Razz Poker Starting Hands

The object of Razz poker is to make the worst possible hand.  Flushes and straights don't count (they don't hurt you) and aces are considered low except when used as a pair.

Hand Rankings
5432A
6432A
6532A
6542A
6543A
65432
7432A
7543A
7542A
7532A
7642A
7643A
76432
7652A
7653A
76532
7654A
76542
76543
8432A
8543A
8542A
8532A
8642A
8643A
86432
8652A
8653A
86532
8654A
86542
86543

Razz Poker Strategy

The up cards will determine the strength of your hand, you can play more hands when your opponents have big up cards.
    Players should automatically steal the antes, when they have the only low card on the board.
    Keep track of low cards already in play to determine if you have the best hand.  Raise your strong 3 card hand to increase the pot and knock out weaker hands, this can also decrease the bets when the 4th card shows up and you missed your card.
    Try to avoid trapping (giving free cards can be costly) unless you have a extremely strong hand or just want to throw off your competition for later hands.
    In Razz poker it is sometimes hard to figure out who is the favorite and who is the underdog.  Many times a made hand is a underdog to a drawing hand with 2 cards to go, but it is a complete reverse with one card to go.
    Deception is key in Razz poker, don't let players know what you are holding.  When making a hidden low pair, it pays sometimes to bet out your hand if your opponent hit a high card.
    Always raise your opponents when there is no way for them to outdraw you.

For the rules for Razz Poker, check out our Razz Poker rules.