My thoughts on Razz

Hey all,

Sorry for the long layoff, but this new tbt daily gig has been kicking my butt. Our show today was on Razz, and though we covered it fairly well, I said that I had a bunch of notes that better defined the game, nuances and strategies. So, without further adieu, here's a primer on RAZZ:

Rules: You need to make the lowest or "worst" five-card hand, and straights and flushes don't count against you. The best hand is 5-4-3-2-A, known as a wheel. You can figure out the values of hands from there, such as 6-4-3-2-A being the next best hand and so on. So if you have a 9-4-3-2-A and someone has a 9-8-3-2-A, you win because you're playing a 9-4 and he's playing a 9-8. In this example, your 9-4 would be considered a SMOOTH 9-low and the 9-8 would be called a ROUGH 9-low because it's not the best 9-low possible.

HOW IT'S PLAYED: The game is dealt just like 7-card stud with two cards down, four cards up and one card down.
There's betting after the third card dealt (also called your "door" card or the first UP card) and on every subsequent street. On the first round of betting the high card showing has to "bring it in" which is a forced bet to ensure action, and it's usually a quarter of a full bet. Everyone else can just call the bring-in or they can complete the bet, which would be one full bet. At fourth street and throughout, the best hand (meaning the lowest hand) is first to act. He can check or bet. It's a limit game so you can only go up
one bet at a time. That's it.

TIPS
* I believe in the initial stages of learning this game, as with most games, tight is right. Don't play a hand that doesn't have three to an 8-low. And, ideally, you'd want that 8 to be concealed. If the highest card in your hand is concealed you have a much more powerful hand because of its deception. And if you're playing tight, as I suggest, then you really don't want to start with anything less than three to a seven. And, believe it or not, there are times when should you even FOLD three to a seven. When? If a lot of the cards you need are exposed; when you have to call two bets cold; or when it's a rough 7, like 7-6-5 or 7-6-2.

* People will often say position in stud games is not important, and they couldn't be more wrong. It almost always determines the strength of your hand and your play. For instance, you may have a 9 showing to start a hand. Everyone folded to you in fourth position and there are nothing but kings, queens, jacks and 10s behind you. At this point you want to complete the bet and force the other players to either be perfect in the hole or to fold. You have a very powerful hand at that point regardless of what you have in the hole. On the other hand, say you're second to act with an 8 showing and nothing but Aces, 2s, 4s, 5s, and 6s behind you. Your starting card is better than the 9 in the previous hand, but your position is horrible and it's a clear fold because there are a bunch of better cards to act after you.

* Look at the other cards on the board. This tip is true of all stud games, but in Razz it's much easier because you don't have to keep track of suits. In stud and stud hi/lo, if you or your opponents are going for a flush, you'll have to keep track of how many cards in your suit are out. Same for straights, you have to keep track of the ranks as well. In Razz, only the numbers count baby! If a lot of the cards you need are out already, you might want to consider folding. Also, if the cards YOU hold ARE out then that's called being duplicated, and that's a good thing. It's not like counterfeiting in hold 'em, which is bad. In this case, duplicating is good because the likelihood of your cards pairing you up or turning into a set grows thinner.

* If someone is playing an 8 or a 9 door card, it's more likely that he's PERFECT in the hole, that's to say he probably had two to a wheel in the hole or very close. Now, I may be giving some players too much credit here, but it definitely is likely he's not playing with a pair or 7-8-9 at that point. Which brings me to my next point, if he's playing a higher door card like an 8, if he gets a seven on fourth street, the likelihood that he paired that seven is remote since, like I said, he's probably perfect. However, if he gets an ace, two, or three, he may have paired those cards since he likely had two of them in the hole to consider his 8 playable. At this point it's up to you how you feel about your hand vs. his.

* If you're last to act, and it's just you and the bring-in bet (which is almost always paint), be sure to raise every time. You don’t want to give the bring-in a free card even if you have a powerful 3-card hand. There are two reasons for this: (1) He'll generally fold because he'd have to be perfect in the hole and still hope for you to miss and (2) If you give him a free card he may just get a perfect card for free and you could draw a higher card than his door card and then you’re off to the races. Make him pay to see another card every time. They will fold more times than not and it's always a profitable play because there are antes and his bring-in bet out there for the taking.

