Razz which is also referred to as seven card stud low is a poker game where the best Ace to Five low poker hand is the winner pot at showdown. During this game, the players are dealt with seven cards through the course of the hand. Only the best five card low hand possible will determine who the winner is. Different from Omaha Hi/Lo and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo you need not have eight or better to win.
Ace to Five or California systems are used in Razz to get the ranks of the low hands. The flushes and straights will not count against the hand and the Aces are always low and this makes the best hand to be a wheel (5,4,3,2,A).
When playing Razz, you need to understand that an unpaired low hand will be ranked from its highest card to the lowest. For instance a hand with the cards; 5, 4, 3, 2, A is referred to a five-low. One with the cards; K, Q, J, T, 9 is known as a king-low.
Rules to have on your fingertips when playing Razz
Ante
Before razz starts, all players are required to Ante a nominal amount. The exact amount will be determined beforehand depending on the game you’re playing and will be shown on the table’s title bar. This is usually the cost of being dealt your cards. Games with limits of $1/$2 will usually have an ante of $0.15.
Third Street
At first, each player will be dealt with three cards; two of these cards will be hidden hole cards and one will be dealt face-up. In this game, the player who has the highest valued face up card will be the bring-in and will have to start playing the game. This means that they will need to make another bring-in bet. They can also make the lower betting increment if they choose. The game will proceed clockwise until this wagering round comes to an end.
Fourth Street
In this round, the player will receive an exposed card which is termed as the fourth street. The player with the lowest exposed hand will act first. This player has the option to bet or check. The amount they bet will be a small bet. After the place their wager the betting session continues clockwise.
Fifth Street
Another card will be dealt face up for every player. The player with the lowest exposed card. For instance, a player with an eight-high card will need to act first if the other punters showed a pair of sevens and a queen-high. This player with the eight-high has the option to check or wager the highest betting amount available.
From the fifth street and the rest of the hand, all the bets and raises are in big bet increments.
Sixth Street
The punters will get another exposed card. N this round, the first person to act will be the player who has the lowest showing card. This will be followed by a clockwise round of betting.
Seventh Street (river)
This round is also known as the river and it is the final card that will be served. This card is dealt face-down and is only known by the player who is served with the card. Just like other streets in the game, the player with the lowest showing cards starts the wagering round. The players proceed to a final wagering round and if there is more than one player remaining, they will move to the showdown round.
Showdown
This round is played to determine the winner. In this round, the last bettor or raiser needs to show their cards first. In case there was no wager in the last round, the punter earliest seat will show their cards first. After they show their hand, more hands will be revealed clockwise.
The best low five-card Ace to five will win the pot. Bear in mind that there is no qualifier in this kind of poker unlike in Omaha Hi/Lo and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo. The best hand will win the whole pot. After pot is won by the best low hand, a new game can be started.
In an instance where there are two or more hands with the same value, the pot is split among the punters.
Betting options for the punters
The available options of taking action are call, raise, check, fold or bet. The available options depend on the action to be taken by the last player who played. When there is no player who has made a bet, the player can check or place a wager. After the punter bets, the next player has the liberty to fold, raise or call.
More Razz rules and situations
To evaluate the bring-in inRazz, ties in the card rank are broken by suit and the order is from the highest to the lowest. The punter with the highest suit will bring-in.
When the punter with the highest card exposed on the third street is all-in and are not able to make the bring-in wager, then the bring-in will proceed clockwise to the subsequent player in the table.
Since stud games are played by 8 punters but the cards in the deck are only 52, there is the possibility of running out of card before the river round. This being the case, a single community card is served showing on the table and it will be shared by all remaining players.
