Did you ever wish your "bad" hands could make you money? Then Razz could be the game for you. Part lowball, part 7-card stud, the goal is to make the best five-card low hand from seven cards.
Each player starts with two hole cards and one upcard; there are then three more rounds of upcards, with betting after each card, and a final downcard, just as in stud. Each player ends up with seven cards: four face up and three face down.
The player holding the best low hand using any five of their cards wins the pot. Aces are always low, and flushes and straights have no effect on the value of a hand. Also, it's good to remember that drawing a pair will not hurt your hand. The best possible hand is A-2-3-4-5.
Each new hand begins with every player putting an ante into the pot. For example, in a 10/20 limit game, each player would ante two chips. The ante is not like a blind, and does not count toward any future bets.
In the first round, the betting starts with the player having the highest upcard. This is a forced bet, and the software will automatically put the specified minimum bet (called the bring-in) into the pot.
Each player can then fold, call the bring-in, or complete the bet (that is, raise to the lower limit). Once the bring-in bet has been completed, there is a limit of three reraises. All future rounds have a three raise limit.
The betting on fourth street always proceeds at the lower limit. Unlike 7-card stud, an open pair does not affect the betting limit. All bets and raises on fourth street will be increments of the low-limit bet. For example, if the low limit bet is 5, it can be raised to 10, and then reraised to 15. On fifth street, the bets start at the higher limit, and remain at that limit through the final round of betting.
After the last round of betting, the software will award the pot to the best low hand.
Information from Full Tilt Poker
