Loading...Poker Rules
Read More
Razz Rules and Game Play
By PokerListings.com
Razz is known as a "low" game, meaning you're trying to make the lowest (or worst) hand possible.
Because Razz is almost identical to Stud in all but a few ways, we won't rehash the setup and rules for those variants here. Readers not familiar with the rules of 7 Card Stud should start with this article:
Once you understand how to play 7 Card Stud, you can easily learn how to play Razz. The only differences between Stud and Razz are in the rules governing the following factors:
- The player who must bring in the action at the start of the first betting round
- The player who must start the action on any given street
- How to decide the winning hand at showdown
The Bring
Once every player has their two down cards and one door card, you're ready for one player to bring it in.
Just as in Stud, the player required to bring in a Razz game is decided by the value of each player's door card. Unlike Stud, in Razz the player with the highest-valued door card is required to bring.
Door cards are ranked according to face value from lowest to highest: jack, queen, king.
Aces are viewed as low or "good" in Razz, meaning the highest-value card rank available is a king. If two players tie for high card, the suits of their door cards break the tie.
In Razz, suits are ordered alphabetically from worst to best: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades.
Again similarly to in Stud, the player required to bring has two choices:
Bet an amount equal to the ante
Complete the bet, betting the full amount of the small bet
The Betting Rounds
The only difference between a betting round in Razz and a betting round in Stud is how you decide where the action starts for the hand.
In Stud, the player with the highest-valued show cards starts the action.
In Razz, it's the player with the best Razz hand, or lowest-valued cards, who starts the action on the betting round.
Pairs are always viewed as "high," meaning a player holding K
Q has a better two-card Razz hand than a player with 2
2
. A hand is only as low as the value of its highest card, meaning that out of these hands:
7 9 | Q Q | A 5 | 2 4 | J A | 8 Q | 6 7 | 3 3 |
... the best two-card Razz hand is 2 4.
Even though A 5 has an ace, which is lower than either the 2 or the 4, the highest card of A 5 is the 5. The lowest two cards, without having a pair, are the 2 4.
Once you've determined the best hand, this player gets to start the betting round. As in Stud, this player has two options:
- Check (same as a call, but since there is no bet to match, they are calling nothing)
- Bet
Showdown
After the final betting round has been completed, the players still in the hand enter into the showdown. In the showdown, each player makes the best five-card hand possible out of their own seven cards.
The remaining two cards are "dead" and contribute no value toward the hand at all. They are never used to evaluate the strength of a hand.
Evaluating Hands
Here are the rules for evaluating the winning hand:
A hand of Razz is won by holding the worst hand at the table
Straights and flushes don't count in Razz hands, meaning the absolute best hand possible is the lowest straight (known as the wheel) A-2-3-4-5
There is no qualifier for the winning hand - even if a player has two pair, if it's the lowest hand on the table, it's declared the winner
Hands are evaluated from the highest card down, meaning A-2-3-4-8 is a worse hand than 3-4-5-6-7
If two players have the same winning hand, the pot is split between them. Suits are not taken into account for evaluating the winning hand.
Once the pot is shipped to the winning player, the cards are collected and shuffled in preparation for the next hand. Starting with each player placing their ante, the whole cycle begins again.
Related Articles
View Best Rooms to Play: Razz
Comment(s) on this article
Cameron Grigsby Jul 9, 2008
Hi, I was playing Razz and I I had a 9, 4, 3, 2, A hand. So when we were done betting and we had both gotten our seven cards, I had shown my hand, and he came out with a 8, 7, 5, 4, 3 and wins. How did he win?
Sean Lind Jul 10, 2008
In Razz you always count the low from the top down. Unless they are the same, you only need to call the hand by the highest two cards (if they are the same you just keep going until there is a difference).
In this case you had a
9-4
and he had a
8-7
Because an 8 is lower than a nine, he has a lower hand.
Daniel May 16, 2009
I was playing Razz on Full Tilt and I had 9-7-5-4-2 and he had 9-8-7-3-2. I don't understand why he won and I lost. i thought it is from the highest card down.
Sean Lind May 19, 2009
Razz is counted from the highest card down. If you lost, it probably means you misread the two hands in play.
I've played many hundreds of hands of Razz on FT, and can vouch that they evaluate winning hands correctly. Go back and find your hand history and make sure you have the hands correct.
Also, were you playing HORSE? it's possible that the game had changed to Stud, without you having realized.
Derrick Frances Jun 3, 2009
Hi, I'm learning the game and would like to know if my thinking is right in regard to hand play. Isa hand with 10-9-8-7-5 better or worst than a hand with 10-9-8-7-4? Are all cards taken in to account as the example would/may indicate? Another case in point are two hands with K-J-9-7-5 and K-Q-8-6-5,the first hand how ever is composed of SPADES and the later is composed of CLUBS.
Sean Lind Jun 4, 2009
Hey Derrick.
You evaluate the hands card for card from the top down, so hand one:
Player 1: 10-9-8-7-5
Player 2: 10-9-8-7-4
You compare the highest card to the highest card, and so on until the bottom card. Since the 5 is higher than the 4, player 2 wins.
Second hand:
Player 1: K-J-9-7-5
Player 2: K-Q-8-6-4
Compaire since K versus K is the same, we move to the next card. J is lower than Q, so player 1 wins.
Once you have a single lower card (the J vs the Q), the rest of the cards are irrelevant.
Frank Jun 6, 2009
I was playing Razz on Full Tilt yesterday and they weren't counting my pairs as high cars. For example I would get A 2 2 3 8 3 6 and my low would be 8 6 3 2 A. What am I missing shouldn't the my two pairs count as high cards?
Sean Lind Jun 6, 2009
Hey Frank.
A pair must be two cards, if you used both your 2's, then you'd have a pair. If you use only one of them, the 2 counts.
The only way you'll ever have a pair as part of your razz hand, is if you have no choice, such as
A A 2 2 3 4 4
nick Jun 11, 2009
heyy guys thanks for all the articles, had no idea how to play razz until now... anyway in the evaluationg hands on point 4 isn't A-2-3-4-8 better than 3-4-5-6-7 because 3-4-5-6-7 is a straight or is it just on numerical value.
thanks
Sean Lind Jun 11, 2009
Hey Nick,
In Razz straights and flushes do not count. This is why A-2-3-4-5 is the nuts in the game.
Ronald Aug 21, 2009
Hi, I have been playing Hold 'em for about Five years but just stared playing other forms of poker in the last two years. I like paying other games more the Hold 'em I get tiered of Hold 'em. I really like No Limit Deuce of Seven and Razz. Anyway my question is: I have been told in razz on 4th street if you have a Ace and a Two showing the 5th street rule applies like in Seven Card Stud. Meaning you have the choice to make a Big or Small bet. I can't find this rule anywhere. Is this the rule or are my friend making up their on rules (The have been known to do this).
Thank You,
Ron
Sean Lind Aug 22, 2009
Ronald,
I have never heard of this rule before in my life, pretty sure your friends made it up. But, it's not a bad rule, I might try it out at my next home game.
Leave a comment