Razz Poker

Bring-In Bet Defense

As most of you know, in Razz, the player that has the highest board card showing is the bring-in bet. This bet is usually equal to double the size of the ante. A player in the bring-in bet in Razz is in worse shape than player in other stud games due to the fact that the low hand is the best hand, and you are already drawing to the worst hands from the start. In other stud games, you could possibly have a relatively decent starting hand depending on your hole cards.

There are some situations that can lend themselves to a player defending their bring-in in a Razz game. First, what is your door card? In most cases, you do not want to defend your bring in with a card higher than ten. Some players will defend with a jack but you are severely handicapping yourself. You are also telegraphing your play in most cases if you follow the next step in determining if you should defend your bring-in.

What are your hole cards? In order for me to defend my bring-in with a high door card, I want A-2 or A-3. I may defend with A-4, but if I do, I want a non-pairing wheel card as my 4th street card. Note that when you defend your bring-in with a big card showing, most players will have a good idea of what your hole cards are. Expect your opponent to jam you.

Next, how many of your cards are still live? If you were paying attention, you should know how many of your needed wheel cards are out. I also keep track of cards under eight when I count my outs.

The last thing to consider in defending your bring in is what type of opponent you are facing. Are they a tight player or one that will try to steal from you? Don’t defend against a really tight player as they are likely to actually have picked up a hand.

Once you decide to defend your bring-in, each street becomes important to determine whether you stay in the hand. When you start with a large door card and two small cards, you want to either improve or have your opponent catch bad. If I catch a bad card on fourth, I will likely abandon the hand to a bet. Of course, if my opponent catches bad, I may bet into him. In this case, when I say they catch bad, they have caught a card higher than my door card. Now they are drawing worse.

In the event you catch good, you need to evaluate the type of hand that they are drawing to. If they catch a low card, what are they potentially drawing to? At this point, it is a matter of what your read is on them at to whether you want to continue in the hand.

Fifth Street is the crucial card. At this point you need to have 4 cards to a decent hand or you need to get out. Of course, if your opponent catches bad, this will help your decision, but you want to have four cards to a hand that will “outdraw.” What your opponent is representing.

As you can see, a big part of defending your bring-in bet depends on your ability to put your opponent on a hand. If you do not feel comfortable in doing so, then go ahead and take the safe way out and fold your hand.

Tags:
Bring-In Defense, Poker, Razz, Razz Poker, Stud Poker

Bad Plays to Look for During Razz Rounds in H.O.R.S.E. Games

Since 2006 a game that has been growing in popularity has been H.O.R.S.E.  H.O.R.S.E. is a game of five rotating poker variants of Holdem, Omaha 8 or Better, Razz, Stud, and Stud 8 or Better.  Most players have exposure to many of the games but the one game that players are the least experienced in is Razz.  As a result, they make many bad plays or do things that you would not normally see in a razz game.  Today let’s talk about a few things that you can look for during a Razz round in an H.O.R.S.E. game.

First, depending on how the game is structured, there may be players in your group that will decide to sit out many of the hand in the Razz round.  This is more common in H.O.R.S.E. cash games as opposed to tournaments.  As a result, these players may only play a hand that is really strong.  Sometimes, you can play a marginal hand against these players in the hopes that they may catch bad and fold to pressure.  I’m not saying to call down this type of player if you are showing a King and they come in with an ace.  However, if you are showing a 9 or 10 and they are showing a card from 5 to 8, sometimes you can come in and see 4th street.  Sometimes if they catch paint and you improve, they will fold to a bet on fourth.

Next, if a player calls a completion bet on third that was a bring-in or has a card 10 or higher, it is a safe bet that they have a couple of really strong low cards underneath.  As a result, pay close attention to how they improve and if you are improving, bet your hand strong.  Usually if someone calls a completion with a 10 or higher, I am going to put them on A-2 or A-3 in the hole.  If by 6th street they are showing potential to have a better hand than yours, slow down or even fold if you can’t outdraw them.

If someone hits a pair on their board and they call a bet from you, their hole cards are either strong or perfect.  I would continue to push my advantage unless they happen to improve or you fall behind.

Next, as in any form of poker, don’t try and bluff a calling station.  There are some players that will not fold their hand even if you are showing A-2-3-4 and they are showing K-7-8-9.  I know this seems odd, but I have experienced it.  (I have also lost when my hole cards were 8-9-10 to this type of player.)

Remember that most players that play H.O.R.S.E. tend to specialize in some games and just are average in some games.  Razz is the game that most players have the least amount of experience with.  As a result you will see some bad plays during the course of a H.O.R.S.E. game that you may not see that often in a Razz cash game.

Tags:
Holdem, HORSE, Omaha, Omaha 8, Poker, Razz, Stud

Playing Strong Boards In Razz Poker

I started playing live professional tournaments in 2006.  The second set of tournaments I played was at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California.  The casino is also known as The Bike.  The day of the Omaha Hi-Lo event, I went to my table and I saw a very familiar face at the table.  It happened to be Hall of Fame poker player Barbara Enright, and she was sitting in the seat to my right.

I decided to strike up a conversation with Barbara and she was very gracious and very friendly.  I told her how that I was new to poker tournaments etc, and we got into a discussion about Las Vegas etc.  I knew from what I had read about her that she was a fantastic stud player and as a result, I decided to try and get her advice on Razz.   I had never played the game and I knew it was offered at the World Series.  I asked for her advice on the game and it was a very helpful piece of advice.  She said, “Play your boards strong.  Razz is a game of strong boards.”  As I started playing the game, I discovered that she was correct.  Today, I am going to talk a bit about playing your board in a Razz game.

As we all know, Razz is a game where the worst hand wins.  There are many times in this game that you can force a person out of a hand based on what you are showing on your board.  Of course, part of this requires that your opponent is astute enough to be able to put you on a better hand, and if they are willing to fold.  You cannot bluff a calling station, so if you are against one, don’t try.

For others, there are many times where you can force them off of a hand based on what you are showing.  For example, let’s say you are on fifth street showing 9-8-7.  You right now at best could have a made nine.  If you catch perfect, you may be able to draw to a seven, assuming your hold cards are good.  Now let’s look at your opponent’s board.  They are showing 8-8-J.  What is the best they can hope to draw to?  An eight is the best hand they can make, and right now they are still drawing.  In this type of situation, you will want to bet to force them out of the pot.

Part of being able to bet someone off of a hand is showing a hand that has looks strong compared to theirs.  The other part is determining what they could draw to?  When on Fourth Street, what can they draw to if they catch three cards perfect?  If on fifth, what can they catch?  You need to be able to put them on potential hands.

Did you notice in the examples above that I did not involve my hole cards?  There is a reason.  In the case of playing your board, you are betting based on your perceived strength and not on the actual strength of your hand.  It is another form of bluffing, and a very profitable form for this game.

Tags:
Barbara Enright, Bicycle Casino, Razz, Razz Poker, Seven Card Razz, World Series of Poker, WSOP

Razz Poker Tips for Beginners

Razz Poker is a variation of seven card stud poker that is played for low only. It can be thought of as playing stud in reverse. The worst hand wins. Straights and flushes do not count against your hand. Aces are always low in Razz. In fact, a pair of aces is actually lower than a pair of deuces. The card rank is the only thing that matters in razz. Suits are irrelevant. The best hand in Razz is the wheel, or an A-2-3-4-5. Unlike stud eight or better, there is no qualifier in razz; therefore if you hold 4-4-8-7-5 and someone holds A-2-3-6-6, you win.

There are a couple of rule changes in regards to betting that make stud eight different than other stud game. First, the highest card showing on third street is the bring-in. Next, from fourth through seventh street, the lowest showing hand opens the betting. Otherwise, the game is dealt as a normal stud game.

As a beginning player you will want to start with a very tight strategy in regards to playing razz. You really want to start with three cards eight and lower. Preference should be for hands that include an ace and a deuce or a three. The lower your starting hand is in razz poker, the better off you are. If your hand contains a card higher than nine, abandon the hand, especially if the door card is higher than 9. There are times where you can actually play hands that contain a card above an eight, but starting out, you need to start off with a solid strategy. The only time I would recommend playing a hand with a card above an eight is if you are holding a three card nine and your opponents are showing a nine or higher. In this case, you can play a nine low. Otherwise, wait until you get a better grasp of the game. There are many players that will play a high card with an A-2 or an A-3, hoping that they can catch a couple of low cards to make a good draw. First, if you call a bring-in or a completion with a card higher than a nine showing, you are telegraphing that you have a couple of solid low cards as hole cards. Player will punish you at the tables with extra bets when you make this play. Also, if you don’t catch immediately, you have to almost always abandon the hand.

If you do not improve your hand by fifth street, in most cases it is time to abandon the hand. Betting limits double and you must catch both cards perfect to make a hand. There may be times that you will want to abandon your hand at fourth street. For example, if you start with a three card eight and on fourth, you opponent catches a 7 to go with a low card, then you are very likely against a seven low draw. You will have to catch every card perfect to outdraw a seven. In this case it’s time to fold.

Learn how to recognize a boardlocked situation. When a player is boardlocked, they are locked into a certain hand and cannot improve to beat you. For example, let’s say you have a 7-6-5-4-A low on fifth street and your opponent is showing 9-10-8 as their board. Even if both are their down cards are perfect, such as A-2, there is no possible way they can outdraw you with two cards remaining. You have the nuts and need to bet like mad. This is also a helpful thing to know if you are drawing to a hand. If you have four cards to a six low on sixth street and your opponent is boardlocked into an eight low, you can usually call a bet in most cases because you can catch many cards to beat his hand. Recognizing boardlock situations requires you to pay careful attention to not only what your opponent is showing, but keeping in mind what the best possible hand is that he or she can draw to. Doing this will win you bets or over time.

Play your board aggressively. Razz is a game where you need to play a strong looking board aggressively to push drawing hands out. If you are sitting on fifth street with a three card seven and your opponent is showing a couple of high cards then you need to bet. The same is true when your opponent pairs up on his board or catches high cards that leave him drawing lower than you. In some cases it does not matter what your hole cards are. Lets say you call a bring in with a deuce up and a A-4 in the hole. You immediately catch a 4. Your opponent has a 10-8 showing. While you are technically behind right now, it’s hard for your opponent to know this. You might have started with A-2-3 and just now picked up a wheel draw as far as he knows. Betting will likely cause him to fold. If he does not fold, you may be able to push him out depending on how the board falls as right now, he has a four card ten at best. Remember, bet scary boards aggressively.

Now that mixed games are picking up popularity, it is important that you stay versed in all forms of poker. Razz is a game that you will likely see only played in either tournament or at higher levels at a casino. You can easily find it in most of the larger poker rooms online. Like stud eight or better, many people do not play this game well so building a solid foundation for the game will prove profitable over the long haul. With the above tips, you should be able to win in most lower level Razz cash games. Being a solid razz player will also help you when you play mixed poker games and in H.O.R.S.E. tournaments. Good luck and I hope to see you around the tables.

Tags:
Betting, Poker, Razz, Razz Poker, Seven Card Stud, Stud, stud eight or better