Chris "Fox" Wallace used to make his living playing high-stakes razz online, and today he's in the field looking to test his mettle against some of the best in the game. In this interview Wallace talks about the position of razz in the poker world and his strategy coming in.
2014 World Series of Poker
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
Eric Crain | 4,500 | |
Mohsin Charania | 4,500 | |
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Bill Chen | 4,500 | |
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Owais Ahmed | 4,500 | |
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Jonathan Duhamel | 4,500 | |
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David Bach | 4,500 | |
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Tony Cousineau | 4,500 | |
Bryan Micon | 4,500 | |
James Woods | 4,500 | |
Ted Forrest | 4,500 | |
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Sergei Fomenkov has gotten off to a hot start here in Event #7: $1,500 Seven-Card Razz, which included winning a pot off Jean "The Prince" Gaspard.
We picked up the action on fourth street when Gaspard bet and Fomenkov called, action that would repeat itself on every subsequent street.
Fomenkov: /
Gaspard: /
Fomenkov waited for Gaspard to reveal his nine-eight low, and then tabled his seven-six low to take down the pot.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
Sergei Fomenkov | 7,200 | |
Jean Gaspard |
2,575
-1,925
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-1,925 |
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It's weird playing razz and actually knowing the rules and stuff... Stud folding motion is back in solid form tho #razzamentsFollow @b_campanello45
Earlier today we told you the rules for razz, and now we thought we'd share some strategy information from the same article. Enjoy.
Starting Hands
There are not too many good combinations of starting hands. Low cards, between ace and five, are really good and comparable to hands like + in NL Hold'em. A-2-3 is obviously the best starting hand. With three cards between ace and five you can bet aggressively on third street. If your range increases, for example between ace and seven, you should already play a bit more carefully. Paired hands are usually auto-folds, and playing hands with a card above a nine is -EV in the long run.
It is also very important to pay attention to your up cards. If you hold A-2-7 with ace as your door card, you can easily raise. When holding a good hand, you usually get paid off the most if your higher cards are open. On the other hand, when holding a bad hand like A-K-Q for example, you can still pretend to have a good hand if your Ace is open.
The Up Cards of Your Opponents
Pay attention to the up cards in front of your opponents. If you have the lowest up card in front of you on third street, you know what to do. You have the best open hand and you can raise. You can even do this if your door card is a ten and that ten is the highest of your three cards. As long as it's the lowest door card at the table, you will always be holding the best hand.
You should also react to your opponents getting dealt high cards. If your opponent gets a queen and/or a king on fourth and fifth street, you can often pick up the pot by being aggressive and betting. If your own hole cards are bad, but your open cards are good, you can often pick up the pot with little resistance.
In addition to that you should watch out for opponents with open cards that have the same value as your cards, as this would reduce the chance of you pairing one of your cards on one of the following streets. The more cards you see of the same value, the better. On the other hand, you can also use this information to predict the strength of your opponents hand. If two of your opponents already have an ace as one of their up cards and you yourself have one as well, the chance is pretty low that another opponent will be holding the case ace. Don't only pay attention to the cards of players who are still in the hand, but also try and remember the cards of players who have already folded.
Antes
Razz is an ante game. This means that, before you get dealt any cards, you have to put money in the pot. The game is played with a maximum of eight players per table. If it then gets checked towards you, while the player directly left of you paid the bring-in (and therefore has the highest door card), you can try and steal the pot with antes and bring-in. The same counts if you have the lowest door card at the table. By playing aggressive and betting you can try and pick the pot up right then and there.
Draws
Especially when you start playing marginal hands you need to know when to fold. Chasing a ten-low draw is often not a very good idea. Especially at the lower limits players will often call and seldom fold, so chasing draws or trying to bluff a missed draw could end up being pretty expensive for you.
Last level we told you about two players who made an impact at the 1989 WSOP in Don Zewin and Frank Henderson. The two were back at it again in a recent hand we picked up on fourth street. That is where they both, along with Marco Johnson, put in 375 to see fifth.
Henderson: / /
Zewin: / /
Johnson: (x-x) / fold
Zewin put out a bet on fifth, both his opponents called, and then he checked sixth. That opened the door for Henderson to bet 150, Johnson folded, and Zewin called. Henderson bet in the dark, and just like the last time these two tangled, Zewin called in the dark.
Henderson showed he had a six-five low, which he didn't improve on seventh. Zewin showed a seven-six low, but could improve to a better six-five with a deuce on seventh. He squeezed it out, but it was a useless ace.
Despite losing to Henderson once again, Zewin is still sitting on a healthy stack.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
Frank Henderson |
7,400
2,200
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2,200 |
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Don Zewin |
5,500
1,650
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1,650 |
Marco Johnson |
2,375
-1,725
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-1,725 |
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Players are now on their first 15-minute break of the day.
Nível: 3
Limites: 100/200
Ante: 25
Last year David Bach finished runner-up in the $2,500 buy-in razz tournament to Bryan Campanello. In 2010, Frank Kassela had a stellar summer and finished with WSOP Player of the Year honors. Here in Event #7: $1,500 Seven-Card Razz the two just did battle.
After a player brought it in with a , Bach completed to 100 with an showing. Kassela responded by raising to 200 with a , the rest of the field folded, and Bach made the call.
Bach: (x-x) /
Kassela: (x-x) /
Bach ended up betting fourth street and Kassela called. Fifth street saw Kassela take the lead and he wasted little time in leading out for 200. Bach didn't look happy and slowly scooped up his cards before sending them to the dealer. It wasn't much of a hand, but it gave us a good excuse to update you on their respective chip counts.
Meanwhile, things didn't go Perry Friedman's way today as he found himself among the first eliminations.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
David Bach |
8,000
3,500
|
3,500 |
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Frank Kassela |
6,300
1,800
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1,800 |
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Perry Friedman | Eliminado | |
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Tony Cousineau started playing poker in 2000, and since then he has amassed 58 WSOP cashes for $708,106, though a gold bracelet has escaped him.
Thomas Muhlocker doesn't have a WSOP cash to his name, but he tore it up on Season 10 of the European Poker Tour and finished second on that tour's Player of the Year Race. Muhlocker has made the trip to Vegas and recently squared off against Cousineau in a friendly hand of razz.
After it was brought in, Cousineau completed with a showing only to have Muhlocker raise to 200 with a . Action folded back to Cousineau, he called, and it was off to fourth street. Cousineau actually took the lead and led out for 100, Muhlocker called, and then the lead and betting switched back on fifth.
Sixth saw the lead reverse again, and Cousineau bet 200, which Muhlocker called.
"Is a made ten ahead at this point?" Cousineau asked before checking and indicating that he would call a bet because he "can't be bluffed."
Muhlocker smiled and then checked behind.
Cousineau: / /
Muhlocker: (x-x) / /
"I had nines in the hole and caught the four," Cousineau said in reference to making a ten-nine low. It was good as his Austrian opponent folded.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
Tony Cousineau |
5,800
1,300
|
1,300 |
Thomas Muhlocker
|
5,600 |