How to Play Razz Poker

The lowball version of Seven-Card Stud — rules, hand rankings, and strategy for the game where A-2-3-4-5 is the nuts.

Razz Poker at a Glance
🃏 Type: 7-Card Stud Lowball
👥 Players: 2–8
🏆 Best hand: A-2-3-4-5 (the wheel)
🔑 Straights and flushes don't count against you
🔄 5 betting rounds, no community cards

Razz is the lowball variant of Seven Card Stud. It appears in high-stakes mixed games, select WSOP events, and is available as a standalone cash game on some online poker sites. The lowest five-card hand wins, straights and flushes are ignored, and aces always play low.

Razz Hand Rankings

The best possible Razz hand is A-2-3-4-5, called “the wheel.” Straights and flushes do not count against you. To compare two Razz hands, read each hand backward as a 5-digit number: the lowest number wins.

Here are four example hands ranked from best to worst:

  • A, 2, 3, 4, 5 (54321 — the wheel, best possible)
  • A, 3, 4, 5, 7 (75431)
  • 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 (85432)
  • A, 2, 3, 4, 9 (94321 — a 9-high hand, worst of these four)

How a Razz Hand Plays Out

1
Ante Up
Every player posts an ante before the deal.
2
Third Street (The Deal)
Each player receives two cards face down and one card face up (the "door card"). The player showing the highest door card must open the betting with the "bring-in." If two players tie, the suit breaks it (spades highest, then hearts, diamonds, clubs).
3
Fourth Street
A second card is dealt face up to each player. From this round onward, the player showing the best low hand acts first and may check or bet.
4
Fifth Street
A third face-up card is dealt. In limit games, the betting limit increases to the upper tier from this round forward (e.g., $10 instead of $5 in a $5/$10 game).
5
Sixth Street
A fourth face-up card is dealt, followed by another betting round at the higher limit.
6
Seventh Street (The River)
A final card is dealt face down to each remaining player. The last betting round occurs.
7
Showdown
Players make their best five-card low hand from their seven cards. The lowest hand wins the pot.

Essential Razz Strategy

Track Every Exposed Card

The single most important skill in Razz is paying attention to every card dealt face up, including cards of players who have already folded. Since each player ultimately shows four of their seven cards, an enormous amount of information is available if you are tracking it.

Example: Counting Outs on Sixth Street

You hold A, 3, 4, 7, Q, Q and need to dodge pairing to make a 7-high hand. You potentially have 12 outs (the remaining 2s, 5s, and 6s). But if three of those cards were already dealt face-up and folded earlier, you only have 9 outs. That difference fundamentally changes whether calling is profitable.

Starting Hand Guidelines

✅ Play three cards 8 or lower with no pairs (e.g., A-3-5, 2-4-7)
✅ Three cards 5 or lower is a premium starting hand worth raising
⭐ Steal aggressively when your door card is lower than all opponents' up cards
❌ Fold any starting hand with a pair or two cards 9 or higher
ℹ️ Check opponents' folded up cards before deciding. If all the low cards you need are dead, a marginal hand becomes unplayable

Tilt Management Is Critical in Razz

Razz has a well-deserved reputation as one of poker’s most frustrating games. Starting with three perfect low cards and then catching paint (face cards) on every subsequent street is a routine occurrence, not a rare one.

Why Razz Tilts So Many Players

In Hold’em, a bad beat means you had the best hand and lost. In Razz, you can watch your hand slowly deteriorate over four streets of catching bricks. A beautiful A-2-3 starting hand can become A-2-3-J-Q-K with nothing to show for it. Players who cannot handle this variance will bleed money by playing emotionally after bad runouts.

Use Pot Odds to Stay Rational

The antidote to tilt is understanding the math. If the pot is $200, you need to call $20, and you have a 33% chance of completing your hand, that call is profitable even though you will lose 67 out of 100 times. Over those 100 trials, you lose $1,340 (67 x $20) but win $6,600 (33 x $200). The net profit of $5,260 over 100 such decisions is why correct play requires ignoring short-term results.

Your job is to put yourself in mathematically profitable spots as often as possible. The results take care of themselves over time. Players who internalize this will profit from the many Razz opponents who tilt easily and start making emotional decisions.