Razz Poker
Razz poker, a variant of stud poker, is an interesting poker game, in which the lowest five-card hand, not the highest, wins. The game is played with a deck of 52 cards and can be played by a minimum of 2 and maximum of 8 players. Not as famous as Omaha Poker or Texas Hold’em online but a popular variant nonetheless.
The concept of the "8 or better" qualifying hand is also absent in this game, which means that any hand with the lowest value is qualified to win. The betting structure in razz poker is almost always fixed. Although, some casinos may have pot limit and no limit razz games.
Razz Poker Tips
Before You Get Started
Here are a few points to remember before you start playing razz poker. In lowball poker variants, like razz, aces are counted as 1. Straights and flushes are not accepted combinations in razz. Suits are ranked according to alphabetical order, club, diamond, heart and spade, in the ascending order.
The lowest hand in razz happens to be A-2-3-4-5. Instead of the blind bets, razz poker is played with Antes and bring-ins. King of Spades is the highest value card in razz.
Betting Options
Betting options for razz players include fold, raise, call, check, and bet. The bet refers to the amount of chips that are first placed in a betting round. To call is to match a bet placed by the earlier player, and to raise is to increase it.
Fold refers to giving up and moving out of the current razz game. Check refers to neither betting nor folding, and is only allowed when no other player has placed a bet in that particular round.
Antes
The game of razz begins with a single ante bet, which is a small percentage of the minimum bet. Considering that it’s a $2/4 table with a fixed betting limit, the ante can be 25%, which would be $0.50. After all the players place the ante bet into the pot, they are dealt with three cards each, with two facing down and one facing up.
Streets
- Third Street or Bring-Ins | The first round is also known as Third Street, because each player already has 3 cards. The face-up card is called the door card, and the player with the highest door card has to start the first betting round with a 'bring-in' bet. Players continue betting in the clockwise direction, and can call, raise, or fold. The minimum raise in this round is £2.
- Fourth Street | After the first round of betting, the players are dealt the fourth card or "Fourth Street" face up. The player with the highest (lowest in value for razz) open card has to place the first bet in this round, and the rounds that follow. Razz is a lowball game, where the lowest hand wins, the highest possible hand here would be the ace. In this round, the active players can either bet or check, with the minimum bet being £2.
- Fifth Street | The fifth card is dealt after the Fourth Street, or second round of betting. The fifth street is also a face up card and players follow the same betting pattern in the fourth street. This is also a round of betting and players can either check or bet. The betting increment from this round would be £4.
- Sixth Street | After the fifth street, all the active players are dealt with yet another open card, which is the sixth card or sixth street. This round of betting is similar to the fourth and the fifth betting rounds, with a higher betting increment of £4.
- Seventh Street | The seventh street or the seventh card is the final card that is dealt to the active players on the razz table. However, this card is dealt face down, and only the player gets to know what it is. This round is also called the river, like in other poker variants. After the cards are dealt, a final round of betting will lead to a showdown.
Showdown
The showdown is when the players expose their cards and the winner is determined. The player who placed the last bet or raise has to show the cards first. The remaining players, in the clockwise direction, also show their cards for evaluation. In case there is only one player left at the river, the player at the starting position has to show the their cards first, followed by the other players.
If there is no qualifying hand, the lowest possible hand is awarded the pot. If there are two winners, the pot is divided equally among them, as the rank of the suits is not considered to determine the winner.
Out of Cards
In case of an 8 player razz table, there is a possibility of not having enough cards in the deck towards the end of the game, particularly the 7th street. If no player has folded, a single seventh card is dealt face up, and all the players have to treat it as their 7th card.
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