Razz (Seven Card Stud Low)
Razz (Seven Card Stud Low)
Razz (Seven Card Stud, played for low only) is a poker game in which the best Ace to Five low poker hand wins the pot at showdown. In Razz, players are individually dealt seven private cards throughout the course of the hand, but only the best five-card low hand possible for each player is used to determine the winner. Note that unlike in Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo or Omaha Hi/Lo, in Razz there is no ‘eight or better’ requirement to win the pot.
Razz is usually played with a Limit betting structure (but Pot Limit and No Limit variations exist), in which the bets are in fixed increments. For example, in a $2/$4 limit game the bets are in increments of $2 on the first two betting rounds and increments of $4 on the subsequent three betting rounds.
Razz uses the ‘Ace to Five’ or ‘California’ system for ranking low hands. Straights and flushes do not count against a hand, and Aces are always low, so the best possible hand is a ‘wheel’: 5, 4, 3, 2, A. To help understand the ranks of hands, the following sample Razz hands are ranked from least powerful (#1, will rarely win the pot) to most powerful (#12, the nuts):
1. 3 3 3 5 5
2. K K 4 :3d 2
3. 2 2 7 6 5
4. A A T 9 8
5. K Q J T 9
6. K Q J T 7
7. 9 8 7 :6s 5
8. 9 7 6 5 3
9. 9 7 6 5 A
10. 6 5 4 3 2
11. 6 4 3 2 A
12. 5 4 3 2 A
Paired hands always rank behind unpaired hands. Note that an unpaired low hand is always ranked from its highest card downwards. So, for example, hand #10 is known as a ‘Six-low’ because its highest card is a Six. Hand #9 is a ‘Nine-low’, and Hand #5 is a ‘King-low’. In poker slang, you distinguish between close low hands by going further down the ranks, so hand #11 would be called a ‘Six-Four low’, which beats hand #10, a “Six-Five low”.
Rules for Playing Razz
Player Betting Options
In Razz, as with other forms of poker, the available actions are ‘fold’, ‘check’, ‘bet’, ‘call’ or ‘raise’. Exactly which options are available depends on the action taken by the previous players. Each poker player always has the option to fold, to discard their cards and give up any interest in the pot. If nobody has yet made a bet, then a player may either check (decline to bet, but keep their cards) or bet. If a player has bet, then subsequent players can fold, call or raise. To call is to match the amount the previous player has bet. To raise is to not only match the previous bet, but to also increase it. Bets and raises in Limit games are in pre-determined amounts
Ante
Before a game of Razz begins, all players ante a nominal amount (the exact amount depends on the game and is displayed in the table’s title bar). This is the cost of being dealt into the hand. For example, the ante is $0.25 in a $1/$2 game.
Third Street
Each player is initially dealt three cards, two hidden hole cards and one face up. In Razz, the player with the highest exposed card is the ‘bring-in’ and is forced to start the action. They must make another nominal bet (again, the exact size of the bring-in depends on the game) or if they choose, a full bet in the lower betting increment. Action continues clockwise around the table. Betting continues until all active players (who have not folded) have placed equal bets in the pot.
Fourth Street
Each player now receives another exposed card, called ‘Fourth Street’. The first player to act is the player with the strongest (lowest) exposed hand. By rule, this player may either check or bet the lower structured betting amount (for example, $2 in a $2/$4 game). A round of betting ensues and continues until all active players (who have not folded) have placed equal bets in the pot (this includes all active players checking).
Fifth Street
Each player now receives another exposed card, called ‘Fifth Street’. Again, the first person to act is the player whose exposed cards are lowest. For example, a player with an Eight-high would act first, if the only other players in the hand were showing a pair of Sevens and a Queen-high. The player with the Eight-high could either check or bet the larger betting amount and a betting round ensues.
For fixed limit Razz, starting on Fifth Street and for the rest of the hand, all bets and raises are in big bet increments (for example $4 in a $2/$4 game).
Sixth Street
Each player now receives another exposed card, called ‘Sixth Street’. Again, the first person to act is the player whose exposed cards are the lowest. There is a round of betting.
Seventh Street (or the River)
Each player now receives a seventh and final card, which is dealt face-down and known only to the player to whom the card is dealt. As with earlier streets, the first person to act is the player whose exposed cards have the lowest poker value. There is a final betting round, and if more than one player remains, we reach the Showdown.
The Showdown - Determining the Winner
If there is more than one remaining player when the final betting round is complete, the last bettor or raiser shows his or her cards first. If there was no bet on the final round, the player whose exposed cards have the lowest poker value shows his or her cards first. Further hands involved in the Showdown are exposed clockwise around the table.
The player with the best five-card Ace to Five low hand wins the pot. Remember that (unlike Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo and Omaha Hi/Lo), there is no ‘qualifier’; the best low hand wins the entire pot. If two or more hands have the same value, the pot is equally split among them. There is no precedence of suit for the purposes of awarding the pot. In the event of an odd chip during the split, it is awarded to the first active player immediately clockwise from the button.
After the pot is awarded to the best low hand, a new game of Razz is ready to be played.
Additional Razz Rules and Situations
• For the purposes of determining the bring-in in Razz, ties in card rank are broken by suit, with the order from highest to lowest being spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. The highest suit brings in, so if the Queen of hearts and Queen of diamonds are visible at the beginning of the hand, and a Queen is the highest card showing, then the Queen of hearts would have the bring-in. (Note, the ranking of equal hands at the Showdown is not determined by this rule.)
• If the player with the highest card showing on Third Street is all-in for the ante and they are consequently unable to make the required bring-in bet, the bring-in moves clockwise to the next player at the table, regardless of the value of that player’s exposed card.
• Because Stud games are played with eight players but there are only 52 cards in the deck, it’s possible to run out of cards before Seventh Street can be dealt. In this very rare instance, a single ‘community card’ will be dealt face-up on the table, which will be shared by all remaining players.
Limit, No Limit, Pot Limit Razz
Razz rules remain the same for Fixed Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit poker games, with a few exceptions:
• Fixed Limit Razz
Betting in Fixed Limit Razz is in pre-determined, structured amounts. On 3rd and 4th streets, all bets and raises are of the lower amount (for example $2 in a $2/$4 game). For 5th, 6th and 7th street, the size of all bets and raises doubles. In Limit Razz, up to four bets are allowed per player during each betting round. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise, and (4) cap (final raise).
• No Limit Razz
The minimum bet in No Limit Razz is the same as the size of the bring or ante (depending on game limits), but players can always bet as much as they want, up to all of their chips.
Minimum raise: In No Limit Razz, the raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $5 then the second player must raise a minimum of $5 (total bet of $10).
Maximum raise: The size of your stack (your chips on the table).
In No Limit Razz, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.
• Pot Limit Razz
The minimum bet in Pot Limit Razz is the same as the size of the bring or ante (depending on game limits), but players can always bet up to the size of the pot.
Minimum raise: The raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $5 then the second player must raise a minimum of $5 (total bet of $10).
Maximum raise: The size of the pot, which is defined as the total of the active pot, plus all bets on the table, plus the amount the active player must first call before raising.
Example: If the size of the pot is $100, and there is no previous action on a particular betting round, a player may bet a maximum of $100. After that bet, the action moves to the next player clockwise. That player can either fold, call $100, or raise any amount between the minimum ($100 more) and the maximum. The maximum bet in this case is $400 - the raiser would first call $100, bringing the pot size to $300, and then raise $300 more, making a total bet of $400.
In Pot Limit Razz, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.