Jennifer Harman
March 28, 2005
The rules:
For those of you who aren't familiar with Razz, it
is a game played like 7-card stud. The twist is
that in Razz, the worst hand wins. Straights and
flushes don't count for anything, but pairs are
bad. Aces are always low cards. A five-high (or
wheel -- remember that straights don't count
against you) is the worst -- or I should say the
best -- possible hand for this game. A-2-3-4-5.
Starting hands:
When playing this game, it's important that you
start with 3 little cards. You shouldn't play with
any card bigger than an eight in your hand. But
there are two exceptions to this rule.
1. You have a nine showing when the hand is dealt,
everyone else's up card is bigger than a nine, and
you have two low cards in the hole. In this case,
you have the best starting hand.
2. You are in steal position with a baby showing,
and the remaining player (or even the remaining
two players) has a big card showing. You can often
raise in this spot to steal the antes regardless
of what your hole cards are. If somearticle calls,
you hope that their next card (fourth street) is a
big card and yours is a baby. If your opponent
catches a baby and you catch big, you should let
it go. There's no point in continuing with the
bluff.
Tracking cards:
Are your cards dead? This is another important
thing to know when playing Razz. What do I mean by
'dead card'? A dead card is a card that is no
longer in the deck. You know this because you have
seen it in someone else's hand. Keeping track of
the dead cards allows you to know how many of the
remaining cards can hurt you, and how many will
improve your hand. For example: your first three
cards are 2-5-8. There are seven other players in
the game, and their upcards are: 2, 5, 8, 8, 2, 7,
J. Remember that pairs are bad in Razz.
Fortunately, many of the cards that will pair you
are in other players' hands, or 'dead'. Now
suppose your opponent is holding 7-3-A. He needs a
lot of the cards that are on the board (dead) to
make his hand. The cards you need to make your
hand are still available. In this situation, you
are a little more than a 56% favorite. By tracking
cards, you can more accurately make decisions
based on your real equity at any given time.
Jennifer Harman
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