Online Poker Forum - Explanation & Tips For Players New To Razz (Feel Free To Add To It)

FsuBostonMike · Pair Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 36 Location: Boston, MA

Okay so I see alot of posts from new players either wanting to learn the game of Razz, or get some helpful pointers to improve there game. and as a winning poker player whose favorite game is lowball (Razz), I've come up with my 3 guidelines to winning. A simple explanation for Razz is that the player with the lowest sequence of 5 cards wins the hand, A2345 being the best possible hand a player can have. Here are some things I've learned about the game in my 9 yrs of playing.

1.) With the first 3 cards dealt to you, if your holding 2 cards under 8, then complete, remember you get dealt 7 cards, so say your first 3 cards dealt are A3K, dont let the King scare you out of the hand, complete and push out any weak hands trying to limp in.

2.) Read your opponents face up cards, if you see that 3 players all hold the same card then you know the chances of you pairing that card are low, also pay attention to the player showing low/high cards, if a player is showing a pair, or 2 face cards, play him strong and bet him.

3.) Dont chase once youve paired up after the bring in/complete remember its the lowest sequence of 5, so even pairs of 2's, or A's put you at a big disadvantage, If your dealt a small pair at the start of the hand, it's okay to bring in and limp into the hand if possible, but being dealt a pair at the start of a hand almost always kills your chances of taking the pot.

Well those would be my 3 most important rules to play by while playing razz, Im sure they'll be 100's of people who disagree, so feel free to tell me I am an idiot and tell me what Ive been doing wrong and also feel free to add any other pointers and tips.

-Mike

clussman · Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 7:29 pm Post subject:

I always hit a lot of bricks in Razz (Razz hates me) so I tend to play conservatively. I'll play with two good low cards (5 or under) or three low cards (8 or under) to start. I never play pairs unless I'm representing the best card against a weak board. I do need to start getting more aggressive and start completing on 3rd.

Advice: as in any Stud game, pay attention. Don't even look at your own cards until you've memorized what everybody else has up. Keep track of the cards that are out. Write them down if you have to. (Some people have suggested typing them into the comment box.) If you're the bring-in, it's real easy to pause and look at the cards everybody has. If you're not the bring-in, read the cards clockwise from whoever is. Otherwise, in the blink of an eye, you could miss several folded cards.

I'll take any advice anybody has on the subject. My Razz game is in desperate need of improvement.

FsuBostonMike · Pair Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 36 Location: Boston, MA

Yea real good point to bring up, always pay attention to what cards are folded, and as far as playing pairs..well if im dealt a low pair to begin the hand and i have a decent draw with the pair, say something like AA4, I'll pay the small bet to see what comes next, for the simple fact that if I hit another low card and my hand becomes AA43, it becomes easier to represent the best hand, and push players out on a bet. But I'll almost always fold my hand if I've paired up after the bring in/completion.

jbrennen · Straight Flush Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Posts: 422

FsuBostonMike · Pair Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 36 Location: Boston, MA

Oops, sorry K3A or AK3 should have been how I explained that particular hand, you never want to complete showing a face card, i'll never complete showing anything higher then a 6, but if I have (K-3)A, or two good drawing cards with a face down K, Q, or J, I'll sometimes try a raise to draw out any weak hands. Definitley not the tightest play but it's seemed to always worked for me, at least for scaring out week hands. I like my chances playing 3 handed or heads up, then I do with 4 or 5 players in the hand.

fisherman25 · High Card Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 15

nice post , some interesting remarks. RAZZ is a very interesting game
it's good to see it getting attention

FsuBostonMike · Pair Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 36 Location: Boston, MA

Yea, can be very frustrating at times also, the playmoney tables from what ive seen are pretty much a joke (again..from what Ive seen). I sat at 100/200 playmoney, 6 players at the table, and 4 of them didnt know how to play.

fisherman25 · High Card Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 15

playmoney?? i dont expect people to play their best over there

FsuBostonMike · Pair Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 36 Location: Boston, MA

Yea, I have been playing my real money over at Absolute Poker & CityPoker so I figured I would check out the whole layout at fulltilt, but I just made my first 500$ deposit with FT so I'll be hittin the real tables tonite.

SaylorMarsh · Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:17 pm Post subject:

FsuBostonMike · Pair Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 36 Location: Boston, MA

Up until the point where I posted that the only experience I had at Full-Tilt was play money. I had only been at Full-Tilt for maybe 3 or 4 days and wanted to check out the whole layout before I deposited anything, hell ive been playing real for over 10 years now and I still ask for advice from other players.

my85cutty · Pair Joined: 05 Jan 2007 Posts: 38

well i have a newb question about the hands of razz....

say there are two ppl still in the hand come the 6-7 cards.... and for whatever the reason { bad players of bluffing gone bad or w/e } and both players show 2 low pairs.... say player 1 has AA 44 3 5 7 and player 2 has 22 33 6 7 8....... who wins?

or could some1 please explain this better with a hand description to make the point

clussman · Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:48 pm Post subject:

Tiera Starr · Message Board Junkie Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 2161

Set dealer messages to full detail, and enlarge chatwindow - makes it easier to track others folded cards.

live4freerolls · Banned Joined: 23 Nov 2006 Posts: 2588 Location: Grindin

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