Most recently, we talked about such a form of poker as stud. It is important to remember this in order to understand the essence of the next type of game – razz. So, stud is poker with seven pocket cards, three of which are not visible to opponents. At the showdown, five cards are used to make classic poker combinations, just like in Hold’em.
What then is Razz?
Razz is a type of 7 Card Stud where the lowest hand wins.
Razz has several features:
- Ace is considered the weakest
- Straights and flushes do not count.
Thus, the strongest hand in razz is the “wheel” (A-2-3-4-5).
Unlike Hold’em, there are no community cards on the table – all cards are pocket cards, but some of them are dealt face up and visible to other players. For the final combination, each player chooses the most suitable 5 out of 7 pocket cards – the winner is the one whose highest card is lower than the opponent’s highest card
The history of the appearance of the game
The origin of this game is closely connected with the history of the United States. The game we call “Razz” today was formerly known as “7 Card Stud Low”. An entertainment with this name appeared during the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865. The first fans of Razz were soldiers from the south, and it was they who later transferred this game to civilian life. The rules of Razz Poker turned out to be reworked on the basis of the lowball rules of the classic Stud, where the weakest hand by the standards of classic poker wins. This game has become one of the few that have gained popularity in Europe: in the UK it even has its own version – London Lowball. The rules of Razz poker in Britain differ from the classic ones in that they take into account flushes and straights, but consider them to be weak hands.
