How to play Razz Poker

The card game razz is an interesting variation of poker If you do not know how to play razz poker
dont worry. The razz poker rules are fairly simple and straight forward. its a far less complex game than texas holdem and you will start to pick up the basics within hours. Many online cardrooms such as full tilt offer this poker variation and is is becoming very popular.
The Razz poker setup is fairly similar to the game of Seven Card Stud although it is much easier to understand. The difference between the two is that in Razz Poker
you are trying to get the lowest possible 5 card low hand
as opposed to the high hand you would be trying to get in Stud. Assuming the players remain to the showdown
they will receive three cards face down (their first two cards and their final card) and four cards that will be face up for the other razz players to view. Aces are always low in Razz
and straights and flushes do not count
nor do paired cards. Hence
the best possible hand in Razz is called a wheel
which is a straight comprised of A-2-3-4-5.
The hand will start with an ante
which is usually about 1/5 of a small bet. So if you are playing 50c/$1 Razz Game
the ante will be 10c. Each player is then dealt three cards
the first two of which come face down and the third coming face up. After the deal
the player with the highest card must post what is called a buy in
which means he has to place the low-limit bet size into the pot. In our example of 50c/$1 Razz Game
the buy in would be 50c. If two people share the same rank of card
then the player closest to the left hand of the dealer has to post the buy in.
Once the buy in is posted into the pot
all players have the option to fold or cover the buy in
or push in a raise. Razz is generall played as a limit game
so amount that can actually be raised is limited to double the buy in. When the first round of betting is finished
all players who remain in the hand will collect a fourth card which will also be placed face up. The betting continues as in the previous round using the same betting increments.
Once the betting is complete a fifth card is shown
again face up. Now the betting size is increased to $1. This is usually when the card game razz gets more interesting
where the hands start to develop or fail to in some cases. This is where the bluffing and risk taking comes into full swing. All players remaining after this betting round will collect their sixth card
which is the final card to come face up. Another round of betting will continue in the same manner.
Finally the last card to comple the hands will be dealt. This time it is dealt face down. This will complete your razz poker hand. The final round of betting continues through to a showdown if their are more than one player left in the razz pot. The final person to bet will be the first person to show his or her hand and this continues clockwise.
So that in a nutshet is how to play razz. I must state that although the card game Razz seems fairly simple to pick up. Yes
the razz poker rules are
but once you get deeper into the game and want you want to know how to play razz poker with some of the high stakes players you will need to sharpen up on your observations of other players and their betting patterns. I suppose in a way it is no different from any other form of poker.