Thanks in part to the rise in popularity of mixed games such as H.O.R.S.E. Razz (the R in H.O.R.S.E) is now more commonly spread by online poker rooms and as a result new players are trying out this fun, yet sometimes frustrating, game.

One of the most common mistakes made by new and experienced players alike is slowplaying a good starting hand. Since the best possible hand, or nuts, is 5-4-3-2-A, players often decide to slowplay a starting hand such as A-2-3 in order to try and win a large pot. This is wrong for a number of reasons, including the fact they are just begging to be outdrawn over the next four streets of action with the majority of the deck still to be dealt. The only time it would be correct to slowplay would be if you had the nuts and nobody else was showing a card lower than a six.

Impatience is another flaw many Razz players possess, especially as it is quite common to fold a large percentage of your starting hands. In Razz you have to post an ante regardless of if you want to continue with your hand or not and this can become very frustrating if you see your chip stack dwindling while you are receiving unplayable cards. However, sitting tight and waiting is much better than playing sub-standard hands and potentially losing even more money.

The biggest mistake any Razz player can make, regardless of their skill level, is failing to follow correct bankroll management. The game itself is naturally high in variance and there will be periods of time where you are simply paying the antes or bring-in bets and then folding your hand. In order to be able to outlast these barren spells you should make sure you sit at the table with at least 50 big bets and have at least 500 big bets in your overall bankroll. This means to sit at a table with $1/$2 blinds you should sit down with at least $100 (and be prepared to re-buy) and if you plan on staying at these stakes you should have around $1,000 at your disposal.

To a beginner, Razz hands can be as confusing as the Omaha poker rules are to those used to playing Hold’em.

However, if you stick with it you’ll find Razz makes a nice change from the more commonly found forms of the game.

The game of Razz is actually very similar to seven-card stud, in fact some places in the world refer to Razz as seven-card stud low. Razz is played using antes and limit betting. The format of the game is almost exactly the same as seven-card stud, where players all post an ante before receiving their first cards. This means, if you join a .25/.50 Razz room online, you are going to have to post a .05 ante at the beginning of each hand in order to receive cards. Each player will then receive two face down cards and one face up card. The player with the highest showing card, Aces are low, then has to “bring in” which is a bet of double the ante. So in this particular game, if one player has showing a K, they would bring-in for .10. All other players can either call the bring in, raise to .25 or fold. The first two rounds the limit bet would be .25, with all remaining rounds allowing .50 bets. Players can also raise bets by the limit allowed in each round.

So we have posted our ante’s received the first round of cards and called the bring in. Now each player receives another face up card and another betting round commences. Players can still only bet .25. After the betting is complete, players receive another face up card before betting again. Players can now bet the large limit of .50. This sequence of betting continues after each player receives a card. There are 7 rounds of betting in total, pre cards:1st round, 2nd round(3 cards), 3rd round(1 card), 4th round(1 card), 5th round(1 card), 6th round(1 card) and then the final betting round after all cards are out, 7th round.

One important thing to remember in Razz is that there is no dealer button or pre-determined position before a hand. Position for the hand shifts during the hand, with the High card acting first after the cards have been dealt. Position then shifts again, when the 4th card is dealt, with the first to act being the player with the lowest visible card. This player remains first to act throughout the entirety of the hand.

OK, now we know how the betting patterns work in Razz, let’s look at hand rank and how we actually win. As we know the lowest hand wins the pot. In Razz, straights and flushes have no merit on the hand, so it doesn’t matter if you have 5-4-3-2-A all spades, you don’t have a straight flush, you have the nuts in Razz. Although flushes and straights don’t count, pairs do count against you. Therefore if you have 9-9-A-K-K-4-2, your best Razz hand is A-2-4-9-9. You are most likely not going to win that hand.

Finally we have an understanding of this intriguing game called Razz. Now how do we proceed, do we just go out and hope we get bad cards, which in turn are good? Join me tomorrow as we get into our strategy for crushing Razz games, both live and online.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.