Poker Rules
Razz Poker Rules
2007-11-23 11:26:25
Razz is very similar to Seven-Card Stud - or the exact opposite depending on your point of view. The structure of the game is the same, but instead of making the best possible five-card poker hand out of seven cards, the goal is to make the worst possible hand. Straights and flushes have no ranking, and the lowest hand wins the pot. Aces are always low, so the best possible hand is A-2-3-4-5. You are not allowed to include pairs in the five card hand.
ü Just like in Seven-Card Stud, the game starts with all players posting an ante. Each player is dealt three cards, two face-down hole cards and one face up. In Razz, the player with the highest card must make the bring-in bet (as opposed to the one with the lowest card in Seven Card Stud).
ü Unlike Texas Holdem and Omaha, there are no fixed positions in Razz and Stud. The players act clockwise in the first round starting with the player who posted the bring-in. The bring-in bet is half the size of an ordinary small bet, but it's also allowed to make a full-sized bring-in.
ü The first player to the left of the one who posted the bring-in can choose to fold, call (the same amount as the bring-in), or raise. The next player in turn can fold, call (the bring-in amount or the raised amount), raise (an unraised pot) or re-raise (make another raise on top of a previous one). All of the remaining players have the same options.
ü When the first betting round is completed, all remaining players are dealt an additional card face up. Now the player with the lowest card showing starts another betting round, which works the same way as the first one (without the bring-in).
ü It's followed by two additional face-up cards with a new round of betting for each card. Finally, a seventh card is dealt face down, and is followed by the last betting round. If two or more players are still in the hand until the end of the round, there will be a showdown. The player with the lowest possible five-card poker hand wins the pot.
