Razz Strategy

This article assumes you know the rules of Razz. If you don`t, make sure you read this first.

Razz is probably one of the easiest poker games to learn for two reasons. Firstly, because it is usually obvious who has the best hand as, just like Seven Card Stud, each player holds 4 out of seven cards open. Secondly, no flushed or straights are possible.

As opposed to most other poker variants, the worst hand loses in Razz. Therefore, the basic Razz strategy is: play low cards. The best hand is called a wheel: A2345. (note that the ace counts as a one). If your highest card is a 6 or a 7, you will often win the hand, an 8 will win sometimes. With anything higher you should be very carefull.

The most important aspect of Razz is to select a good hand to play, the lower the better. As you start with three cards, the best possible starting hand is A23. Any hand with only cards 7 or lower are good to play. If your highest card is an 8 you only want to play if the other two are baby`s (A, 2 or 3) and even then you still can`t call more than one raise. All other hands should be folded!

The most important decision has to be made after the fourth card has been dealt. If your opponent is dealt a high (bad) card and you get a good one, bet aggressively! (and fold if it is the other way around). You should also bet of your opponent gets a card that gives him a pair, since he won`t be able to use that card for his hand, which means he did not improve his hand. Again, fold if it`s you who gets the pair.

It is very important to be disciplined! It can be very frustrating having to fold good starting hands again and again after being dealt a bad fourth card but not doing so can be very costly.

Here are some examples: (the cards not visible to other players are between brackets)

Example 1
Player 1 has (A3)6 en player B has (A4)6. Both players have a good hand and want to continue. Fourth street brings a J for player A and a 7 for player B. Player B knows he has the best hand and has to bet! Player A should fold.

Example 2
Player A has (74)3 and player B has (A2)7. Both players want to play and fourth street is a 3 for player A and an 8 for player B. In this case player B should bet because he has four low cards, while player A can have a maximum of three since he has a pair!

Example 3
Player A has (A2)3 and player B has (56)7. Player A has the best possible starting hand and raises. Player B calls as he has a reasonable hand. Fourth street brings a Q for player A and an 8 for player B. Player A`s hand is ruined and he will have to fold as he is behind.

If you play TAG (tight aggressive) and remember a few basic percentages you will have an advantage against most players on the low stakes. The biggest mistake you can make is to chase when behind, so make sure you fold a lot! But if you only play very good starting hands, you`ll lose money because of all the bring-ins and antes you have to pay when you fold. Therefore you should mix it up a bit and try to steal the pot when you have a low card showing

As you can see the open cards are very important in Razz. The better your open cards, the more pressure you can put on your opponent. Therefore, (78)3 is a better hand than (37)8, as you have a better chance to make your opponent fold when the 3 is showing.

Example 4
Player A has (2Q)4. A player with a K puts in the bring-in, as he has the highest card. Behind you are two players with an 8 and a 9. This is a great situation to raise and try to steal the pot as your opponents will often fold as you are showing a much lower card then they are! If one of the players with the 8 or 9 calls you, give up on 4th street unless your hand improves relative to his.

Note that if you play against very loose players, you shouldn`t try this at all. They won`t fold often enough and you will make enough money on your good hands.

If you have a good hand and you face a bet by someone else, you should raise in most situations for three reasons:

• Your opponent might be trying to steal the pot
  
• You want to prevent giving other players good odds to chase by calling
  
• If he does have a good hand you can make him fold if he gets a worse card then you on 4th street.
  
  One important aspect of Razz is to make sure you take into account the cards on the table. A good hand like (A4)6 becomes even better if your opponents are showing some of your cards, as this reduces the chance that you will pair up! Vice versa, you don`t want to see any 2`s, 3s and 5s, as you want to be dealt those cards.