How to Play Razz
Ante up., Deal each player three cards (third street)., Deal each player one card additional card (fourth street)., Place your bets., Deal each player one card additional card (fifth street)., Place your bets., Deal each player one card additional...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Ante up.
Before the cards are dealt, each player must pay to play the next hand.
Generally, the ante is ten to fifteen percent of the game’s bidding limits.
For example, if the bidding limit for the first two streets is a $1.00 increment, the ante is $0.10 to $0.15.
In poker, the bidding limit increases after the fourth street. -
Step 2: Deal each player three cards (third street).
First, each player receives two cards facedown.
The players may peek at their respective cards.
Then they receive a third card that is facing up.
The third card is called the door card.Place your bets (the “bring-in”).
The player with the highest door card starts the bidding process, or the “bring-in”.
This player must place a bet up to the lowest betting increment, which for the purposes of this is example is $1.00.
The bidding continues clockwise around the table until all players are done betting.
When betting, the rest of the players at the table have the following options:
Check, or pass (this option is only available if a player has not yet placed a bet) Call, or match the last bet placed (this allows you to continue to play in the hand) Fold, or leave the hand (if a bet has been placed and you do not want to match it, you would fold) Raise, or increase the betIf two or more players have the same door card, the suits act as the tiebreak.
From worst to best: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. , After the betting concludes, each player receives one more card.
The card is placed face-up next to the third card., For the rest of the hand, the player with the lowest, or worst, visible hand starts the betting action.
They are not required to bet.
For the fourth street round, the betting limit remains small.
For the purposes of this example, the betting limit remains $1.00.
Once again, players have the following options:
Check, or pass (this option is only available if a player has not yet placed a bet) Call, or match the last bet placed (this allows you to continue to play in the hand) Fold, or leave the hand (if a bet has been placed and you do not want to match it, you would fold) Raise, or increase the bet, All remaining players receive one more card.
The card is placed face-up next to the fourth card., Again, the player with the lowest, or worst, visible hand starts the betting action.
They are not required to bet.
For all remaining streets, the betting limit increases to the big bet.
For the purposes of this example, the betting limit increases to $2.00 increments.
When betting, players have the following options:
Check, or pass (this option is only available if a player has not yet placed a bet) Call, or match the last bet placed (this allows you to continue to play in the hand) Fold, or leave the hand (if a bet has been placed and you do not want to match it, you would fold) Raise, or increase the bet, The card is placed face-up next to the fifth card.
This is the last card placed face-up., The player with the lowest, or worst, visible hand starts the betting action.
They are not required to bet.
The betting limit remains the same as the previous round.
For the purposes of this example, players may increase the bet by a maximum of $2.00.
When betting, players have the following options:
Check, or pass (this option is only available if a player has not yet placed a bet) Call, or match the last bet placed (this allows you to continue to play in the hand) Fold, or leave the hand (if a bet has been placed and you do not want to match it, you would fold) Raise, or increase the bet, The card is placed face-down next to the sixth card.
Players may peek at their respective cards before placing bets., Again, the player with the lowest, or worst, visible hand starts the betting action.
They are not required to bet.
The betting limit remains the same as the previous round.
For the purposes of this example, players may increase the bet by $2.00 increments.
When betting, players have the following options:
Check, or pass (this option is only available if a player has not yet placed a bet) Call, or match the last bet placed (this allows you to continue to play in the hand) Fold, or leave the hand (if a bet has been placed and you do not want to match it, you would fold) Raise, or increase the bet, All remaining players select and reveal the five cards they wish to use as their hand.
The player with the lowest, or worst hand wins the pot.
If two or more players have identical hands, the pot is split., In Razz, hands are ranked according to the “Ace to Five” system.
The system reverses the traditional Seven Card Stud scoring.
Therefore, hands that would win in Seven Card Stud would lose in Razz.
There is no qualifier for the winning hand—the lowest, or worst, hand at the table always wins.
In the case of a tie, the two players split the pot., In Razz, kings are high and aces are low.At the end of a round, every hand is evaluated from high card to low card.
Example 1:
Player One’s Hand: 8-6-4-3-2; Player Two’s Hand: 8-6-5-3-2.
In this instance, Player One would win because 4 is less than
5.
Example 2:
Player One’s Hand:
K-J-8-4-A; Player Two’s Hand:
Q-J-T-2-A.
In this instance, Player Two would win because a Queen is worth less than a King. , In Seven Card Stud, straights and flushes are high scoring hands.
