How to Play Razz Poker

Razz poker is a fun game to play and its rules are very much like seven-card stud, except the object is to have the lowest possible hand. The winner is the person with the lowest hand, using only five of the seven cards dealt. The lowest hand is an Ace, Two, Three, Four and Five of any suit. The Ace is always low in Razz poker. Straights and Flushes are discounted so that you are not impacted if you happen to have one.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Two to eight players
• Deck of cards

How to Play Razz Poker

1. Place the first round of bets. This is done before any cards are dealt. The minimum ante is around one-fifth of the lowest possible bet amount.

2. Deal three cards to each player. Two cards are placed face down and one card is face up. This is called 'third street.'

3. Review the face up card that belongs to each player. The player with the highest card must bet first. This is called 'bringing in.' The bet must be equal to one-fifth of the low limit bet. For example, in a $5/$10 razz poker game, the minimum ante is one-fifth of $5, so a bet of $1 is needed to continue playing. You can raise above $1 if you would like.

4. Deal one card face up to each player. This is called 'fourth street.' Place bets again if you wish to remain in the game. The bet limit is the low bet amount ($5 in this example).

5. Deal one more card face up to each active player. This is called 'fifth street.' Place bets based on the cards currently on the table. The betting amount is now equal to the higher limit. Continue to play if two or more players remain in the game.

6. Deal one more card face up to active players only. This is called 'sixth street.' Place bets again at the higher limit.

7. Deal the final card to each player, but this time face down. This is called 'seventh street.' Place final bets at the higher limit.

8. Turn over the face down cards to reveal who has the winning hand.

Tips & Warnings

• If two or more people have the same high card after the first three cards are dealt, then the person to 'bring it in' is the one sitting closest to the dealer.
• If all eight players are still remaining after sixth street, there will not be enough cards to give each player the seventh and final card. Should this happen, deal one community card that everyone can use. Fortunately, this situation is very rare.

[EdGuy]

on 9/4/2008 Hi, here is a good site on Razz poker: http://www.howtoplayrazzpoker.com/

They offer Razz rules, Razz tips and strategy and Razz related articles.