Razz Rules
Limit Razz (also known as 7 Card Stud Low) is played as a fixed limit game where the ‘worst’ hand wins. Straights and flushes don’t count, and the best hand is A, 2, 3, 4, 5. For information on how to play, visit our Razz Rules page.
A lot of players find limit Razz to be a frustrating game. While it can be frustrating, one of the main reasons players pull their hair out with this game is also the reason it’s so profitable. Most people playing limit Razz right now are inexperienced and don’t understand the game. This means there’s a ton of dead money out there, money for better players to scoop up.
Razz Poker is a game where (based on upcards) at certain times you’re ’supposed’ to bluff, bet or fold. If your opponent doesn’t know when he’s supposed to fold, he’ll often call down your bluff and beat you. If your opponent is beating you simply because he doesn’t know enough to know when he’s supposed to fold, this can make you a little crazy. The good news is that there are ways to defend against this, you just have to learn how.
The game can also be frustrating when you’re playing against a number of skilled players at the same table. When everyone knows what they ’should’ do, this is when players step outside the box and more creativity comes into play. Fortunately for online players, unless you’re playing in a high-stakes game, you’ll rarely if ever find tables like this. For the most part, people at the limit Razz tables are new & inexperienced at the game.
Razz is a form of stud poker that is normally played for ace-to-five low. It is one of the oldest forms of poker, and has been played since the start of the 20th Century. It emerged around the time people started using the 52-card deck instead of 20 for poker. The object of Razz is to make the lowest possible five-card hand from the seven cards you are dealt. In Razz, straights and flushes do not count against the player for low, and the ace always plays low. Thus, the best possible Razz hand is. Razz is a poker game for 2 to 8 players, using a standard 52-card deck and is one of the more interesting poker variants, based on the rules of Stud Poker, but with very different requirements for winning. In 7 Card Stud, like most poker games, the highest ranking hand wins the pot. In Razz, however, it is just the opposite – the lowest hand wins the pot.
How to Play Razz Poker Razz is almost always played as a fixed limit betting game. The small bet size is used during the first two rounds of. Each player antes a fraction of the small bet before the cards are dealt. In a $2/$4 limit game, for example, the antes. Three cards are dealt to each. Razz poker is a stud poker variation of lowball poker. It is essentially a variation within a variation, which is part of the game’s charm. The poker hand hierarchy is inverted for razz poker games. Therefore, the best hand is five high hand that is a 5-4-3-2-A hand. Card suits are not of importance in razz poker. Razz Poker Rules. Razz poker is a lowball poker game meaning the rank of the poker hands is inverted. Therefore, the highest-ranking hand is 5 4 3 2 A. Straights and flushes do not count in razz poker; therefore, card suits are completely disregarded in what makes the best hand.
Where to Play Limit Razz
If you’re looking for a place to play limit Razz, check out Pokerstars or Full Tilt Poker.
For more information about limit Razz games available at these rooms, visit our Pokerstars Razz or Full Tilt Razz pages. Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker are the two biggest online poker rooms, and they offer more Razz traffic than any other rooms.
Pokerstars has busy limit Razz cash games and sit-n-go tournaments. New players can also get a $600 Pokerstars bonus when they sign up. Use Pokerstars marketing code TEN500 when asked for during the sign up process. Then use bonus code Stars600when you make your first deposit.
Full Tilt Poker limit Razz tables are busy as well, and are known for their high-stakes cash games. If you want to play for big money, go to Full Tilt. Use Full Tilt Poker referral code IPOKERORG to get a 100% bonus up to $600 when you register.
Razz Poker is a version of Seven Card Stud where the player with the lowest hand wins the pot. This game uses A-5 lowball rules, which simply means aces always count as high, and straights and flushes are disregarded as part of the hands rankings. Therefore, the best possible hand in Razz Poker is A-2-3-4-5, and the second best is A-2-3-4-6 with suits having no relevance. If you’re looking to learn Razz Poker rules, it is first important you understand Ace to Five lowball rankings.
Razz Poker rules are quite simple, though for players not already familiar with seven card stud, we’ll break them down in detail. At most live card rooms, and online at PokerStars.com, Razz Poker is played with up to eight players per table and uses fixed limit betting structure (most Razz games are Limit Razz but no limit and pot limit do exist but not online). The game starts with each player making an ante bet. This is a forced bet all players must make before they are dealt any cards. The amount of the ante is generally one-tenth to one-quarter the size of the game’s small bet. For example, at PokerStars.com $2/$4 use a 25 cent ante, $5/$10 a 50 cent ante and $30/$60 a $5 ante, so as you can see it is not an exact science; the size of the ante varies from game to game and does not have a direct correlation to the stakes as far as fixed percentage goes.
Once all players have posted their ante, each player is dealt two cards face down and a third card face up for all players to see. The player with the highest face up card is required to make a live forced bet called the bring-in. At PokerStars.com $2/$4 uses a $1 bring-in, $5/$10 use a $2 bring-in and $30/$60 use a $10 bring-in. As you can see again, the exact size of the bring-in is not a standard percentage of the betting stakes, as the actual percent varies between stakes and where the game is being played.
The bring-in is a live bet which starts the initial betting round. Once it is made, action proceeds around the table, with each player having the option to fold, call or raise, unless the pot is capped (which is 4-bets at PokerStars.com, and 5-bets at some sites), in which case the only options are to fold or call. When this betting round is complete, players are dealt a second face up card for all players to see. The player showing the lowest hand is given first option to check or bet, and action moves around the table clockwise until the betting round is complete. The stakes now double for the remainder of the hand, and two additional up cards will be dealt, one at a time, with a betting round after each. This leaves players having two hole cards (visible to only them) and four board cards (face up cards everyone can see) with a betting round having just taken place. A final card is then dealt to each player face down, and the final betting round occurs. Once complete, players will expose their three down cards for a showdown, and the player showing the best five-card A-5 lowball hand is awarded the pot.
A Razz Poker rule that exists yet would never come into play involves the potential for a community card. This is a factor because Razz has a 52 card deck and there are eight players each able to receive up to 7 cards each. This equals 56 cards. In the event that there are not enough cards remaining to deal each player their final down card, a card will be placed in the middle of the table as a community card each player uses. In all of our years of playing, we’ve never seen this Razz Poker rule utilized, as never does a game go eight handed after the first betting round, never mind each hand making it through the first four betting rounds. Again, this Razz Poker rule will never come into play; it is simply there for the players who conspire to say what if, and all might agree to check down a pot to the river in order to see what happens.
Rules Of Razz Poker
Now that we’ve covered Razz Poker rules, your next step is to either read our Razz Strategy page or to get started playing online at PokerStars.com.