The Razz poker variantis a variation of stud poker, which first became popular decades ago along with other “lowball” games. Its popularity diminished somewhat in the 1990s and early 2000s, but the rise of mixed games and H.O.R.S.E. helped reintroduce the game to a new generation.
Razz can be played with two to eight players. Like seven-card stud, it does not have a flop like hold’em or Omaha or any community cards. Unlike seven-card stud, the goal in Razz is to make the lowest possible five-card poker hand from the seven cards dealt.
Here, 8K8JILI’ll go over the poker rules for Razz.
How to Play Razz Poker
Razz poker plays very similarly to seven-card stud. To start, each player is dealt two face-down cards and a third face-up card. Like in stud, the first hand and betting round is usually called “third street,” with each subsequent round of dealing/betting similarly called “fourth street,” and so on until “seventh street.” The two face-down cards are called “hole cards,” and the third face-up card is called the “door card.”
Like in seven-card stud, in Razz, players decide based on their first three cards whether to continue in the hand, with the choice of starting hand being a critical part of the game’s strategy.
Each player who does not fold before seventh street is dealt a total of seven cards—two face-down and one face-up, followed by three more face-up cards, and then a final face-down card. From these seven cards, players must make the best possible five-card hand, except instead of making the highest hand, players aim to make the lowest hand possible, with aces always counting as the lowest card.
Flushes and straights do not count in Razz, meaning the best possible Razz hand is 5x4x3x2xAx, with the suit of the cards being irrelevant. The second-best hand is 6x4x3x2xAx, the third-best is 6x5x3x2xAx, and so on using the same method for ranking low hands in other “lowball” or split-pot games.
Antes, Bring-in, and Betting
Like in seven-card stud, antes and bringing are used in Razz Poker to stimulate action. Let’s use an example of a $10/$20 Razz game with a $1 ante and a $5 bring-in. (Like most stud games, Razz poker is usually played as a fixed-limit betting game).
Each player who wants to participate in the hand must post a $1 ante, creating a pot worth competing for. The first three cards are then dealt to each player before determining that one player must post the bring-in. While in seven-card stud, the player with the lowest door card must post the $5 bring-in, in Razz, it’s the opposite—the player with the highest door card must pay the bring-in, with the king (Kx) being the highest-ranked card in the game.
If multiple players have a king showing on third street, this is the only situation in Razz where suit matters, with the player holding the highest-ranked king being required to post the bring-in in the following order: K♠ (highest), K♥ (next), K♦ (third-highest), and K♣ (lowest).
Strategy to Play Razz Poker
The best starting hand in Razz poker, therefore, is Ax2x3x. Typically, in full-ring Razz games (with eight players), experienced Razz players will fold starting hands containing any card higher than an 8x. It’s also worth noting that pairs count in Razz, making hands with pairs less desirable. That means any starting hand with a pair is bad, and hitting a pair in later rounds also hurts a player’s chances of making a strong hand in Razz.
However, it’s often the case that the table will fold to the player to the left of the bring-in with a high card showing. In such cases, a player will want to complete the bet with a lower door card showing, a move that will often win the antes and the bring-in.
From there, Razz strategy involves understanding when it’s worth continuing to draw for a strong low hand and keeping track of opponents’ face-up cards to see which cards have been used and which remain as potential “outs” to complete your hand. Sometimes even a good starting hand like 7x3x2x becomes less attractive if many 4s, 5s, and 6s are showing as face-up cards for other players, making it harder for you to draw to a 7-low.
In Razz, players with low face-up cards will often play aggressively with betting and raising, although sometimes it may be correct to bet and raise with a strong draw that is concealed by the fact that your lower cards are face-down.
Sometimes in Razz, there may be a “locked” hand where you know your opponent cannot possibly draw a better hand than yours. Suppose on sixth street, you have 4♦2♥ / 3♣ A♠K♥6♠, and you see your opponent has Xx Xx / 5♣6♠J♦7♣. You know that regardless of what card your opponent draws on seventh street, the best hand they can make is 6-5-3-2-A, a hand you already beat with your current 6-4-3-2-A.
Conclusion
While not everyone finds Razz Poker to be the most exciting poker variant, it is a favorite of many and is certainly worth learning. Often in H.O.R.S.E. games, Razz poker is one of the lesser-known variants in the mix, meaning with just a little research, you can greatly improve your skill compared to your opponents, making the Razz round more profitable for you.
