Rules and How to Play Razz Poker

 Rules and how to play Razz Poker

What is Razz Poker exactly?

Razz, the great game. Razz is my personal favorite. It's a game in that the player with 'worst hand' wins the pot. It is played as a fixed-limit game, and follows the exact same rules as Seven Card Stud.

Razz's hand rankings differ from those of Seven Card Stud or No Limit Hold'em. The goal is to get the lowest 5-card unpaired hand possible. Aces are low while straights and flushes can be negated. This means that any suit has the best Razz hand (5432A).

You should note that Razz has a different best low hand than 2-7 Triple Draw. In 2-7 Triple Draw Aces are high while Straights and Flushes count.

Razz Poker Hand Rankings

Razz will only allow the lowest hand to win. Here are the top 10 RazzRazz hand: 3rd Street

3rd Street in Razz is the initial round of betting. This is equivalent to pre-flop non-stud poker. There is however no Small or Large Blind in any stud variant (Razz Stud, Stud, and Stud Hi/Lo). Instead, we have a Bring-In (more details below).

Before any cards are dealt out, each player must present an ante. The game determines the ante's value.

Each player will be dealt 3 cards after completing this task. Two cards will go face down (known as hole cards) and one card will be dealt face-up (known as the doorcard). The bring-in is determined by who has the highest ranked card. The bring-in is the person with the highest ranking card.

The bring-in has two choices. They have two choices. One, they can place the minimum amount (depending upon stakes) or one, they may complete the game. Let's take a look at an example.

We can see that Player 4 was dealt an Ace in the door. Player 4 will bring in this highest door card, as Aces are always low at Razz. They have the option of bringing in $0.50 minimum or $1 complete. They may choose to bring-in $0.50 or the complete amount. (Strategy tip - If you are the one bringing in the money, you should always bring in the minimum.

Razz Suit Rankings

The K is the lowest ranked suit.

The clockwise play continues around the table starting with the bring-in. The next player to act is Player 5. They have the choice to call, raise, or fold. In this case, they choose to raise. Player 5 may choose to raise 2x as much as the bring-in. The total raise will be 2x $0.50 = 1.

Player 6 now has the option to re-raise, call, or fold. They decide to reraise. They may raise a maximum of 2x the Player 5 raise. This means that in this case 2x $1 equals $2. (Note that the rules of each house will dictate how many players can raise on any given street. It is generally four.

Action is taken by Player 1, who has the same options and choices as the other players. They choose to fold. This means they stop taking part in the hand and forfeit their ante. Playing Razz in Low Limit Poker