* Take a good look at the hands out there on fifth street. It's here where you know if you're leading or not. There's no deception. If someone has a K showing and all of your cards are under a king, you're leading. It's not like stud where he could have two kings in the hole for trips that beat your aces-up. At fifth street you know where you're at.
Now, that's not to say you're the favorite, as you will soon find out that the made hand isn't always the one most likely to win at this point. Doyle Brunson has a very small but useful section in Super System on Razz, and in this section he has an appendix that says an A-2-3-4-Q is a favorite over a 9-8-7-4-A. You may be leading after five cards with that 9-8, but the Q-4 will get there more times than not. So be cautious. If you're still ahead after sixth street then you're a big favorite (about 5-to-3). He does, however, say the same Q-4 hand is a dog to a made 9-6-3-2-A.

* If you have low cards in the hole and you pair one of them on fourth or fifth street, don't be afraid to still represent a hand. More times than not that card looks like it HELPED you rather than paired you. If you're going to call a bet, you may as well make a bet, especially if the other opponents don't hit "perfect" cards.

* If you have someone board-locked, you should bet/raise until it's capped. In other words, if you have (A-2) 8-3-7-9 and your opponent has 8-3-7-J, so the best he can be is tied with you with just one card to come. At this point you know you're not losing and he'd have to catch perfect to beat you on the river. What's more, he might have an A-4 in the hole and think his hand is good, so ram and jam!

* Never try to hit two perfect cards in a row. If you started with three to a wheel and then hit K-Q while someone with a scary board is betting into you, it's time to throw it away. Sure, it started out great, but you can't rely on two perfect cards to get you out of this jam. Just lick your wounds and fold.

Here are a few of Doyle's tips:

* He says unless you're playing a VERY GOOD Razz player, allow yourself to be "trapped," and by that he means if an opponent checks to you, take it as REAL weakness and bet out. It's unlikely a bad player would then raise.

* If you think you have a chance at winning on the end, be sure to call a bet. If you've gone that far the pot odds almost always dictate a call if you've made any kind of hand. It's not like stud where Ace high would never win a hand, but a J-8 might win the pot for you in Razz.

* If there's a very strong-looking board on third street, the minimum you should consider playing is three cards to a seven.

* If you have an ugly or weak-to-normal board, to be the first raiser you should have no worse than an 8-6-3.

I actually recommend Phil Hellmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros. I know I've given this book a hard time in the past, but his Razz section is actually pretty decent and is the most extensive I've seen other than Championship Stud, which is an old book by Linda Johnson, Dr. Max Stern and Tom McEvoy that has a Razz section.

I hope this helps, because I know it helped me, and this is a game where a lot of money can be made if you play correctly. If you have any questions or comments feel free to add them here. I'd love to hear/read what you think.

Enjoy!

Comments

[Gabriel]

Those are some real nice tips, I wish I had them when I accidently signed up for a HORSE tournament instead of a Holdem tournament. I did win the very first hand of Razz I was ever dealt, but didn't win any after that.

[ChicagoMike]

Haven't listened to the show yet, but I'm sure its great.Another decent resource on this is the new issue of cardplayer with Scotty N. on the cover. You can read it at cardplayer.com and it has a decent article "A game called HORSE" which offers some good basic advice on razz and our other 4 favorite games.

[Atomic]

Nice to have this Razz primer. Thanks.

[wvapoker]

Thanks for posting this. It helps solidfy what I heard on the show.

[gwoo10]

Just listened to the razz show and loved it. I had just recently started playing on Full Tilt and find these games to be very juicy. Just have a tip pertaining to the "Hand of the Week".Most people do not know, but on most sites you can see what a person had at the showdown even if they muck their cards. Just use the last hand link (top left on PokerRoom) and all will be revealed!! This only works if the hand went to a showdown.I find this information invaluable! Too bad it took me over 6 months to figure it out!!!

[Gambit727]

Good info Chris, I'll definitely give it a try. I only played it once before as a curiousity. I won a SnG and retired from Razz undefeated, so I guess my unblemished record is on the line if I go back.BTW, I heard something about a "celebrity" tournament tonight at the Hard Rock Tampa. Just local sports personalties, etc., but I think they are filming it and will have a live audience. Is this the beginning of the end?Mark in Seminole

[Christopher Cosenza]

Well, why wasn't I invited? 8-)I'm glad y'all are enjoying the primer on Razz. I won another hunk of change playing $.50-$1 Razz last night and wondered if any of my opponents had listened to the show.

[Gambit727]

This was a fun hand...Dealt to Gambit727 [Ah 2s 4s 5h 4h 2d] [Ac]:-p