We're Starting with Razz
The tournament staff has announced that the game kicking off the rotation is Razz. We're off to see who is in the field, so while you wait be sure to familiarize yourself with the rules for Razz:
Razz, played between two and eight players, is essentially Seven Card Stud low. The objective of Razz is make your lowest five-card hand using any combination of the seven cards you are dealt. Unlike Texas Hold’em and Omaha, Razz is a forced-bet game that features antes instead of blinds. Every player must ante up before the hand begins. The ante does not count towards any future bets.
Every player is dealt a total of seven cards over the course of a hand beginning with two hole cards and one up card. A round of betting occurs and then three more cards are placed face up, each followed by a round of betting. The seventh and final card is then dealt facedown to each player, giving him or her three down cards. A final round of betting ensues.
The Ranking of Hands—Razz uses the same ranking system as Ace-to-Five Triple Draw, meaning straight and flushes do not count and aces are always low. That means the best possible hand in Razz is a wheel (A-2-3-4-5). A hand like 6-5-4-3-2 is known as a “Six-Low” because its highest card is a six, while a hand like 8-6-5-4-3 is known as an “Eight-Low”. Hands often take it one card further and would call it an “Eighty Six”.
Here are ten sample Razz hands ranked from best to worst:
(best possible hand)
(second-best possible hand)
