Razz

I wanted to see how everybody felt about Razz. I've played a lot of freerolls on Pokerstars and found a lot of player don't know what they're doing. Currently I'm sitting 13 out of 219 (started with 4656). I'm going for a ticket to the $2,000 freeroll this coming weekend.

Hey, I just busted out of a stars razz freeroll in 227th place, BOOOO. LOL. I actually like this game. You would be surprised how well you could do if you just stay away from pairs and paint and play pretty straight forward poker from there.

Hambone8705 said:

Hey, I just busted out of a stars razz freeroll in 227th place, BOOOO. LOL. I actually like this game. You would be surprised how well you could do if you just stay away from pairs and paint and play pretty straight forward poker from there.

Click to expand...

obviously stay away if you have pairs...as for paint...has nothing to do with the strength or weakness of ur hand...this isnt badugi.

I love stud hi-lo but can't figure out razz for the life of me. If Lowball is different, it might be more to my taste.

Retouraupasse

Im glad you discovered Razz it really is a great game that rewards good play (on most occasions). Being a limit game, rarely will you lose whole buyin unless its your fault.

theres a lot of razz strategy on the forum (do a search), just remember to play tight starting hands and try and have a smoother draw than your opponent.

I love to hate razz. Or I hate to love it. Or something. Haven't had much chance to play it lately, unfortunately.

Anywho, you'll probably find it seems easy now when you're playing against freerollers who don't know the rules. And while there are certainly still fish in the real money games, it gets a lot harder when people start putting up their own money.

best way to get delt face cards, big pairs, and sets..........play razz

I like Razz. There is a lot of bluffing. When playing freerolls I play any three less than eight. Some people are absolutely horrible at it. They will bet and reraise even though you would have had to have a set starting off for them to beat you.

its a very straight forward game, play what you got and what the other guy is showing.
you need a bit of luck in the last few cards but if your good at it, you should be able to make money.
the only down side in my mind is that there arent many RAZZ tables, thus the players in them are players who are most likely experienced in the game and good players.

ballboy75 said:

its a very straight forward game, play what you got and what the other guy is showing.
you need a bit of luck in the last few cards but if your good at it, you should be able to make money.
the only down side in my mind is that there arent many RAZZ tables, thus the players in them are players who are most likely experienced in the game and good players.

Click to expand...

I absolutely agree with this...I play a very conservative RAZZ game, and have read up alot on it...but there are very very good players at the razz tables on FT...especially during the day...if your learning the game play at night when there are more inexperienced players.

soncheebs said:

I absolutely agree with this...I play a very conservative RAZZ game, and have read up alot on it...but there are very very good players at the razz tables on FT...especially during the day...if your learning the game play at night when there are more inexperienced players.

Click to expand...

I found a lot of players who are just playing whatever they have during the day. But that's at the lowest level.

Just as a little follow up. The freeroll I ended up getting knocked by making some dumb moves then getting beat 7643A to 7632A. It was a freeroll so it was alright. Then last night I played a $5 + $.50 buy-in tourny. It was pretty late so there were only 24 people but I did finish 2nd for $36. That has been my biggest pay since starting up on Pokerstars and had a great time. It took 4 hours but it was fun. The heads up did suck though. Literally had a K Q or J every hand, always showing. So even though I was ahead to start, it quickly died away.

I like RAZZ. I like playing it by itself and I like playing it in HORSE. It's a nice change from Hold'em.

Hambone8705 said:

You would be surprised how well you could do if you just stay away from pairs and paint and play pretty straight forward poker from there.

Click to expand...

This is incomplete advice, but for anyone that has never played the game before (or only plays it as part of HORSE), then it's at least a starting point. But there is so much more to razz.

soncheebs said:

as for paint...has nothing to do with the strength or weakness of ur hand

Click to expand...

Um, what? Paint definitely defines the strength of your hand. If you end up with A234KKK, guess what, you'd lose to a hand holding QQJJT98. So saying paint doesn't matter is 100% wrong.

Igeso said:

I like razz actually, cause it isn't hard to play, and, it's the game of luck , not as Hold'em or Omaha

Click to expand...

This is just lol-tastic....spoken exactly as you'd expect from someone with absolutely no clue how to play the game and no understanding of the odds or strategy of the game. It's the odds and strategy that are completely unlike hold'er or omaha.

Razz freerolls are not indicitive of real money razz games and serve no purpose beyond: 1) letting you learn the basics and flow of the game at no cost, and 2) giving you a chance to win a ticket to another game or a small cashout.

There is actual real strategy available out there too. There are a ton of people that have complete misconceptions about the complexity of the game and amount of luck, etc. You can best those people just by putting in a small amount of effort to learn some. It won't take much to do ok in real cash games. If you really buckle down and study the game then you can really pick up a huge advantage of the clueless ones out there.

Jack,

Any books, videos or online strategy guides you would recommend for Razz.

Sklansky on Poker has a huge dedicated Razz section and is a must read.

Avoid "Play Razz Poker to Win" by Mitchell Cogert like the plague until you are a solid, consistent, winning player. After you're a solid, consistent, winning player, then you can read this one because then you'll be able to decipher which of his advice is actually good and bad....there's more bad than you'd expect and not knowing that can screw up new players.

Think soncheebs thought paint meant suited cards rather than facecards.

D'wilius said:

Think soncheebs thought paint meant suited cards rather than facecards.

Click to expand...

Could be. I guess it is clearer now.

I playing in one now on PS. It is hard on the head!