Where and How to Play Razz Poker Online

Razz is a lowball poker game that uses a 7 Card Stud format. In Razz the player with the lowest five card poker hand wins the pot. This game is quite popular at certain online poker sites, the largest being PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. In this article we'll discuss how to play Razz Poker, concluded by Razz strategy tips.

The first thing you need to understand about Razz Poker is it is a game played using a fixed limit betting structure. For example a $5/$10 Razz game uses $5 betting increments on third and fourth street and $10 increments on fifth, sixth and seventh streets. The game also uses antes and a forced bet as opposed to blinds. In a $5/$10 game the ante will generally be $1.00, though might be 50 cents or $2 depending on where played, and the bring in amount will most often be $2.00. We'll explain where those come into play in our how to play razz guide, which starts below.

How to Play Razz

Starting the Game: Each player posts an ante and then each is dealt three cards. The first two are facedown, known only to the player who receives them, while the third is dealt face-up for all players to see. This initial face-up card is called a door card.

A betting round now begins starting with the player was dealt the highest door card. This player is forced to make a bet. His options are to bring-in or bet full. Almost always, except in short handed play, this player will opt to bring-in. The bring-in bet is a bet smaller than the games small bet, generally sized between one-third and one half the small bet. For example, the bring-in will often be $2.00 in a $5/$10 Razz game.

Betting then proceeds around the table in a clockwise direction with betting increments in the size of the games small bet (ex: $5 in a $5/$10 Razz game). Each player has the option to call, raise or fold. In Razz there is a capped betting limit. Should more than one player really like their hands and decide to get into a raising war, the most bets that can be made per round is four bets (true in most games, some poker sites allow 5 max bets). Once this betting round is complete we proceed to fourth street.

Fourth Street: On fourth street each player is dealt a fourth card, this one is face up making it their second face up card. A betting round then takes place starting with the player showing the lowest hand. There is no forced bet at this stage, or any further in the game as forced bets are only used in the games initial betting round. This means the first player to act has the option to either check (pass on acting in order to wait and see what the other players do) or bet (which forces his opponents to call or raise if they wish to continue to play, otherwise they must fold). After this betting round is complete we proceed to fifth and sixth street.

Fifth Street: A third face-up card is dealt to each player, meaning they now have two facedown cards and three cards face-up. Once again a betting round starts with the player showing the lowest hand. The difference on fifth street is the betting increments are now the size of the games big bet (example $10 in a $5/$10 Razz game).

Sixth Street: sixth street works just like fifth. Here a fourth and final face-up card is dealt to each player, meaning they now have two facedown cards, for only them to see, and four face-up cards visible to each opponent. Once sixth street is dealt another betting round takes place again using the games big bet.

Seventh Street: Players are now dealt a final card, this time facedown. A betting round then takes place once again using the games big bet, and if at the end two or more players are still in the hand, the pot will be decided by a showdown.

Showdown: At showdown the player with the lowest five card poker hand according to A-5 lowball rankings wins the pot.

A-5 Lowball Rankings

In A-5 lowball the best possible hand is A2345 and the second best possible hand is A2346. In this hand ranking system there are no straights or flushes. Simply put take a players five lowest cards and then look at the highest of them to determine a winner.

To give a simple example: A2349 (a 9-4 low) loses to 4-5-6-7-8 (8-7 low) because an 8 low is better than a nine low. Very often is Razz kickers will come into play. For example A-2-3-7-8 (8-7 low) would lose to 3-4-5-6-8 (8-6 low) because the six kicker was lower than the 7 kicker. A Razz hand examines as many kickers as needed to determine the winner. For example A-2-4-6-8 would beat A-3-4-6-8 even though their first three highest cards are the same. The third kicker shows the A-2-4-6-8 wins because the deuce is lower than the three in A-3-4-6-8. Perhaps we've overstressed these examples however it is common those new to the game struggle to understand hand rankings.

Razz Tips

The best way to beat is to play tight and be aggressive, however also remember Razz is a game that starts as a struggle for the antes. Stealing these antes and bluffing is an important part of the game, just be sure it is well timed. For example if you're starting hand is KK in the hole, and your up-card is a deuce, and all other players are showing ten or higher, here you probably want to bluff in an attempt to steal the antes. Even if you're called, if that player catches a second high card and you catch a low card on the next street, you're likely to pick the pot up by continuing the bluff. This is an important part of Razz, but also what is important: knowing when to shut down. If the player calling you with a ten catches low cards and is still calling, you want to give this bluff up by fifth, or at least sixth, where the betting limits are the large bet. Too many players make the mistake of carrying bluffs too far. Don't waste bets! Bet aggressively only when you have the best hand or when you think these bets will set you up to win the pot. The best players are the ones who don't senselessly spew bets when a bluff goes wrong or they've clearly been outdrawn.

Starting HandsBluffing aside you'll need to know what are good razz starting hands. A-2-3 is the best starting hand, but any three cards six and under is a strong starting hand. Three cards to a seven low is also solid where anything poorer is probably not worth playing with three cards to an eight low being extremely marginal.

Be Aggressive: Razz is a drawing game as well as often a game of chicken. This game is best played aggressively, by betting and raising when you're favored to win the hand.

Live Cards: In many situations it will become apparent you need to catch a card to win the pot. In calculating your odds as to whether to call or fold, it is important to remember which cards are live. For example if you need to catch a deuce or a three to win pot, and you've seen two of these deuces were dealt to other players and one three has been as well, you know you have five outs as opposed eight. This is important in making your decision.

Razz is a game that is best learned with practice and of all poker games it is probably the easiest to master, yet does attract many fish that haven't yet done so. Overall Razz is one of the more profitable games for most players. If you're looking for some reading material we suggest the Razz section of "Sklansky on Poker", which is the full text of his now out of print book "Sklansky on Razz".

As far as where to play Razz online our top choice is fulltiltpoker.