The R In H.O.R.S.E

This is a guest strategy post from playlowballpoker.com

Razz poker is the most popular lowball poker game, it’s certainly the most popular Lowball poker game in the online poker world. Razz is also the R in H.O.R.S.E which is the third game in the H.O.R.S.E rotation. It is also considered to be one of the toughest games to master out of all the H.O.R.S.E games. Players who are strong during the Razz round often do well at H.O.R.S.E because the general standard during the Razz poker round is so low.

H.O.R.S.E Poker

H.O.R.S.E has become one of, if not the, most popular mixed game rotations. Ever since the game was added to the World Series of Poker as a $50,000 event the game has exploded in popularity. The World Championship of H.O.R.S.E as the $50,000 event is called has been running since 2006 meaning there are currently only 4 winners:

2006 – Chip Reese
2007 – Freddy Deeb
2008 – Scotty Nguyen
2009 – David Bach

How To Play Razz

Razz is quite a simple game to learn and if you know how to play Seven Card Stud you should find it pretty easy to get to grips with. The game starts with all players posting an ante. The dealer then deals each player at the table 3 cards, two face down and one card face up. The player holding the highest card face up must then bring in the action. The player to the left of the bring in acts first. After the first betting round, which is known as 3rd street, players are dealt another card face up, known as 4th street. The player with the strongest hand on show now acts first. After 4th street players are dealt another card face up and again the player with the strongest hand is first to act. The same happens on 6th street until players reach 7th street where they are dealt a card face down. The strongest hand acts first, a betting round takes place which is followed by the showdown.

At showdown the best hand according to the A-5 lowball hand rankings system is the winner. This system states that the best possible holding is the wheel A-2-3-4-5. Straight and flushes are always ignored and aces are low cards only. The player with the lowest low hand is the winner. The player who bet last is always the first player to show their cards at showdown, player who remain to act can then much their hand if they wish.

Razz is a great game and it’s rise in popularity both on and offline mean it’s a stayer. It’s one of those games that’s easy to learn but difficult to master.