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Razz

 5 September, 2005

 While watching episodes of the 2004 World Series Of Poker, I saw my first game of Razz, and was intrigued. As I had never played Razz, I decided to at least learn how, and figure out why some of the players were calling it things like the “hated game” and repeatedly saying, “I hate this game”. Here are a few of the things I learned.

 As far as learning how to play, if you have ever played 7 Card Stud you will quickly be able to play Razz competently. Razz is played like 7 Card Stud, but it is played for low instead of high. The best possible hand is a “Wheel”, A 2 3 4 5 and straights or flushes have no bearing on the winning hand. After the first three cards are dealt, the high card, unlike 7 Card Stud, is forced to place a “bring in” bet to start the action. From this point, everything is the same as 7 Card Stud.

 Learning how to play is easy; learning how to play well is difficult, to say the least. In my opinion, Razz requires the highest level of reading your opponents and recognizing betting patterns of all of the variations of poker. As an extension, Razz is the game where it is most important to not give away any information about the strength of your hand. Bluffing is a large part of the game, as many times the best low hand will be a Nine or Ten high, and it seems like there are a lot of times when you end up with three pair to destroy much hopes of winning, but if you have good low cards showing you may be able to bluff and win. This is why it is so aggravating. An example is when you start with 2 3 5, followed by 3 7 5. Any A 4 6 or 8 will almost surely give you the win and a 9, T or J may give you the best hand. But when you hit another 2 3 5 or 7, you have no chance to win unless all of your opponents have multiple pairs also or you are able to make a successful bluff. You will often play this hand to the end, just to have any chance to win destroyed by pairing your seventh card.

 Overall, Razz is a fun variation of poker to play on occasion, but due to the lack of available games, and the few that do run are usually dominated by veteran players, I recommend it for a change of pace, not a full time profession. It can be a fun night of entertainment if you host a home game.

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