Razz

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card order and hand ranking
3. Betting in short
4. Setup
5. A deal, step by step
6. Running out of cards
7. All-in and side pots
8. Winning the game
9. Tips for beginners
10. Variants

Overview

Razz is Seven-Card Stud played for low: the lowest hand wins the pot. Each player gets seven cards of their own over the course of a deal – three face down and four face up for everyone to see – and there are five betting rounds, in which players put chips into a shared pot – or give up. The pot goes to the last player left in, or to whoever makes the lowest five-card hand out of their seven cards at the end. Aces are low, and straights and flushes don't count, so the best possible hand is 5-4-3-2-A.

• Players: 2–8, each for themselves; best with 5–7.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and chips (or counters, matches, buttons) – the same amount for everyone at the start, e.g. 200 each. You play for chips, not money.

Card order and hand ranking

In Razz, cards rank from low to high A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K – the Ace is always the lowest card. Suits don't matter for the hand, and straights and flushes are ignored: 5♥ 4♥ 3♥ 2♥ A♥ is simply the best low hand.

At the end you make the lowest hand of exactly five cards out of your seven. From best to worst:

How to compare: any hand with no pair beats any hand with a pair. Between two hands without a pair, look at the highest card first: the lower one wins. If those are equal, compare the next-highest card, and so on. So 8-5-4-3-2 beats 8-6-3-2-A (5 is lower than 6), and 7-6-5-4-3 beats 8-4-3-2-A (7 is lower than 8), even though the second hand has smaller cards otherwise. If both have a pair, the lower pair wins. If all five cards are equal in rank, the hands tie and share the pot.

Betting in short

All chips bet go into the pot in the middle. Before each deal, every player puts a small ante – a fixed stake – into the pot. When it is your turn in a betting round, you can:

• Check – bet nothing, if nobody has bet yet in this round.
• Bet – put in chips.
• Call – put in just enough to match the highest bet so far.
• Raise – match the highest bet and add more.
• Fold – give up: turn all your cards face down and put them away. You lose what you have already put in and take no further part in this deal.

A betting round ends when everyone still in has put in the same amount (or is all-in) and has had a chance to act.

Razz is played with fixed limits: every bet and raise is exactly a small bet in the first two rounds and a big bet (double) in the last three. At most one bet and three raises are allowed per round. A good start: ante 1, bring-in 2 (see below), small bet 5, big bet 10.

Setup

1. Everyone gets the same number of chips. Pick a first dealer (e.g. highest card cut); the deal passes to the left after each hand.
2. Everyone puts their ante into the pot.
3. The dealer shuffles and deals, one at a time clockwise starting on the left, two cards face down and then one card face up to each player. The face-down cards are your hole cards – look at them, but show them to no one. The face-up card is your upcard.

A deal, step by step

Each stage of the deal is called a street, named after the number of cards each player then holds.

1. Third street: the player with the highest upcard (a King is highest, an Ace lowest) must start with a forced bet, the bring-in (2 chips). If two or more players show the same highest rank, the suit decides: ♠ is highest, then ♥, ♦, ♣. Instead of the bring-in, that player may make a full small bet (5). Play then goes clockwise: each player may fold, call the bring-in, or complete it to a full small bet; once it is completed, later players may raise.

2. Fourth street: everyone still in gets another card face up. Second betting round. From now on, the player whose upcards make the lowest hand showing starts (a pair showing counts as bad). If two are equal, the one nearer the dealer's left starts. The first player may check. Bets are still small bets – an open pair changes nothing.

3. Fifth street: another card face up for each. Third betting round – from now on, big bets.

4. Sixth street: another card face up. Fourth betting round.

5. Seventh street (the river): a last card face down. Fifth and last betting round.

6. Showdown: if two or more players are still in, they turn all their cards face up – the player who made the last bet or raise shows first; if everyone checked, the player who started the last betting round (the lowest hand showing) shows first. Each makes the lowest five-card hand from their seven cards. The lowest hand wins the pot; equal hands share it.

If at any time all but one player fold, the remaining player wins the pot at once without showing any cards.

Example: Four players ante 1 (pot 4). Upcards: Anna 3♠, Ben K♦, Carla K♣, Dan 7♥. Two Kings are highest; ♦ ranks above ♣, so Ben brings in 2. Carla folds, Dan completes to 5, Anna calls 5, Ben folds: pot 16. On fourth street Anna gets 6♥ (showing 6-3) and Dan 2♣ (showing 7-2): 6 is lower than 7, so Anna acts first. At the showdown Anna holds A♦ 3♠ 6♥ 8♣ 9♠ 9♦ Q♣ – her best hand is 9-8-6-3-A. Dan holds 2♣ 4♦ 7♥ 7♠ 8♦ 10♥ K♠ – his best is 10-8-7-4-2. Anna's 9 is lower than Dan's 10: she wins.

Running out of cards

With eight players, the deck may not have enough cards for seventh street if nobody has folded. Then the dealer turns one card face up in the middle as a common card: it counts as everyone's seventh card.

All-in and side pots

If you want to call but don't have enough chips, you go all-in: you put in all your remaining chips and stay in until the showdown without betting further. You can only win as much from each opponent as you put in yourself. Whatever the others bet beyond your amount goes into a separate side pot, which only they can win. Anyone who has no chips left is out of the game.

Winning the game

Play until only one player has chips left, or stop at an agreed time – then the player with the most chips wins.

Tips for beginners

• Start with three different cards of 8 or lower – the lower, the better. Three cards of 5 or lower are excellent.
• A King or Queen among your first three cards is usually a reason to fold.
• Watch the upcards: if the small cards you need are showing in other hands, your chances drop. High cards in your opponents' hands are good news.
• A pair early on is not fatal – you still have several cards to come – but don't pay much to find out.
• Don't call just because you have already put chips in. Chips in the pot are no longer yours.

Variants

All optional – agree beforehand.

• Home-game style: no bring-in; instead a larger ante, and the lowest hand showing starts every betting round, including the first (it may check).
• Seven-Card Stud: the same deal played for high – see Seven-Card Stud.
• Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo (eight or better): the pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand, if a low hand has five different cards of 8 or lower.
• Ace-to-six low: straights and flushes count against you (as bad as in normal poker), Aces stay low; the best hand is then 6-4-3-2-A.