Texas Holdem Online Casino

Playing Razz

At some point, a table of poker players must have decided they were tired of being dealt lousy starting hands and decided to make a wager on who could make the worst possible poker hand as opposed to the best possible poker hand.

And so was born Razz, an unusual form of poker that rewards players who make the low hand out of five unpaid cards (straights and flushes do not count against the low). The best Razz hand is straight, or A,2,3,4,5, also known as wheel. In Razz, aces always count as low. Razz is dealt exactly like Seven Card Stud with players posting an ante, and then getting two cards down and one card up.

Instead of the lowest card posting the bring-in, or forced bet, the player with the highest up card posts the bring-in (or makes a full bet, if she chooses). Starting to the left of the player making the bring-in, each player calls, makes a raise by completing the bring-in to a full bet, or folds. After the initial betting round, three more cards are dealt face up (4th Street, 5th Street, and 6th Street), with a betting round between each card.

In Fixed-Limit Razz, the first two rounds of betting are always at the low fixed limit, and the last three rounds are at the high limit. So if you're playing $.50/$1 Razz, the first two rounds of betting are exactly $.50 and last three rounds (5th Street, 6th Street, 7th Street or the River) are exactly $1. A maximum of three raises is allowed per round.

In each round after the first round, the player with the best low hand starts the betting. On Fourth Street, the best low hand showing would be A,2, then A,3, and so forth. As the betting action moves clockwise around the table, players simply call, raise, or fold, in turn. The last round, or River card, is dealt face down and a final round of betting ensues. The player who opened the betting shows his hand and all other players ca either show their cards or muck. The player with the five lowest cards wins the pot.

One of the keys to Razz is playing starting hands where all three cards are under the rank of 8. Too many players get lured into a Razz hand with two low cards and one high card. Having one card over the rank of 8 in your three-card starting hand significantly lowers your chances of making a low hand.

Remember, the more cards you are dealt over the rank of 8, the more likely it is that you should fold your hand.