How To Play Razz
Razz, also called 7 card stud low, gained incredible popularity during the 2004 World Series of Poker. The object of the game is interesting enough. Whoever makes the worst hand wins! Even pro players will tell you that Razz can be one of the most frustrating poker games. Like all the popular poker games, it is certainly worth learning and becoming proficient at, especially if you enjoy HORSE tournaments and ring games. Let's look at where to play Razz poker online, and then some basic rules and strategy to help you win once you get there.
Where to Play Razz Poker Online
How to Play Razz Poker Razz is the polar opposite of 7 card stud, so if you’re familiar with that game razz will be easy to pick up. However, if you’re only familiar with holdem or omaha, or you’ve never played poker at all, razz might be confusing for the first couple of hands. See full list on wikihow.com. How To Play Razz Rules Razz Poker Rules. Razz Poker is an increasingly popular variation of Seven Card Stud. In simple terms, Razz is Seven Card Stud Low. The entire pot goes to the lowest hand. The game uses a 52-card deck and is best suited for a group of two to eight players.
- Dec 10, 2020 Razz Poker Rules & Game Play. Razz poker is a 'low' game, meaning the lowest (or worst) hand possible wins the pot. Because Razz Poker is almost identical to Stud Poker in all but a few ways we won't rehash the setup of play and rules for Stud here.
- Razz is a form of stud poker that is similar to seven card stud. The only difference is that razz is a low ball game instead of playing for the best high hand and you’ll find some slight differences in how action is decided. Razz is a good game but even the best players in the world find it quite frustrating at times, and you’ll soon find.
Poker Stars - The largest poker room in the world has a large enough population to support good Razz games online.
Razz Poker Rules
Razz is an ante game. Everyone is required to put in their ante before the cards are dealt. After the cards are dealt, Razz plays very much like 7 Card Stud with a few important differences.
In Razz, the highest up card on third street has to make the forced bring in bet. This starts the action. On all subsequent rounds, the lowest hand showing acts first. If there is a tie for low hand showing, the first active player clockwise from the dealer begins the round's action. Another difference is the fact that if a player pairs his door card, there is no double bet option like there would be in standard 7 card stud.
The lowest hand wins the pot at showdown. Aces count as low and flushes and straights are ignored. This means the best five card hand in Razz is Ace,2,3,4,5. Figuring out the best low hand is simple enough. Start with the top card and work down. An eight low beats a nine low for example. If the top card is the same rank, then you move to the second card. 86543 beats 87543. One player has an eight-six low and the losing player has eight-seven.
Razz Poker Strategy and Tips
Razz is a game of patience. It is important to play tight, yet attempt well timed ante steals when the chance presents itself.
Razz starting hands are easy to remember. If you have three cards between Ace and five, you have a great starting hand. A23 is the best starting hand, but any three cards between Ace and five (no pairs of course!) is a hand to bet and raise with on third street. Three card starting hands between Ace and six are good starting hands and should be played aggressively as well, but with a little more caution if several other players with lower door cards are ramping up the action. Three cards of seven or lower is a good starting hand that you'll want to see 4th street with, even if you have to call a bet or two to do so. A three card eight is becoming marginal. If you can limp in or steal the antes with it, do so. Playing three card eights routinely will cost you chips in the long run.
The other players' up cards. This is a very important aspect to razz strategy. Observant Razz players will view the upcards and tend to have a much better idea of their relative hand strength. Sometimes the up cards will tell you exactly what to do. If you have three cards to a nine low and there are no other up cards lower than a nine, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have the best hand on third street and can bet and raise, even though a 'nine low' isn't typically a hand that you would play. You should continue to keep an eye on the other players' porches as the hand progresses. Even if you catch low cards that pair your hole cards, if the other players are catching bad high cards, you can still usually win the pot by betting aggressively.