In Razz, these hands do not count against a player.
If fact, the best possible hand is 5-4-3-2-A.
This is also called “the wheel.” , In Seven Card Stud, a pair beats a hand of five non-pairs, a triple beats a pair, and a four-of-a-kind beats a triple.
In razz this scoring series is reversed.
A hand of five non-pairs beats a pair, a pair beats a triple, and a triple beats a four-of-a-kind.
Example 1:
Player One’s Hand: 9-8-A-A-A; Player Two’s Hand:
K-Q-J-T-9.
In this instance, Player Two would win even though their the king is worth more than Player One’s nine.
Example 2:
Player One’s Hand:
T-T-5-3-2; Player Two’s Hand: 7-7-6-4-3.
In this instance, Player Two would win their pair of sevens is worth less than Player One’s pair of tens., In Razz, your starting hand is key.
If you have a poor starting hand, you should fold in the first street.
Examples of poor starting hands include:
Anything worse than a three-card eight, where eight is the highest card.A hand with a high pair.
If your hand contains a low pair, like two aces or two twos, do not fold unless you get a second pair., The cards placed face-up on the table will provide you with a lot of information.
Studying these cards will help you determine if the cards you need to make a strong hand are still available.The face-up cards will also tell you about the strength of your opponent's hand.If your opponent has higher cards than you, that is good.
If your opponent has the same cards as you, that is good.
You are less likely to draw a pair, triple, or four-of-a-kind.
If your opponent has the cards you want (low cards), that is bad.
That means you are less likely to draw a valuable low card., In Razz, you have plenty of opportunities to bluff, especially since four of your seven cards are face-up.
For example: the cards in Player One’s hands are high—she’s holding a King and a
10.
However, her face-up cards are low—after fourth street, she has a 2 and Ace.
She should continue to bet because it looks like she has a great hand.
If her bluff succeeds, players with better hands might fold and she could steal the pot. -
Step 3: Deal each player one card additional card (fourth street).
-
Step 4: Place your bets.
-
Step 5: Deal each player one card additional card (fifth street).
-
Step 6: Place your bets.
-
Step 7: Deal each player one card additional card (sixth street).
-
Step 8: Place your bets.
-
Step 9: Deal each player one last card (seventh street or the river).
-
Step 10: Place your final bets.
-
Step 11: Score the hand (the showdown).
-
Step 12: Understand the scoring.
-
Step 13: Evaluate each had from high card to low card.
-
Step 14: Do not count straights and flushes against a player.
-
Step 15: Do count pairs
-
Step 16: triples and four-of-a-kinds against a player.
-
Step 17: Wait for a good starting hand.
-
Step 18: Keep track of the face-up cards.
-
Step 19: Know when to bluff.
Detailed Guide
Before the cards are dealt, each player must pay to play the next hand.
Generally, the ante is ten to fifteen percent of the game’s bidding limits.
For example, if the bidding limit for the first two streets is a $1.00 increment, the ante is $0.10 to $0.15.
In poker, the bidding limit increases after the fourth street.
First, each player receives two cards facedown.
The players may peek at their respective cards.
Then they receive a third card that is facing up.
The third card is called the door card.Place your bets (the “bring-in”).
The player with the highest door card starts the bidding process, or the “bring-in”.
This player must place a bet up to the lowest betting increment, which for the purposes of this is example is $1.00.
The bidding continues clockwise around the table until all players are done betting.
When betting, the rest of the players at the table have the following options:
Check, or pass (this option is only available if a player has not yet placed a bet) Call, or match the last bet placed (this allows you to continue to play in the hand) Fold, or leave the hand (if a bet has been placed and you do not want to match it, you would fold) Raise, or increase the betIf two or more players have the same door card, the suits act as the tiebreak.
From worst to best: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. , After the betting concludes, each player receives one more card.
The card is placed face-up next to the third card., For the rest of the hand, the player with the lowest, or worst, visible hand starts the betting action.
They are not required to bet.
For the fourth street round, the betting limit remains small.
For the purposes of this example, the betting limit remains $1.00.
Once again, players have the following options:
Check, or pass (this option is only available if a player has not yet placed a bet) Call, or match the last bet placed (this allows you to continue to play in the hand) Fold, or leave the hand (if a bet has been placed and you do not want to match it, you would fold) Raise, or increase the bet, All remaining players receive one more card.
The card is placed face-up next to the fourth card., Again, the player with the lowest, or worst, visible hand starts the betting action.
