’em and Omaha Eight or Better | Small blind 6; big blind 12; no ante | Small bet 12; big bet 24 |
| Razz, Stud and Stud Eight or Better | Ante 2 per player; bring-in 4; no blinds | Small bet 12; big bet 24 |
| No-Limit Hold’em | Small blind 3; big blind 6; no ante | At least a legal minimum, up to the available stack |
| Pot-Limit Omaha | Small blind 3; big blind 6; no ante | At least a legal minimum, up to the pot-limit maximum and available stack |
The stud-family bring-in is an opening forced bet, not a small blind and not the full small bet. An ordinary completion in this practice setup brings the total to 12. Do not add a fictional blind to the ante because the preceding game used one.
For limit Hold’em and Omaha, the small unit applies before the flop and on the flop; the big unit applies on the turn and river. Triple Draw uses small, small, big, big across its four betting rounds. Stud-family games move to the big unit on fifth street, but Stud high has an exposed-pair option on fourth street. Read that game’s rule rather than treating every stud-family fourth street as identical.
Each rehearsal below names its own amounts. Some deliberately use a different stake label to test reading rather than memory. Do not paste the 12/24 worksheet into a station that explicitly says 1/2 blinds.
Write a handoff before the next deal
Use these three lines to state what changed. They are temporary notes on this page, with no submission or saving function. Do not put account details or private hand histories into them. You can also copy the prompts into a paper notebook.
- Changing Stud Eight or Better to No-Limit Hold’em replaces antes and a bring-in with the stated blinds, changes fixed increments to no-limit sizing, and removes the low half
- Changing No-Limit Hold’em to Pot-Limit Omaha keeps a board but changes two dealt hole cards to four, requires exactly two of them at showdown, and introduces a pot-based maximum
- Changing Pot-Limit Omaha to 2-7 Triple Draw removes the board, gives five private cards and three draws, restores fixed increments, and makes the lowest 2-7 hand the target
The stack does not get a fresh buy-in just because the game changed. Record its chip amount again, then convert it using the new blind only if a big-blind measure is useful. A stud ante or fixed-limit big bet should not be relabelled a big blind to make a familiar calculation.
Six handoff stations
These are separate practice records, not one continuous hand history. All exact-card showdowns use a normal 52-card deck and have no duplicate physical cards within the deal. The pot examples have no rake, side pots or uncalled returns. Stacks cover every amount shown, and no short all-in changes the minimum-raise rules.
1. Current game: Stud Eight or Better, last hand of the block
Use the six-hand cash profile. Hand 36 has just finished. Use the rotation trainer to predict the next game and hand number. Then write the games for hands 42, 43, 48 and 49. The rehearsal starts with Triple Draw at hand 1.
Check the completed rotation log
Hands 31 through 36 are Stud Eight or Better. Hand 37 begins No-Limit Hold’em and resets the within-block counter to 1. Hand 42 is its sixth and final hand.
Hand 43 begins Pot-Limit Omaha. Hand 48 is the sixth PLO hand and the last hand of the 48-hand cycle. Hand 49 returns to Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, hand 1 of a new block.
At hand 37, the fictional main stake sheet moves from ante 2 and bring-in 4 to blinds 3/6 with no ante. At hand 43, those practice blinds stay 3/6 while the maximum changes from stack-based to pot-limited. At hand 49, the sheet returns to blinds 6/12 and fixed bets 12/24.
Keeping the same blinds at one transition does not mean nothing changed. At 42 to 43, both the legal maximum and the hole-card construction rule change. The predicted next game and the three handoff lines should agree before you deal.
2. Current game: a label check before Hold’em
Two separate practice records both say “4/8”. The first explicitly means fixed-limit bets of 4 and 8, with agreed blinds of 2 and 4. The second explicitly means No-Limit Hold’em blinds of 4 and 8. You have 240 chips. Write the big blind, stack in big blinds and ordinary minimum opening raise for each record.
Check the labels before dividing the stack
In the fixed-limit record, the big blind is 4. A 240-chip stack is 240 ÷ 4 = 60 big blinds. The ordinary opening raise makes the preflop total 8: call the 4-chip blind and add one 4-chip raise.
In the no-limit record, the big blind is 8. The same 240 chips equal 240 ÷ 8 = 30 big blinds. With no prior raise and no short all-in, the minimum full opening raise is to 16.
The chip stack stayed at 240. Its big-blind count halved because the denominator changed. The fixed-limit big bet of 8 belongs to later betting rounds; it was not the big blind in that record. A bare “4/8” line would be insufficient to decide which calculation applies.
3. Current game: No-Limit Hold’em
This station uses blinds of 1 and 2, separate from the main practice sheet. Everyone involved starts the hand with 100 chips. A player with no chips committed raises to 6. The next player, also uncommitted, raises to 14. What is the minimum full re-raise total for the next uncommitted player? Write the size of each raise as well as its total.
