Eight-Game Mix Rules
The Eight-Game Mix, usually just called 8-Game, is a rotating format that cycles through eight different poker variants one after another. It is the format the highest-stakes cash games and championship mixed-game events are built on, precisely because no single skill carries you through it. Community-card play, stud, draw, high hands, low hands, split pots, fixed-limit discipline and big-bet aggression all appear in one session.
What a mixed rotation is
A mixed game is not one game but a scheduled sequence of several. The table plays one variant for a set period — in 8-Game that is a full orbit, one trip of the dealer button around the table — then automatically switches to the next game in a fixed order. After the eighth game the rotation loops back to the first and starts again. Nothing about the chips or the seats changes; only the rules of the hand in front of you do. That constant switching is the whole point: it rewards players who are competent across the entire spectrum of poker rather than specialists in a single variant.
The eight games
Here is the standard rotation in order, with a one-line summary of each. Every game has its own full rules page — follow the link to learn any of them in depth.
1. 2-7 Triple Draw
Fixed-LimitA lowball draw game with three drawing rounds. The best hand is the worst poker hand: 7-5-4-3-2 with no straight or flush, where aces are high.
2. Limit Hold'em
Fixed-LimitTexas Hold’em played with fixed bet sizes. Two hole cards, five community cards, and bets that step up in set increments rather than open-ended raises.
3. Omaha Hi-Lo
Fixed-LimitFour hole cards, use exactly two, and the pot splits between the best high hand and the best qualifying eight-or-better low.
4. Razz
Fixed-LimitSeven-card stud played for low only. The lowest five-card hand wins, straights and flushes are ignored, and A-2-3-4-5 is the nuts.
5. Seven Card Stud
Fixed-LimitThe classic stud game with no community cards. Each player receives seven cards over five streets and the best five-card high hand wins.
6. Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
Fixed-LimitStud with a split pot. Half goes to the best high hand and half to the best qualifying eight-or-better low, so scooping both halves is the goal.
7. No-Limit Hold'em
No-LimitThe same Hold’em deal, but any player can bet their entire stack at any time. One of only two rounds in the rotation where the betting is not fixed-limit.
8. Pot-Limit Omaha
Pot-LimitFour-card Omaha where the largest bet allowed is the size of the current pot. The second non-limit round, closing out the rotation with big-pot play.
How the rotation works
The games change automatically at the end of each orbit, so no one has to call the switch. What makes 8-Game more demanding than a limit-only mix like HORSE is that the betting format itself changes partway through the rotation:
- Six fixed-limit games: 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Stud Hi-Lo are all played with structured, capped bet sizes. Aggression is controlled and pots build in measured steps.
- One no-limit game: In the No-Limit Hold’em round any player can move all in at any time, so a single decision can put your whole stack at risk.
- One pot-limit game: In the Pot-Limit Omaha round bets are capped at the size of the pot, which still lets pots grow far larger than in the limit games.
Shifting between fixed-limit discipline and big-bet rounds within the same session is one of the defining challenges of the format. A bankroll and a mindset tuned for capped limit betting can be wiped out fast if they carry unchanged into the no-limit round.
How it extends HORSE
Eight-Game is best understood as HORSE with three games bolted on. HORSE is the older five-game rotation — Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Stud and Stud Hi-Lo — and every one of its games is fixed-limit. 8-Game keeps all five and adds 2-7 Triple Draw (a draw game HORSE lacks entirely), No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha. Those additions widen the format in two directions at once: a new game type (draw) and two new betting formats (no-limit and pot-limit). If you already know HORSE, you can read the full rules on the HORSE rules page and you are more than halfway to knowing 8-Game.
Why it is the ultimate all-around test
No other common format asks for so much breadth. To win at 8-Game you must read high hands and low hands, play community-card, stud and draw structures, handle split pots and scooping, and switch cleanly between fixed-limit, pot-limit and no-limit betting — all in the space of a single rotation. A player who is world-class at one game but shaky at another cannot hide, because the weak game comes around every rotation like clockwork. That is why the format anchors the highest-stakes mixed cash games and marquee championship events: it identifies the most complete players rather than the best specialists. For anyone looking to grow beyond a single variant, learning 8-Game is one of the most effective ways to broaden a poker skill set.
A note on betting
Because the betting format is not constant, stakes in 8-Game are typically expressed as a single set of limits that the fixed-limit games use directly, while the no-limit and pot-limit rounds scale their action off the same blind or bring-in level. Practically, this means the size of a big pot swings enormously depending on which game is live: a fixed-limit stud pot is naturally contained, whereas a no-limit Hold’em pot in the same session can be many times larger. Sizing your bets and your risk to the current game, not to the last one, is the core betting skill of the mix.
How a session flows
Imagine sitting down as the rotation opens on 2-7 Triple Draw. For a full orbit you draw and bet toward the lowest hand at fixed limits, then the button completes its lap and the table shifts to Limit Hold’em without missing a beat.
Next comes Omaha Hi-Lo, where you are suddenly playing four cards and chasing both halves of the pot, then Razz and the two Stud games, where there are no community cards at all and you read opponents from their up-cards. Each is still fixed-limit, so the pots stay measured even as the hand-reading changes completely.
Then the format opens up: No-Limit Hold’em arrives and a single hand can put your whole stack in play, followed by Pot-Limit Omaha and its fast-growing pots. When that orbit ends the wheel turns back to 2-7 Triple Draw and the whole cycle repeats. One session, eight games, and never long enough in any of them to get comfortable — that is 8-Game.
On SPN
Eight-Game rotates automatically, so you never have to track whose turn it is to change the game. The table indicator always shows the current variant, its betting structure, and any game-specific rules before the hand begins, and every rule is enforced by the platform. There is no rake — SPN uses a tick-fee model instead of taking a cut of the pot — the dealing is provably fair, and the tables are bot-free.
Frequently asked questions
What games are in the Eight-Game Mix?
The standard rotation is 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha. The games rotate one per orbit and then repeat.
How is Eight-Game different from HORSE?
HORSE is a five-game rotation of Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Stud and Stud Hi-Lo, all played fixed-limit. Eight-Game keeps those five and adds three more: 2-7 Triple Draw, No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha. The two extra Hold’em and Omaha rounds also change the betting format away from fixed-limit.
Are all eight games played at fixed limit?
No. Six of the eight are fixed-limit, but two are not: the No-Limit Hold’em round lets you bet your whole stack, and the Pot-Limit Omaha round caps bets at the size of the pot. Switching betting format mid-session is one of the defining challenges of the mix.
How often do the games change?
The game changes every orbit, meaning once the dealer button has passed all the way around the table. After the eighth game the rotation returns to the first and repeats. On SPN the current game and its betting structure are always shown before the hand begins.
What is Nine-Game Mixed?
Nine-Game Mixed extends Eight-Game by adding one more variant, Badugi, a triple-draw lowball game using a four-card hand. It is otherwise the same rotating format with an even broader test of skills.