Playing poker's RAZZ you'll always come out a winner when you're the loser!
WORST HAND WINS! The more I study and play “Razz” the more enjoyable I find it. As a variation of Seven Card Stud it’s easy to see how it became invented. Some guy who was always getting a low hand decided to turn the tables on the rest of us. By making the lowest hand the winning hand the inventor sought to transform his luck and turned poker on its head. In Razz, or “Razzle Dazzle” to give it its full logo, Ace-Two-Three-Four-Five is the best hand you can form. This hand is commonly referred to as “the bicycle”. Aces always count low in Razz. A majority of traditional Stud players initially weren’t too pleased with what they considered to be a gimmicky version of their favourite card game. However, with the massive rise in the popularity of H.O.R.S.E ( Hold’em-Omaha-Razz-Stud and Stud-Eight-or-Better) it has been reluctantly adopted and gradually made itself a firm favourite. In fact its popularity has resulted in almost all of the major poker sites now featuring Razz among their games of choice.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS I get a lot of questions about “poker terms” so today we’ll dedicate the Q and A to identifying some of the less common.
Q: What does the term “bring-in” mean? A: This is a forced bet made during the first round of betting by the player who is dealt the lowest card showing in Seven Card Stud and Stud-Eight-or-Better. In Razz (also known as Low-ball) it applies to the highest card showing.
Q: What do players mean when they talk about a “counterfeit” situation in Texas Hold’em? A: Let’s suppose you have an Eight and a Seven as hole cards and the flop delivers Nine-Ten-Jack, presenting you with a very welcome straight. However, the turn card then delivers another Eight. This in effect has “counterfeited” your hand, considerably reducing its value.
Q: What does it mean to “complete the bet”? A: This is not as obvious as it sounds. It in fact means to increase an all-in bet or forced bet to a full bet in limit poker.
Q: What is a “Kojack”? A: It’s the popular slang amongst experienced players for King-Jack.
Q: What are “proposing bets”? A: These are side bets made between players that are not related to the outcome of the hand they are playing
WATCH OUT FOR “GRIFTERS” Q: What does “pegging” mean. A: It’s poker’s answer to ball tampering. It’s a conman’s technique for marking a card with his fingernail. Usually subtle and difficult to spot. These guys are known in poker parlance as “Grifters”. Obviously not a problem for online play.
