Poker Games: Razz

RAZZ

The objective of Razz is simple, you want to make the best low hand to win the pot.  Straights and flushes don't count for or against you, so don't even look for them.  This is a seven card stud game, which means unlike Hold 'em or Omaha, there are no community (or shared) cards, each player plays what they have been dealt.  Aces are always low.

I will use a 25 / 50 Limit Razz game to explain how the game is played.

ANTE: Every player must ante before the cards are dealt.  This is usually 1/5th the small bet, $5 in our example.

Each player is dealt 2 cards face down and 1 face up.

BRING IN: The player with the highest card has to "bring in" or make the first bet.  If multiple players have the same high card, the one closest to the dealer brings in.  The bring in is 1/5th the small bet, in this case $5.  This money counts towards any raises in this round.

BETTING: There are 5 betting rounds.  After the first 3 cards are dealt, there is a betting round, then a betting round occurs after the 4th card, after the 5th card and after the 6th card are each dealt face down and again after the 7th and last card is dealt face up.  The first 3 rounds are equal to the small bet ($25) and the last 2 rounds are equal to the big bet ($50).  This is a limit game and each round caps at 3 bets.

WHO WINS:  Following the last betting round each player still in the pot will have their cards in front of them with; the first 2 cards face up, the next 4 cards face up and their last card face down.  The player who made the last bet shows their cards first.  The player with the lowest hand wins the pot.

To figure out who wins, you look at each players highest of the 5 cards they are playing and work your way down to the lowest.  For example Q-J-10-7-5 is better than K-4-3-2-A

THE TOP 5 HANDS IN RAZZ: