Seven Card Stud Low Poker – Razz Rules

Rules Index:
Description
Betting Rounds
standard rules

Razz Winning Hands

Seven Card Stud Low Poker – Razz Description

Razz is a game that many poker players love to hate. The rules are the same as seven-Stud except the lowest hand wins. As in most forms of poker, razz uses a standard 52-card deck. The goal is to make the best five-card low hand from the seven cards you are dealt. It is played with anywhere from 2-8 players.

Each player starts with two hole cards and one upcard (the “door” card); the dealer then gives each active player three more upcards, and then a final downcard, called the “river” (face down). Each player ends up with seven cards, four face up and three face down. At the showdown, the player holding the best low hand using only five of his seven cards wins the pot.

Aces are always low, and flushes and straights have no ranking. The best possible hand is A-2-3-4-5 (a wheel).
Unlike 7 card stud, an open pair does not affect the betting limit. If at any point only one player remains at the end of any round of betting, that player wins the pot.

Each new hand begins with each player putting an ante into the pot. For example, in a $2/$4 limit game, each player would ante 40 cents. The ante does not count toward any future bets.

When you first sit down at a table, you are prompted to ante, after which you will immediately receive a hand.

You can play razz poker game at Ignition Poker and also in many other Poker Rooms.

Seven Card Stud Low Poker – Razz Betting Rounds

Ante

Each new hand of razz begins with each player putting an ante into the pot. The ante is a payment into the pot before cards are dealt for the purpose of instigating action. In razz, the ante is usually 20% of the smaller betting limit. For example, in a $2/$4 limit game, the ante is 40 cents. Each player must ante each hand in order to receive cards.
There are no blinds in razz.

Razz has five rounds of betting

  1. Third Street – the dealer gives each player two cards face down and one card face up (third street). Only you can see your hole cards. You can tell which are your hole cards and which is your upcard, because the hole cards are situated lower than the upcard. The first round of betting commences. On the first round, the betting starts with the player having the highest upcard. This bet is a forced bet. The bet must be at least a specified minimum (called the bring-in), but can be more.
    Each player in turn can call the bring-in, or complete the bet, that is, raise to the limit. For example, in a $2/$4 game, the bring-in is 50 cents. Any player can call that bet, or complete to $2.Once completed, there is a limit of 3 reraises on the betting round. For example, in a $2/$4 game, the complete bet would be $2, with the betting being capped at $8 (first reraise to $4, second reraise to $6, and the final reraise to $8).
  2. Fourth street – the dealer deals each active player a second upcard (fourth street). Players still in the hand participate in a round of betting.The betting on fourth street always proceeds at the lower limit. Unlike 7 card stud, an open pair does not affect the betting limit. All bets and raises on fourth street will be equal to the lower limit bet size.
  3. Fifth street – the dealer deals each active player a third upcard (fifth street). Players still in the hand participate in a round of betting, but the bet size is now equal to the higher limit bet size. All bets from here on out will be at the higher limit.
  4. Sixth street – the dealer deals each active player a fourth upcard (sixth street). Players still in the hand participate in a round of betting.
  5. Seventh street (the river card) – the dealer deals each active player a final card, face down. Players still in the hand participate in a final round of betting.In the rare event that all 8 players remain in the hand at this point, there would not be enough cards for each player to receive another card. Should this occur, a single “common” card is placed in the middle of the table face up which every player is free to use.

Showdown

Once the betting for seventh street is equalized, the betting is over, and there is a showdown. Remaining active players show their cards, and the player making the best low hand using five of their seven cards wins. The software determines the winning hand, and awards the pot to the holder of that hand.

Players do not show their cards simultaneously. The showdown takes place in a specified order.

The software shows the cards of the first player to have bet or the last player to have raised in any previous round. (If there was no betting on the river, the cards of the first player to have bet or the last player to have raised on sixth street would be shown first on the showdown, and so on.) If the next active player has a lower hand than the one just shown (or ties it), the software shows his cards. If the next active player does not have a lower hand, the software offers that player a choice. He can show his cards, if he wishes, or he can just get rid of the cards (muck). The software treats each remaining active player in turn the same, either turning over the hand if it is lower than (or tied with) any shown thus far, or offering the choice of showing or mucking, and awards the pot to the best low hand.

Some standard rules

The rules in razz are the same as seven card Stud except as otherwise noted:

  • The lowest hand wins the pot.
    Aces are always low, and flushes and straights have no ranking. The best possible hand is A-2-3-4-5 (a wheel).
  • The highest card by suit starts the action with a forced bet. The low hand acts first on all subsequent rounds. If the low hand is tied, the hand closest to the left of the button begins the betting.
  • Fixed limit games use the lower limit on third and fourth streets and the upper limit on subsequent streets. An open pair does not affect the limit.
  • The dealer announces all pairs the first time they occur, except pairs of face-cards, which are never announced.

There is a set rank of cards, which is used for deciding the winning combination. Click here to view the various ranks that are possible.