Razz at the Start

When playing any game the first thing you have to do is look at your cards and determine if they are playable or not. In Razz, a 7-card stud game, you are looking for a 5 card low hand with the best hand being A2345. That’s right, straights don’t count in Razz. Flushes don’t count either. So realistically, any 3 card combination with all cards being 7 or under can be seen as a playable hand. You may want to avoid the 765 hands but you can certainly see a flop with it. Any of the hands above are worth seeing a flop with and even calling raises pre-4th street is perfectly fine. After you get 3 cards to an 8 pre-flop y ou start running into marginal at best hands. Calling with an 8 is ok based on reads but you must be careful with it and because it is vulnerable to the chasers. It is better to play with an 8 if it is a down card because you can represent a strong hand but remember to proceed with caution. Most other hands are not playable in Razz. There are exceptions to these rules but that depends on chip counts and what your up card is compared to the up cards of your opponents.

This article is from Dusty over at The Poker Enthusiast… please go check his site out for articles like this and many others.

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