Check the no-limit raise increments
The live big blind was 2. Raising to 6 increases the current amount by 4. Facing 6, the next player could make a minimum full raise to 10, but chooses 14 instead. That second raise increases the amount by 8.
The following minimum full re-raise is therefore 14 + 8 = 22 total. It is not 18. The earlier 4-chip increase no longer sets the latest full-raise increment.
These are totals for the current betting round. A player who had already committed chips would subtract that contribution to find the extra chips needed. Our next player has committed zero, so raising to 22 requires putting in 22.
No-limit has minimum-raise rules even though the maximum can reach the available stack. For short all-ins and whether action reopens, use the separate minimum-raise and reopening guide; this example deliberately avoids that complication.
4. Current game: Pot-Limit Omaha
On the flop, the pot contains 30 before the first player bets 10. You have put nothing in on this betting round and have enough chips for a full pot-sized raise. Write the pot now, the amount you face, the pot after a hypothetical call and your maximum total contribution for this action. Then let the bettor call your maximum raise.
Check the pot-limit maximum and final pot
The pot now contains 30 + 10 = 40, and you face a call of 10. A hypothetical call would make the pot 50. You may raise by that 50 on top of the 10-chip call, so your maximum total is 60.
You make one raise to 60. The hypothetical call is part of the calculation, not a separate action followed by a second decision to raise. After your 60 goes in, the pot is 100. The first bettor already put in 10 and needs 50 more to call. The completed pot is 150.
A total of 80 would exceed this pot-limit maximum. In a no-limit game with the same action and sufficient stacks, 80 could be a legal raise; changing the game changes the permitted maximum. Neither figure tells you which action is strategically best.
The pot-limit maximum-raise guide develops the same call-then-size calculation. Recount every live bet before using it. A pot figure copied from before the opponent’s bet is not the current pot.
5. Current games: Hold’em and PLO, two independent deals
Both practice deals use the board A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ 2♣. They are separate showdowns, not a game change during one hand. In No-Limit Hold’em, A has T♥ 9♣ and B has 9♥ 8♥. In PLO, A has T♥ 9♣ 8♦ 7♠ and B has 9♥ 8♥ 6♦ 5♠. Find the winner of each deal and name the five cards that play.
Check the winner reversal from the card-use rule
In Hold’em, A uses the T♥ with four board cards to make A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ T♥, a royal flush. B’s best hand is A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ 9♥, an ace-high flush. A wins.
In PLO, A must use exactly two hole cards. A has only one heart in the hole, so cannot make a flush. Its best hand is K♥ Q♥ J♥ T♥ 9♣, a king-high straight using T♥ 9♣ and three board cards.
B uses 9♥ 8♥ with A♥ K♥ Q♥ for A♥ K♥ Q♥ 9♥ 8♥, an ace-high flush. B wins the PLO deal. The J♥ on the board cannot join that flush because B already uses the required three board cards.
The royal-flush shortcut was legal in Hold’em because one hole card was enough. It fails in Omaha. Before comparing the strength of a five-card hand, check whether that five-card selection is allowed.
6. Current games: Omaha Eight or Better and high-only PLO
Use a fresh board 8♠ 7♥ 6♦ 4♣ 2♠. A has A♥ 3♦ K♠ Q♣ and B has 5♣ 9♦ J♥ J♣. The completed pot is 120. Score the same card layout once under Omaha Eight or Better and once under the high-only PLO stop in this rotation. The betting history is not being replayed between structures.
Check which game actually awards a low half
B makes a nine-high straight with 9♦ 5♣ and 8♠ 7♥ 6♦. That is the winning high hand. The two jacks in B’s holding do not force B to play a pair.
For Omaha Eight or Better, A uses A♥ 3♦ with 6♦ 4♣ 2♠ for a qualifying 6-4-3-2-A low. There are five distinct ranks, all eight or lower, and exactly two hole cards. B cannot make a qualifying low because every possible second hole card beside 5♣ is a nine or jack.
Omaha Eight or Better therefore awards 60 to B for high and 60 to A for low. At the high-only PLO stop, there is no low award. B receives the entire 120.
The low hand did not become illegal as a set of cards; the current game simply has no prize for it. Keep “high only” or “high/low eight or better” in the handoff line rather than abbreviating both stops to “Omaha”. The Omaha Hi/Lo lesson explains separate legal high and low selections.
Close the old pot before opening the new game
A rotation change starts a new hand, so its pot starts with the new forced bets. Suppose the last Stud Eight or Better hand has a 120-chip pot. A receives 60 after contributing 60 during that hand. If A began with 240, the hand leaves A with 240 again: 240 minus 60 plus 60. That equality comes from the stated contributions and receipt, not from the game changing.