They are not required to bet.
For all remaining streets, the betting limit increases to the big bet.
For the purposes of this example, the betting limit increases to $2.00 increments.
When betting, players have the following options:
Check, or pass (this option is only available if a player has not yet placed a bet) Call, or match the last bet placed (this allows you to continue to play in the hand) Fold, or leave the hand (if a bet has been placed and you do not want to match it, you would fold) Raise, or increase the bet, The card is placed face-up next to the fifth card.
This is the last card placed face-up., The player with the lowest, or worst, visible hand starts the betting action.
They are not required to bet.
The betting limit remains the same as the previous round.
For the purposes of this example, players may increase the bet by a maximum of $2.00.
When betting, players have the following options:
Check, or pass (this option is only available if a player has not yet placed a bet) Call, or match the last bet placed (this allows you to continue to play in the hand) Fold, or leave the hand (if a bet has been placed and you do not want to match it, you would fold) Raise, or increase the bet, The card is placed face-down next to the sixth card.
Players may peek at their respective cards before placing bets., Again, the player with the lowest, or worst, visible hand starts the betting action.
They are not required to bet.
The betting limit remains the same as the previous round.
For the purposes of this example, players may increase the bet by $2.00 increments.
When betting, players have the following options:
Check, or pass (this option is only available if a player has not yet placed a bet) Call, or match the last bet placed (this allows you to continue to play in the hand) Fold, or leave the hand (if a bet has been placed and you do not want to match it, you would fold) Raise, or increase the bet, All remaining players select and reveal the five cards they wish to use as their hand.
The player with the lowest, or worst hand wins the pot.
If two or more players have identical hands, the pot is split., In Razz, hands are ranked according to the “Ace to Five” system.
The system reverses the traditional Seven Card Stud scoring.
Therefore, hands that would win in Seven Card Stud would lose in Razz.
There is no qualifier for the winning hand—the lowest, or worst, hand at the table always wins.
In the case of a tie, the two players split the pot., In Razz, kings are high and aces are low.At the end of a round, every hand is evaluated from high card to low card.
Example 1:
Player One’s Hand: 8-6-4-3-2; Player Two’s Hand: 8-6-5-3-2.
In this instance, Player One would win because 4 is less than
5.
Example 2:
Player One’s Hand:
K-J-8-4-A; Player Two’s Hand:
Q-J-T-2-A.
In this instance, Player Two would win because a Queen is worth less than a King. , In Seven Card Stud, straights and flushes are high scoring hands.
In Razz, these hands do not count against a player.
If fact, the best possible hand is 5-4-3-2-A.
This is also called “the wheel.” , In Seven Card Stud, a pair beats a hand of five non-pairs, a triple beats a pair, and a four-of-a-kind beats a triple.
In razz this scoring series is reversed.
A hand of five non-pairs beats a pair, a pair beats a triple, and a triple beats a four-of-a-kind.
Example 1:
Player One’s Hand: 9-8-A-A-A; Player Two’s Hand:
K-Q-J-T-9.
In this instance, Player Two would win even though their the king is worth more than Player One’s nine.
Example 2:
Player One’s Hand:
T-T-5-3-2; Player Two’s Hand: 7-7-6-4-3.
In this instance, Player Two would win their pair of sevens is worth less than Player One’s pair of tens., In Razz, your starting hand is key.
If you have a poor starting hand, you should fold in the first street.
Examples of poor starting hands include:
Anything worse than a three-card eight, where eight is the highest card.A hand with a high pair.
If your hand contains a low pair, like two aces or two twos, do not fold unless you get a second pair., The cards placed face-up on the table will provide you with a lot of information.
Studying these cards will help you determine if the cards you need to make a strong hand are still available.The face-up cards will also tell you about the strength of your opponent's hand.If your opponent has higher cards than you, that is good.
If your opponent has the same cards as you, that is good.
You are less likely to draw a pair, triple, or four-of-a-kind.
If your opponent has the cards you want (low cards), that is bad.
That means you are less likely to draw a valuable low card., In Razz, you have plenty of opportunities to bluff, especially since four of your seven cards are face-up.
For example: the cards in Player One’s hands are high—she’s holding a King and a
10.
However, her face-up cards are low—after fourth street, she has a 2 and Ace.
She should continue to bet because it looks like she has a great hand.
If her bluff succeeds, players with better hands might fold and she could steal the pot.
About the Author
Ashley Gonzales
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow organization tutorials.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: