That might seem like the more familiar low-ball game in 7-card stud, but this low-card game has at least one additional guideline that is crucial to success. The lowest hand in the game is actually a straight! Yes, A, 2, 3, 4, 5 is the best hand possible. In games such as 2-to-7 lowball, for example, a player cannot have a straight. The best hand is 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. In the same manner, a flush is not a “good” hand unless it contains the five lowest cards among all the hands still in at the end.

Players getting involved in Razz Poker should make sure they understand the betting limits and requirements, just as they would any other form of poker. In most cases, there will be three bets per round, as in 7-card stud.

Players get two cards face down and one card face up, just like the other forms of seven-card poker. The player with the highest up card must bring in, which is essentially no different than other stud games. However, in some stud competition, low card brings in, but this is announced before a card is dealt.

At this point a second card is dealt face up and another round of betting takes place. Remember that low hands are best, so reading the other cards requires you to look at opponents’ low cards as your competition. In the mid-point of the game, low hand showing brings in and bets must match the high limit. Tip: Make sure you know about this detail and use it properly during play. This applies to the four cards that each player is dealt face up.

The final card is dealt face down, giving each player three cards others cannot see. In Razz, as in other stud games, a huge part of successful play is reading the other up cards. You should pay particular attention not only to what other low cards an opponent has but also which cards in other hands match your cards. The key here is that your odds of making a good low hand are better if you can’t see any of your cards in those other hands.

That’s the game of Razz in a nutshell. Of course, there are strategies and decisions that will give you a better chance to win. Like 7-card stud and other stud games, for instance, you may not want to stay in unless you have three “premium” cards in the first four.

Everything about the structure and betting is identical to 7 Card Stud, except the value of the hand that you are looking for. The only change is that instead of the low card having the forced bet on the first up card, the high card (Aces are low unless stipulated, so the King is the high card) will initiate the opening bet.

The key to this game, as it is in regular stud, is to get established early and not chase down a losing hand. You are going to have to use your memory skills to both realize the possibility of your hand hitting and to also be able to rate the strength of your opponents hands. This is not a game where you can sit back and listen to your music and stargaze, you need to pay attention to every card at every time.

The game starts with 2 down cards and one up card. With lowest hand winning, you are looking to start off with 3 cards to a low of 7 or under. The only way you can even consider playing without 3 low cards is if you are looking down and see A2 as two out of your three. At this point, you can pay to see the 4th card, but you are going to have to fold immediately if that card does not peel off on the next round.

It is not very often that you will see a raise before 4th street unless someone is exploiting position or is looking down at A23. If you have that, by all means hammer the pot and reduce your competition. 4th street is going to be the tell tale card though as if you manage to hit another low card, you now have 3 cards to fill in your low hand. This is why it is so important to watch what the other players have.

Let’s say that you are dealt A23 to start the hand off. On board you see (1)A, (2)3’s, (1)4 , (1)6 and (1)7. This is actually fairly good news for you as far as exposed cards go because of the 16 cards that you can fill your hand with, only 3 of them are dead. When 4th street comes out, the totals are now (2)A, (2)2’s, (2)3’s, (2)4’s, (1)5, (1)6 and (1)7. Let’s also assume that you were dealt a five, which would mean that there are now only (2)5’s left live in the deck.

This is a situation where you would start to raise down through the river if anyone else is betting. At this point, you only need one more card to hit your low and out of the 12 cards that will improve your hand, there are still 8 of them left alive. For an 8 handed game, the dealer will hold 16 cards (I have already eliminated burn cards from the count) in his hand that can hit the board. Out of those 16 cards, half of them will improve your hand. You can assume that one or two of them are in other people’s hands, but regardless, you have a huge percentage to hit your hand.

Also, when you are looking at the other hands that are going to need help, you can obviously eliminate all the cards that you are holding that will improve their hands. Now this is a dream situation, but you get the general idea of how important it is to be able to crunch the numbers and recall what everyone is dealt. As players fold, you must be able to remember what cards they took to the much in order to be able to compute the advantage over your opponents.

This is a great game to learn online as most of the tables that are active are micro-limit tables so you won’t be putting very much at risk. However, as H.O.R.S.E. continues to rise in popularity, you will have a huge edge on anyone that is playing the game if you can hone your Razz skills. We are going to have some more in depth articles about Razz coming up, but this will get you started in what is one of the more enjoyable and interesting games of poker being played today.

If you mention that you play poker to the average person on the street, they will almost always assume you mean Texas Hold’em. Tournament Texas Hold’em was accepted as “the poker game” when the poker boom hit the United States in 2003, after Chris Moneymakers historic World Series of Poker Main Event victory. Millions of college students, middle aged men and women, and retirees began playing the game which was made famous through ESPN’s coverage.

Many people inside the game of poker only play Texas Hold’em and many of these people do not even understand the other forms of poker that are our there. I recently hosted my weekly home poker game and decided to make it a dealer’s choice game. I selected Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, and 7 card stud as my dealer’s choice games and had to explain the rules and concepts of the games numerous times. A few of my friends, who are quite talented Texas Hold’em players, were not big fans of these new games, as they did not fully understand the strategies to excel at the new games and could not be bothered to apply themselves. A few of the other players at the game, loved the new additions. They liked the added action created in Omaha, as well as the new information and betting rounds created in Stud and Razz.

There are so many different and unique caveats of each game, that it creates new and different challenges amongst each game. I, like many, first learned how to play Texas hold’em competitively. I got into Razz by playing online and reading books such as Super System. At the time I first got into these other games, I was a bit burnt out on Texas hold’em. That’s what really turned me onto playing Razz competitively. Learning the nuisances Razz and different strategies involved with the game brought back my passion for playing poker. I became a student of the game again, studying and learning everything I could about the game. In the end, I became much better at Razz, but these strategies and new thought processes also helped me in my Texas hold’em game as well.

Some sites do not offer every form of poker or have as high as volume of games in these different games that they do in Texas hold’em. However, most of the large sites and many medium sized sites have many game types. Paddy Power Poker, Virgin Poker, and Ladbrokes Poker all offer games in Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi Lo, Razz, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud H/L. Just like Texas Hold’em, these sites offer micro stakes, .01/.02, low stakes, $1/2, medium stakes, $10/$20, and large stakes, $50/$100 and above. I would suggest starting at very low stakes if you are just learning the game of Razz. It can be very confusing at first and you don’t want to blow your whole bankroll before you even understand the game.

Throughout the next few weeks, I will take you on a journey through the game of Razz. I will not only give you a better understanding of the game, but I will teach you some proven winning strategies for this form of poker and the various opportunities involved with Razz.