It seems that whenever a game is featured in the World Series of Poker, it gains quite a following and so it goes with Razz poker. It is becoming popular though not for just this reason, it also contains some very unusual and interesting play mechanics. Stripped down to its skivvies, Razz is the same as ace-low stud poker as the goal in each game is to obtain the lowest possible hand, a suited ace through five. HORSE includes it as one of its mixed game play components and Razz has been known to present some real challenges to the beginning player. This primer is intended to inform the new player of the nuts and bolts of Razz game play and to introduce them to the strategies to start them on the way to success.

The Workings of Razz

As stated earlier, Razz is akin to low-hand seven card stud and is played with a maximum of eight players with a limit betting structure. The game starts with a deal of three cards, two face up, one face down to each player followed by a betting round led by the player with the highest card. In a tie, the suit is the tie breaker. Another face-up card is dealt and the player with the lowest hand leads the next betting round. The rounds continue until each player is dealt the fifth card and from here on the bets are doubled. After the final card is dealt face down, the play commences with the player who led off the sixth round, if he hasn’t previously folded. If such is the case, the play begins with the second player in the sixth round, and on it goes.

The Best Razz Strategy

Ace, two, three unsuited is the lowest possible beginning hand in Razz, but good sense strategy will have players with low, single cards under ten staying through to the next round. Any hand comprised of single cards lower than seven is a very strong hand, indeed and playing it aggressively is good strategy if the opponents are showing very little. If your hand is seven high and your glance around the table picks up nothing under a ten, now is your chance to bet for value.

All players must closely observe the visible cards and recalculate their odds of obtaining a pair (a bad thing) or single cards (a good thing). It is not unusual for a player to take advantage of his table position to form a betting strategy when opponents are showing lower cards. A good strategy here would be to value bet even if you are drawing into the fourth round because you have a strong starting hand plus you may be drawing into an even lower one. The other players may be also drawing into lower hands and placing some profound bets, enhancing the pot for you.

In order to be successful at Razz, you must clearly comprehend its tactics and strategies. Know when to fold when your hand is a loser, don’t hang on in hopes of drawing to a low hand as your opponents will probably have a lower hand even before a draw. But do use your table position for all its worth to force your opponents to bet high so when you collect that pot it’s a humdinger.

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Playing a game of Royal Hold’em is not the exclusive right of the reigning monarchy. The game does have some features found in limit Texas Hold’em but its differences are greater than its similarities. The game involves a 20-card deck consisting solely of the kingly cards of ten, jack, queen, king and ace. You can see where it gets its name. The game is played with a maximum of six players owing to the shortened deck.

Royal Hold’em Play

Royal Hold’em is in the form of standard limit where two hole cards are dealt to each player whose objective is to create the best hand with five community cards. The hands are counted as in other poker types but there are no flushes other than the Royal one and your everyday pairs count for nothing. So, a Royal flush, four of a kind, full house, straights and two pairs are what the players draw to to assemble the most powerful hand.

The epitome of Royal Hold’em Strategy

Since there are no low cards, the high hands must be very strong to compete. A player is drawing to a serious starting hand in order to stay in the game let alone win the hand. The bare minimum a player should think about to remain in the game is ace-jack. The best hands are thought to be a pair of kings or aces, with queens and ace-king a close second. Ace-queen and a pair of jacks should be deemed as a so-so hand and the holder of this hand should only stay in the game if his position is good.

Now, lets move on to the position. Due to the high quality of the Royal Hold’em hands, the position become highly significant as you can consider that any player raising has a pair of kings or aces and from your catbird seat, you can zero in on the hands of the players who stay with the game. A player with a so-so hand should only play it if he is in good position or in the case of a small blind where there is no raise in advance. High ranking pairs are everywhere in this game and the odds of drawing into a three of a kind is higher than one in three considering the organization of the cards in the hand. Should another player be betting aggressively against your hand of a pair of aces, it is quite probable he is holding aces too or a pair of kings, and you can pinpoint without difficulty the kinds of hands the strong better is holding.

All players are looking to draw to three of a kind or in excess of that and hold the thought that you all have a set of 15 cards to draw from in which to build your hands (20 card deck minus two hole cards plus five community cards). This should make it clear to you that you always want to play your good hands with authority and forcefulness and to keep your pot odds in mind before you continue to bet and you can be assured that if any player is keeping up with your aggressive betting on the turn that he has a hand of three of a kind or better. Examine this scenario: You have in your hand two kings and the flop show up with an unsuited king-jack-ten which is only second to the ultimate hand of ace-queen. It is quite probable that you are in contention against ace-king or jack-jack. In this instance you must take heed of the number of outs possible to a full house or the odds that your opponent is holding a straight depending on the way he is betting and his position.

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Texas Hold’em has become in recent years the one most popular form of poker there is. Not coincidentally, it is a poker variant with straightforward, easy to learn rules. But, perhaps the single greatest factor leading to its popularity goes beyond the simplicity of learning the game to the extreme difficulty in mastering its convoluted, intricate strategies, which can take years to achieve, and then maybe not even then can one call themselves an expert. Consider this a basic introduction to the games fundamentals for the beginner to learn a little and the more advanced to learn a little more to ramp up their skill level.

Texas Hold’em Poker Configuration

A maximum of ten players can play the game and it begins by all of them drawing for the deal where the high card wins. There are many games, though, where the house specifies dealer, so this dealer draw is not always present. In any case, the dealer is known as the “button” and is last in the betting round to act. First up is the “small blind” who is the one next to the button and he starts by anteing half of the limit amount. Next comes the big blind followed by the other players. The button or last position is coveted because he has a clear observation of all the players raises and re-raises which gives him valuable information about his opponents’ hands.

The players are allowed to call, raise or fold on the ante bet to the extent of the limit in limit hold’em or through the roof in no-limit hold’em, unless the house puts a cap on re-raising limits of three per round, which is not uncommon. Also in no-limit the players can go all in which raises the bet to the limit of the player’s stash on hand. Pot-limit lets the players raise to the limit of the total cash in the pot.

Usually the player new to the game will start out with limit poker, then as he gains experience and expertise will move on to the no-limit games. Interestingly, should all players but one fold on a raise, that remaining player “wins blind” and takes the pot no matter what he is holding in his hand. Should this not be the case, the winner is the holder of the best 5-card hand assembled from his hole cards and the community cards. The rankings of the hands are as follows from highest to lowest: royal straight flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, and a pair and a high card.

The Play of the Game

A round of betting starts the game with a flop to show the table the community cards. Before the flop though, the players bet on only their hole cards. At this point, the players have the option to fold, call or raise to the limit the particular game allows. In any case, the strongest starter hand would be a pair of aces, while the weakest is an unsuited 2-7.

Now that the flop has taken place, the next betting round occurs with the players now able to see the community cards as well as their own hand. And, as mentioned previously, the small blind goes first. The ensuing round will reveal the fourth (turn) card and finally the fifth (river) card is dealt. Best hand of five-cards at showdown takes the pot, considering that more than one player remains in the game.

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