The next deal is No-Limit Hold’em with the fictional 3/6 blinds and no ante. Its opening pot is 3 + 6 = 9. The old 120 was already awarded; it cannot be carried forward to make a 129-chip starting pot. If A posts the new big blind of 6, A has 234 behind and 6 committed to this hand. Keep those amounts separate when reading a raise total.
This is an easy recordkeeping mistake when you splice two screenshots or notes together. Write a settlement line for the old game, then a fresh forced-bet line for the new one. A big-blind count also needs a new denominator. A’s 240 before the post is 40 of the new 6-chip big blinds, even if the previous limit game used a 24-chip big bet.
The available stack can be smaller than the pot-limit maximum
Return to the PLO example with 30 in the pot before a bet of 10. The pot calculation permits a total of 60 from a player who has not yet contributed on that round. Now give that player only 45 chips available. The player can still call 10 or make a full raise to at least 20, but cannot contribute 60. The available-stack maximum is 45.
A raise to 45 increases the opponent’s 10 by 35, which is more than the required 10-chip full-raise increment. It is an all-in raise, but it is not a short raise. If the opponent calls the additional 35, the final pot is 30 + 10 + 45 + 35 = 120. This worked case has no unmatched excess and no side pot.
Choose the final PLO situation in the trainer and enter 10, 20 and 45. Compare its explanation with the 200-available version, whose maximum is 60. The pot calculation did not change. The stack restriction did. Never interpret “pot-limit” as permission to wager chips that are not on the table.
A high-low stop does not guarantee a split
Consider another independent Omaha layout. The board is K♥ Q♦ 9♠ 7♣ 2♦. A holds A♥ 3♥ 4♣ 5♣; B holds K♣ K♦ Q♠ J♠. At Omaha Eight or Better, A’s four low-looking hole cards do not guarantee a low award. The board has only two cards ranked eight or below, the seven and the deuce, while a legal Omaha low needs three board cards.
No player can make a qualifying low on this board. B’s best high hand uses K♣ K♦ with K♥ Q♦ 9♠ for three kings, and beats A’s ace-high hand. If the pot is 120, B receives all 120 in Omaha Eight or Better. The same high hand also wins all 120 in high-only PLO. Compare this with Station 6, where a legal low did exist and the awards differed.
The rule change matters even when the payout happens to stay the same. Check the qualifier and exact card use before deciding whether the current game splits this particular pot. A result alone cannot tell you which format was played.
Keep a tournament level out of the cash-hand counter
The rotation checker deliberately accepts completed hands, not tournament levels. If a tournament structure changes games each level, knowing that 24 hands have finished is not enough to identify the current game. Levels can contain different numbers of hands, and a break or table move does not supply the missing schedule.
Use the event’s announced game and level instead. In a rehearsal that explicitly starts its first level with Triple Draw and advances one game per level, level 7 would be No-Limit Hold’em. That is a different assumption from saying global hand 7 is No-Limit Hold’em; in our six-hand cash rehearsal, hand 7 is Limit Hold’em. Put the counter’s name beside its number.
The other changes still deserve a pause
The big-bet transitions are the main rehearsal here, but the limit section changes more than its name. Moving from Omaha Eight or Better to Razz removes the community board and the two-hole-card rule. Moving from Razz to Stud turns the target from a low hand to a high hand. Moving from Stud to Stud Eight or Better adds a qualifying low half.
Aces are high in 2-7 Triple Draw, where straights and flushes count against a low. Razz uses ace-to-five low rankings and no eight-or-better qualifier. The Razz lesson and Triple Draw lesson keep those comparisons separate. Do not assume the word “low” settles ace treatment.
Stud games also change who must start the action as exposed cards arrive. The Seven Card Stud guide covers its street-by-street procedure, while Stud Hi/Lo adds the low qualification rules. A rotation overview should send you to the exact game when a bring-in or exposed-pair question needs a ruling.
Finish the rehearsal with a usable record
Tick these only after you have corrected your sheet. These checkboxes record work you completed yourself. The trainer checks its own questions, but it does not mark this checklist for you. Clear them manually for another pass.
If an answer was wrong, keep the incorrect line beside the corrected one. “I used the previous big bet as the new big blind” is a useful diagnosis. “I am bad at mixed games” gives you nothing to practice. Repeat the specific transition with new imaginary amounts before moving to another subject.
A legal raise calculation is not a recommendation to make that raise. These rehearsals check rules and arithmetic, not an opponent’s range or the value of a bet. Keep study separate from pressure to play every game for money, and choose limits and breaks before a session.
For the next pass, start at PLO and work backward through your notes: pot limit, two hole cards, high only. Then set the rotation trainer to 48 completed hands, predict Triple Draw and write what must change. You can fit that short rehearsal into a study routine you can keep without replaying all 48 imaginary hands.