Free Razz Poker Games

Razz is a low variation of Seven Card Stud. It is played for low instead of high. Straights and flushes are ignored, so the best possible hand is A 2 3 4 5. Players are dealt seven cards throughout the course of the hand, but only five-card hand for each player is used to determine the winner. There are five betting rounds in Razz. Razz is a simple game, and it's easy to play, but it's deceptively difficult to master (much like other forms of poker). Some professional poker players refer to Razz as the "hated game", because it can be very frustrating.

In Razz there is no dealer button with the cards dealt clockwise starting from the player sitting on the right of the dealer tray.

Before a game of Razz can begin, all players ante a nominal amount. This is the cost of being dealt into the hand. Each player is then dealt three cards, two hidden hole cards and one face up. In Razz, the player with the highest exposed card is the 'bring-in', and is forced to start the action. They must make another nominal bet (again, the exact size of the bring-in depends on the game) or, if they choose, a full bet in the lower betting increment. Action continues clockwise around the poker table until betting is complete for the round.

Each player now receives another exposed card, called 'Fourth Street'. The first player to act is the player with the strongest (lowest) exposed hand. By rule, this player may either check or bet. The amount will be a small bet (€2 in a €2/€4 game). There is a round of betting.

Each player now receives another exposed card. Again, the first person to act is the player whose exposed cards are lowest. There is a round of betting. Starting on Fifth Street and for the rest of the hand, all bets and raises are in big bet increments.

Each player now receives another exposed card. Again, the first person to act is the player whose exposed cards are the lowest. There is a round of betting.

Each player now receives a seventh and final card, which is dealt face-down and known only to the player to whom the card is dealt. As with earlier streets, the first person to act is the player whose exposed cards have the lowest poker value. There is a final betting round, and if more than one player remains, we reach the Showdown.

If there is more than one remaining player when the final betting round is complete, the last bettor or raiser shows his or her cards first. If there was no bet on the final round, the player in the earliest seat shows his or her cards first. Further hands involved in the Showdown are exposed clockwise around the table.

The player with the best five-card Ace to Five low hand wins the pot. Unlike Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo and Omaha Hi/Lo, there is no 'qualifier'; the best low hand wins the entire pot. After the pot is awarded to the best low hand, a new game of Razz is ready to be played.

If two or more hands have the same value, the pot is equally split among them. There is no precedence of suit for the purposes of awarding the pot.

• For the purposes of determining the bring-in in Razz, ties in card rank are broken by suit, with the order from highest to lowest being spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. The highest suit brings in, so if the Queen of hearts and Queen of diamonds are visible at the beginning of the hand, and a Queen is the highest card showing, then the Queen of hearts would have the bring-in. (Note, the ranking of equal hands at the Showdown is not determined by this rule.)
• If the player with the highest card showing on Third Street is all-in for the ante and they are consequently unable to make the required bring-in bet, the bring-in moves clockwise to the next player at the table, regardless of the value of that player's exposed card.
• Because Stud games are played with eight players but there are only 52 cards in the deck, it's possible to run out of cards before Seventh Street can be dealt. In this very rare instance, a single 'community card' will be dealt face-up on the table, which will be shared by all remaining players.