Razz

Overview

Razz (also called Seven-Card Stud Low) is Seven-Card Stud played as a lowball game. The lowest hand wins the pot. Straights and flushes don't count against you in Razz — they simply don't exist.

Razz is one of the most skill-intensive games in poker. Reading exposed opponent cards (dead cards) is critical to knowing your actual odds of improving. For more Razz variants and the full game database, visit Poker Game Database.

The Deal

Identical to Seven-Card Stud:

• Two cards face-down, one card face-up ("door card")
• Then one face-up card each on Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Street
• Seventh Street (the river): one card face-down

Low Hand Rankings

In Razz, aces are always low. The best possible hand is A-2-3-4-5 (the Wheel). To compare two low hands, read them from highest card to lowest — the hand with the lower top card wins:

• Best: A-2-3-4-5 (five-low, "the Wheel")
• A-2-3-4-6 (six-low)
• A-2-3-5-6 (six-low, weaker)
• A-2-3-4-7 (seven-low)
• Continue upward — higher top card is worse
• Worst: K-K-K-K-A (four Kings — a disaster)

Third Street — Bring-In

The player with the highest door card is forced to bring in (post a forced partial bet). This is the opposite of Seven-Card Stud, where the lowest card brings in. If two players have the same rank door card, suits break the tie (spades > hearts > diamonds > clubs).

Fourth Through Seventh Street

From Fourth Street on, the player with the lowest visible hand acts first each round.

Strategy Tips

• Start with three low cards (A-2-3, A-3-4, 2-3-4, etc.) — anything else is a difficult starting hand.
• Aces are extremely valuable. A starting hand with an Ace is much stronger than one without.
• Pairs hurt you — you want five completely different ranks.
• Watch your opponents' exposed (door) cards. If the low cards you need are already out ("dead"), your hand loses much of its value.
• If your upcards are high cards (8-9-10-K), you're probably drawing dead — fold early and save chips.