How To Play Razz Poker

Razz Poker is a variation of Seven Card Stud but the big difference is that the winner of the pot is the player who makes the lowest hand and not the highest.

Objective

In Razz each player will receive seven cards in total through out the hand. Four cards will be face up for all to see and three cards will be face down.

From these seven cards each player must make the lowest hand from the low poker hands ranking to win the pot. Also a player can win the pot by forcing everyone to fold by making a bet. If this happens all chips in the pot at that time will be awarded to that player and the next hand will start.

Straights and flushes do not go against a low hand as they make absolutely no difference and are not counted in any way.

Unlike the low qualifying hands in games like Omaha Hi Low or Stud Hi Low where all cards must be different and must be numbered 8 or lower, all hands can qualify to win in Razz. Pairs in Razz count as a high hand and are not good to have, but they can still win the hand if the other player also has a higher pair in his lowest five cards. Aces are always counted as low so the best hand possible in Razz is 5-4-3-2-A. Cards are always counted down from highest card to the lowest card.

Razz can be played using any of the betting limits like No Limit or Pot Limit but the most popular is Limit Razz. The below example will use a $5/$10 limit game format to explain how to play. The $5 is the low betting level and the $10 is the high betting level.

Antes

All players must put an ante into the pot before each hand which makes sure there are always chips to be won every hand. The ante amount is normally 1/5th of the minimum bet amount of that table. So for a $5/$10 table the ante amount would be $1.

Bringing In

Once all players have put the antes in each player will receive three cards, two face down and one face up. The player with the highest value face up card will be the first player to act. This player will be forced to bring in which is normally a little more than the ante amount and less then the minimum bet for that table. Alternatively this player can start of by making a raise instead which will be same as the minimum low bet amount.

Going around the table in a clock wise rotation each player will have three options.

They can fold which means they throw there cards into the dead pile and will take no further part in the hand.
They can match the bet that has been made - this is called a call.
Or they can raise. The raise amount must be the same value as the low bet amount and any further raises must be increments of this amount. During any betting round there are only four raises permitted.

To continue in the hand all players must put in equal amount of chips into the pot.

Fourth Street

Each player will then receive a further one card face up and another round of betting will commence starting with the player with the lowest two cards showing face up.

Each player will have the option to check which means they do not have to put any chips into the pot and the action moves onto the next player. They can also raise the low betting amount to which all players must either fold, call or they can raise again. If all players decide to check the action moves onto the next stage of the hand.

Fifth Street

A fifth card is dealt to all players face up and the betting will this time consist of increments made up of the high betting level. Once all players have either checked, folded or matched the bet made the hand moves onto the next stage.

Sixth Street

A sixth card is dealt face up to all remaining players and another round of betting will start.

Seventh Street

The seventh and last card is dealt to all remaining players face down and at this point all players will know what their best five card low hand will be. A final round of betting will start using the high level bets and if all players check or match any bet made the hand moves onto the showdown.

The Showdown

The showdown is where all remaining players reveal their cards to each other to determine who has the best low hand. If there is a tie the pot will be split between all winning players equally.

Where to Play Razz Poker

Razz Poker is not the most popular form of poker online and you will have to play at one of the big online poker sites to find a regular Razz Poker game. We recommend Full Tilt Poker which is one of the largest and most reputable online poker operators and there are always lots of Razz Poker tables available to play at during all hours of the day.