Live and Dead Cards. This is an important aspect of 7 card stud. While in that game, you are wanting your cards to be 'live', in Razz you prefer them to be 'dead.' For example, if you hold Ace, 3, 6 to start and you see two other threes, a six and an ace, you can feel even better about your hand because it means there is less of a chance that you will make pairs! Catching pairs can kill a great starting Razz hand, so the more dead cards you see the better.
Jamming vs. Slow Playing: Razz is not really a slow playing game. There are exceptions of course, but generally speaking if you have a good hand, you want to jam it. One reason is that by jamming it, you generally create a big enough pot on third street that it allows you to call on fourth street even if you catch a bad card, based on the size of the overall pot. You can get right back on track with another good low card on fifth street. By all means, do your best to use overly loose and aggressive players weaknesses against them, but you won't go wrong by just betting and raising when you have the best of it.
Best Draw vs. Made 9 Low after five cards. A interesting feature of Razz is the little known fact that after five cards are dealt, the best drawing hand is a favorite over any made nine low. In most forms of poker the made hand usually leads the betting to make the draw hands pay, but in Razz, the opposite is true on fifth street. Things are back to normal on 6th street however. With one card to come, the made nine low is now a favorite over the best draw and should definitely lead the betting.
Knowing when to fold 'em. If you make a habit of starting with sub par hands or drawing with weak hands vs. powerful boards and stronger draws, then you will just be leaking chips and blowing your bankroll. As with other poker variations, if it looks like you are beat, you probably are. Save your money for when you have the best hand and then play aggressively. Especially in low limit games, players tend to have the hands they represent, so don't pay off three or four more bets to 'keep them honest'! When good hands turn bad, release them. Patience!
Stealing the Antes. Ante stealing is important, especially the higher up you go in limits. Several situations are great for ante stealing attempts. First, if the bring in player is immediately to your left and it is folded up to you, you should always complete the bet to steal the bring and antes. You do not have to be successful every time for this to be a profitable play. Another good stealing shot to take is when you are the lowest up card. You'd prefer to have reasonable cards in the hole, but this steal attempt is not unlike completing with an Ace door card in 7 card stud, representing aces. You can also attempt to steal with second highest up card if it is folded up to you in late position. Don't get carried away here. Stealing becomes less effective and less profitable the lower the limits you are playing. Always be willing to let go of a steal attempt if another player plays back at you!
Razz is a form of stud poker that is normally played for ace-to-five low (lowball poker). It is one of the oldest forms of poker, and has been played since the start of the 20th Century. It emerged around the time people started using the 52-card deck instead of 20 for poker.[1]
The object of Razz is to make the lowest possible five-card hand from the seven cards you are dealt. In Razz, straights and flushes do not count against the player for low, and the ace always plays low. Thus, the best possible Razz hand is 5-4-3-2-A, or 5 high, also known as 'the wheel' or 'the bicycle'. Deuce-to-seven Razz is also sometimes played. Razz is featured in the mixed game rotation H.O.R.S.E. as the 'R' in the game's name.
Play[edit]
Razz is similar to seven-card stud, except the lowest hand wins. Seven cards are dealt to each player, but only the five best cards (generally the five lowest unpaired cards) are used in forming a complete hand.[2]
Razz is usually played with a maximum of eight players,[3] with limit betting, meaning that there is a fixed amount that can be bet per player per round. Each player antes and is dealt two cards face down (the hole cards), and one card face up (the 'door card'). The highest door card showing has to 'bring it in' – put in the mandatory first bet, which is usually one third to one half of the regular bet. The player responsible for the bring-in can instead opt to 'complete the bet', i.e. make a whole regular bet. If they opt to make a normal bring-in, the remaining players can either call the bet or 'complete', by raising to a regular bet. From that point the betting continues in regular bet increments.[2][3]
In a case where two people have a door card of the same rank, the bring in is determined by suit.[2][3] Spades (♠) is the highest possible suit, followed by hearts (♥), diamonds (♦), and clubs (♣). The K♠ is the worst possible door card in Razz, and a guaranteed bring-in. Play continues clockwise from the bring in, as in normal Stud poker. After the first round of betting, each player still in the hand receives another card face up. Betting begins with the lowest hand showing. Play continues like this until the fifth card, at which point the betting increments double.[2][3] The seventh card is dealt face down, and action would begin with the same player who opened betting on the 6th card.[2][3] In hand-dealt games, after each hand the deal rotates to the left, as with most forms of poker; although the dealer doesn't play a strategic role as in blind games.[3]
Shortage of cards[edit]
It is possible for the dealer to run out of cards before the end of the hand. This can occur when eight players are still in the hand when the seventh cards are to be dealt. Seven cards for eight players would require 56 cards in the deck. Since Razz uses a standard 52 card deck, the hand would be four cards short.
