Razz Poker Strategy
March 18, 2009
4 Razz Poker Tips
Razz Poker is very different than most other poker games. The most notable difference is that in razz you are trying to get the lowest hand which is a distinct contrast to the most popular poker game texas hold’em. Razz is also much simpler and less complex than the other poker games and playing a very simple style can result in a lot of success. Here are four razz poker tips to help you turn a profit at the razz tables.
Tip #1 - Use the knowledge of the other players up cards.
In razz you can learn a lot about your relative hand strength by looking at your opponents up cards. By seeing 4 of the 7 cards your opponents are dealt you can determine what the best possible hand they could have is and bet accordingly. The up cards will also tell you which cards are already out of the deck and cannot be dealt to you. You can use this added knowledge to help calculate the odds of you making your hand and you can use these calculations to decide whether to call bets on the later streets. Also, in razz it is a good thing if another player has an up card that you have in your hand because you do not want to be dealt the same value of card twice as this will not help your hand.
Tip #2 – Steal antes when the opportunity presents itself.
In razz there are certain situations where stealing antes is a very good move. For example when you are to the right of the player who had to bring in for the round and the action has folded to you, you should definitely raise with any hand in the hopes of stealing the ante. Another smart time to try to steal the antes is when you have the lowest up card at the table and the majority of your opponents have very bad up cards. The chances are these players will not have a playable hand and will be think you are ahead because of your strong up card.
Tip #3 – Don’t slow play often.
Slow playing very rarely pays off in razz. The bets are so small that your opponent will likely call you with a decent hand anyways so you should bet and try to build the pot for the later rounds. Slow playing may be good when you have a very strong hand that is somewhat disguised by your up cards and your opponent has very good up cards. In this case you can be fairly certain that your opponent will bet, so you can slow play him and check raise him when he bets or on one of the later streets.
Tip #4 – Fold when you know you’ve lost.
Even though the bets are often small relative to the pot on the later streets in razz you should still fold when you know you’re behind. For example if you had 4 to a wheel but completely missed on the river and ended up with a poor hand you should fold when your opponent bets at you. If you know you’ve lost the hand it’s a lost cause to invest any more chips.
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