Tournament Strategies
After receiving pocket cards, you are immediately faced with a choice: play your cards and either raise or call the blinds, or fold.
Practice Matters
59. Razz, Las Vegas Low Seven Card Stud
59. Razz, Las Vegas Low Seven Card Stud Razz, one of the popular forms of Poker played in Nevada Poker rooms and in club games west of the Mississippi River, is far superior to the low five-card form of Stud Poker because each player is dealt seven cards and uses the best five of seven to form his hand. Razz is played in the same manner as Seven Card Stud High with two basic exceptions. First, the winning hand is the one which would be the lowest (worst) ranking hand in a game of Seven Card Stud High. Second, straights and flushes don't count and are eliminated from consideration. Aces count only as low. This game is played on the ace-to-five scale, where a 5-4-3-2-A is the best hand—no hand can be better. It is called a "wheel" or "bicycle."
In Razz, as in other forms of Poker, suits have no relative value, and if
In Razz, as in other forms of Poker, suits have no relative value, and if two players have the same valued hands they split the pot. For the twenty best-ranking hands in this game, see California Low-ball Ace to Five, page 132. Next in ranking come the pairs—the lower the pair the better the hand. If both players have identical pairs, then the highest-ranked odd card is lowest of the remaining cards. On the showdown, the best five-card low hand out of seven is the best hand and wins the pot.