To fix this problem, the dealer does not deal a seventh card to any player. Instead, the dealer deals one final card face up in the center of the table, which becomes a community card. All eight players may use this card as the seventh card in their own hands. This is the only time a community card is ever used in Razz.[4]
World Series of Poker[edit]
Razz has been an event at the World Series of Poker since 1971, when Jimmy Casella won the first ever WSOP Razz event for a grand prize of $10,000.[5][6] Razz is the most popular form of lowball poker but in the overall popularity stakes sits firmly behind Texas hold 'em and Omaha hold 'em. In 2004, the WSOP Razz event was televised by ESPN; the tournament was won by professional poker player and multiple bracelet winner T. J. Cloutier.[3] After the event Razz grew massively in popularity and most of the major online poker rooms added Razz to their spread of games. Full Tilt Poker was the first online site to offer Razz games but soon after the televised tournament, Poker.com, Absolute Poker and finally in 2006 PokerStars added Razz to their selection of games.[7] Since 1971, Razz has been featured in every World Series of Poker apart from the 1972 series.
London lowball[edit]
London lowball is a game played almost exclusively in Europe. It is almost identical to Razz in play with the following exceptions: straights and flushes count against a player for low, so the best possible hand is 6-4-3-2-A,[8] and its canonical version is played at pot limit. Some variations of the game are played at no limit, but the name 'London lowball' is typically reserved for the pot-limit version.[9]
Strategy[edit]
Normally the best starting hand in Razz is A-2-3. A general strategy in a full-ring game is to only play unpaired cards none of them higher than 8s.[10] Players want to avoid making pairs and should evaluate other door cards in relation to the strength of their hand. For instance, Jane holds 3-4-5 and sees four 'dead' door cards of 3-4-4-5 behind her. This is a strong hand, as the likelihood of pairing her hole cards is now greatly diminished.
Observing the door cards of other players is also very important. A player's hand is much stronger if there are cards of the same denomination already showing (less chance of pairing up on a draw) and weaker if there are make cards visible (i.e. a A-6-7 is a much stronger hand when other players are showing Aces, 6s and 7s than when these players are showing 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s).
Another key strategy in Razz is stealing the antes and bring-in bets. If a player is to the right of the bring-in bettor, and everyone else folds, a raise with a lower exposed card is normally the correct play. For example, if Mary has a 9 showing, and John, the bring-in bettor, has a K showing, Mary should normally raise if everyone else folds.
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
How To Play Razzle Dazzle Dice Game
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Razz. |
Videos For How To Play Razz
- ^'Razz Rules'. somuchpoker.com. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- ^ abcdePokerstars.com: Razz (7 Card Stud Low)
- ^ abcdefgPoker-Babes.com: How to Play the Game of Razz
- ^lolPoker.com: Razz poker rules
- ^'2nd World Series of Poker (WSOP) 1971 – $ 1,000 Limit Razz'. The Hendon Mob. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
- ^Razzpokerrules.org - WSOP Razz
- ^Playlowballpoker.com: Razz Poker
- ^PlanetPoker.com: Poker Dictionary
- ^Gambling-Poker.com: Razz Poker - London Lowball Poker
- ^Poker-Strategy.org: Razz poker