A marketing truism states that everything once popular will eventually find a new audience and become popular again. And so, we find the game of Razz, rising up from the ashes of poker games long since ignored. A game so vile the contestants at the 2004 WSOP Final Table complained openly in front of ESPN’s cameras about how much they hated it. And yet, Razz is offered in MTT, SNG, ring games, and as part of the HORSE rotation at the two largest poker sites, Stars and Full Tilt. On most nights, you’ll find more Razz games on those sites than any other form of stud or lowball poker. Razz strategy questions are being posted here at PocketFives on an ever-increasing basis.

Razz is not my best game; I will be the first to admit that I’m not a master at it. Hell, I’m not even sure that I like the damn game. Nobody truly likes Razz. No other form of poker can so completely tease and tempt you with a great hand, only to stick you with three pair on 7th Street. However, I can beat most low- to middle-stakes Razz games online, and I find it to be my most profitable game in the HORSE rotation. If you follow five basic rules of Razz, you will join me in making a little money, which always softens the blows the game can rain down upon you. And Razz is a good game to play when the vagaries of NL Hold’em are crushing your psyche.

Rule #1: Stick tight to starting hand selection

In a typical game, fold everything worse than a good 8-low for your first three cards…and if you wanted to go one step further and stick to a 7-low as your worst starting hand, that’s fine too. In general, you are looking to make an 8-low hand, but if you’ve got something like [65]8 (the 6 and 5 are your down cards, the 8 is up), you will likely not be able to beat another 8-low. You’ll find your 86 losing to a lot of 85 and 84 hands.

Rule #2: Let the upcards be your guide

In all forms of stud poker, the ability to remember upcards and adjust your play based on the cards remaining is critical. However, in 7-Card Stud or Stud 8/b, there are multiple ways to make your hand. As an example, you may start with [10 J] K only to be discouraged because four other clubs are up to your opponents. However, there are other options. You can make a straight, trips, two pair – all of which may turn out to be winning hands. In Razz, there’s only one way to win a showdown: you have to get low. Which upcards are seen on 3rd Street is often the determining factor between playing a hand or not.

If you’re dealt three cards of 8 or lower, there is a 40.9% chance of completing your hand with two more low cards out of the four to come, assuming no other cards are known. 40.9% is the baseline probability of making a hand.

Now, let’s take a great starting hand, but put lots of other small upcards in play. Let’s say you’re dealt [24]5. You only need two more of the four Aces, 3s, 6s, 7s or 8s in the deck to make an excellent hand. But if there is one of each of those cards up to your opponents, your chance of making an 8-low drops to 28.5%, over 12% less than our baseline. A good hand can transform into one to approach with caution.

Conversely, with the right upcards, mediocre hands become playable. Let’s look at [57]8, a hand that is borderline in most circumstances. If all the upcards are all high, or match your 5, 7 or 8, now you have a 50.7% chance, almost 10% better than the baseline.

Rule #3: Don’t open-limp the bring-in

In Razz, the high upcard is forced to make an initial bring-in bet, usually twice the ante. Each player subsequently has the option to just call the bring-in, or complete the opening bet. As an example, in a $5/$10 Razz game, the ante is $1, the bring-in is $1.50 or $2, and the full bet on 3rd and 4th Streets is $5. There will be the temptation to just call this smaller bet rather than completing, especially with mediocre 8s or good 9s. In straightforward Razz games, limping is almost always chip spew. If you want to limp in to disguise the strength of your starting hand, such as [A2]5 (and you’re representing something like [87]5), that’s a good spot to vary your play. But as a general rule of Razz…

Rule #4: If you have the best hand, bet it out

You need to reduce the value for anyone else to play the hand cheap…one example of why lies in my last rule.

Rule #5: Crime pays

This rule applies especially well to ultra-nit opponents who don’t understand the odds of making a hand with three good and one bad card. Let’s say there’s one limper showing an 8, the bring-in has a Q, and you are last to act with a decent upcard, like a 7. Your down cards are irrelevant; they can be KK. You’re getting 6:1 on your money to limp in, specifically to bluff when you get a 6 or better than 4th Street, and your opponent gets 9 or worse. The odds of this happening are about 4.5:1. When it does, your opponent will now be afraid of being two cards behind in the hand, and a 4th Street bet will win you the pot every time.

This steal is one of the strongest, most predictable expected-value plays in any form of poker. The best Razz player in the world, Huck Seed, has used it to win two bracelets in the last eight years. You too can count on it, and the other basic rules, to improve your Razz play.

Appendix A: The math I did

Calculation #1: % that you catch two low with any four cards to come
# of low cards left = 20
Possibilities of two low without pairing = 20 * 16 / 2 = 160
Possibilities of two other low and any two other cards = 160 * 47 * 46 = 345920
Six combinations of that = 345920 * 6 = 2075520
Total card possibilities = 49 * 48 * 47 * 46 = 5085024
Odds = 40.82%

Calculation #2: % that you catch two low with 5 low cards gone
# of low cards left = 15
Possibilities of two low without pairing = 15 * 12 / 2 = 90
Possibilities of two other low and any two other cards = 90 * 42 * 41 = 154980
Six combinations of that = 154980 * 6 = 929880
Total card possibilities = 44 * 43 * 42 * 41 = 3258024
Odds = 28.54%

Calculation #3: % that you catch two low with 5 high or matching cards gone
# of low cards left = 20
Possibilities of two low without pairing = 20 * 16 / 2 = 160
Possibilities of two other low and any two other cards = 160 * 42 * 41 = 275520
Six combinations of that = 275520 * 6 = 1653120
Total card possibilities = 44 * 43 * 42 * 41 = 3258024
Odds = 50.74%

Calculation #4: Your 4th street is 6 or lower; his is 9 or higher
Assumed # of low cards left = 22
Possibility of you catching good = 22 / 46 = 47.8%
Assumed # of bad cards left = 17
Possibility of him catching bad = 17 / 45 = 37.8%
Possibility of both = 47.8% * 37.8% = 18.1%