poker · International (US casino & home-game tradition)
Razz Poker
Also known as Razz · Seven-Card Stud Low · Seven-Card Stud Lowball · Stud Low · Lowball Stud
Razz is the classic lowball form of seven-card stud, where the whole goal is reversed: the LOWEST five-card hand wins the pot, and the unbeatable hand is the wheel, A-2-3-4-5. There are no community cards and no flop, turn or river — each player is dealt their own seven cards over five betting rounds (three down, four up), straights and flushes don't count against you, and the ace is always low. Razz is part of the H.O.R.S.E. mixed-game rotation and a staple of the World Series of Poker. Honest note: our portal runs a community-card, high-hand poker engine (the Dealer's Poker table), so it doesn't natively deal seven-card stud or score the low. This page teaches you Razz accurately, and you can jump into a free, no-signup poker table against friends and bots to practise reading hands and betting — just know our live table plays standard high-hand community poker, not the stud-lowball deal described below.
2–8 players · free · no download · no signup
How to play Razz Poker
- Post your ante; each player is dealt 2 cards face down and 1 face up (third street).
- The player showing the HIGHEST up-card pays the bring-in — high cards are bad in Razz.
- Aim for the LOWEST hand: aces are low, straights and flushes don't count, and 5-4-3-2-A (the wheel) is the nuts.
- Take a face-up card on fourth, fifth and sixth street, with the best low board acting first each round.
- On fifth street and later, the bet size doubles to the big limit; fold whenever your low is clearly beaten on board.
- Receive your seventh card face down (the river), then bet the final round.
- At showdown make your best five-card low from your seven cards — the lowest hand wins the pot.
- Note: our live table plays high-hand community poker, so use it to practise betting and reading opponents.
Razz Poker rules
Objective
Razz is seven-card stud played for low. The aim is to make the LOWEST five-card hand out of your seven cards — the opposite of normal poker. There are no community cards: every player builds their own hand. Razz uses ace-to-five (California) lowball ranking, which means straights and flushes are ignored and the ace always counts as the lowest card. The best possible hand is therefore 5-4-3-2-A, called the wheel or 'the bicycle'. To compare two low hands, look at the highest card in each five-card hand: the hand whose highest card is lower wins (so an 8-high beats a 9-high). If the top cards tie, compare the next-highest, and so on.
The deck and the deal
Razz is played with one standard 52-card deck, typically 2 to 8 players (a full stud table is 8). There are no blinds and no dealer button affecting the deal as in Hold'em — instead every player posts a small forced bet called the ante before the deal. Each player is then dealt three cards: two face down (in the hole) and one face up (the 'door card'). Over the rest of the hand each remaining player receives three more face-up cards and one final face-down card, for seven cards total — four exposed and three hidden.
The bring-in and betting streets
Because there are no blinds, the first betting round is opened by the bring-in. After third street is dealt, the player showing the HIGHEST up-card must post the bring-in bet (high card brings it in because high cards are bad in Razz). Betting then proceeds in fixed-limit fashion. Razz has five betting rounds, called streets: third street (after the first 3 cards), fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh (the river). On third and fourth street bets are in the small limit; from fifth street on, bets double to the big limit. On every street after third, the player showing the LOWEST poker board (the best-looking low) acts first — the reverse of seven-card stud high.
How a hand plays out, street by street
Third street: 2 down + 1 up; high up-card brings in, betting goes around. Fourth street: a second up-card to each player; lowest board acts first, small-limit betting. Fifth street: a third up-card; betting doubles to the big limit. Sixth street: a fourth and final up-card; big-limit betting. Seventh street ('the river'): the seventh card is dealt face DOWN, so each player ends with four cards exposed and three hidden; final big-limit betting round. Players fold ('muck') at any point if their low is beaten on board. If two or more players remain after seventh street, the hand goes to a showdown.
Showdown and reading the low
At showdown each remaining player makes their best five-card LOW hand from their seven cards, discarding the two worst (highest) cards. Remember: straights and flushes do not count, and aces are low, so 7-5-4-3-2 of all the same suit is still just a seven-low. To decide the winner, name each hand by its cards from highest to lowest — an 8-6-4-2-A is read 'eight-six low'. The lower top card wins; ties are broken by the next card down. The wheel (5-4-3-2-A) is the nuts. Pairs are bad: a pair is always worse than any unpaired five-card low, because you must then count a duplicate rank as one of your five cards.
Limit betting and table size
Razz is almost always played Fixed-Limit. Two bet sizes are set: a small bet (used on third and fourth street) and a big bet, double the small (used on fifth, sixth and seventh street). There is usually a cap of one bet and three or four raises per street. Because seven cards per player times eight players can exhaust the 52-card deck, a full eight-handed table that reaches seventh street with everyone still in uses a single community card dealt face up as a shared seventh card — a rare but real edge case.
How this differs from the game on our table
Razz is a stud game: no community board, the low hand wins, ace-to-five ranking, antes and a bring-in, and five streets of fixed-limit betting. Our live portal table is a community-card, high-hand poker engine (Texas Hold'em style, with a shared flop-turn-river board and standard high rankings), so it does not deal Razz natively or award the pot to the lowest hand. We've documented the true Razz rules above so you can learn and reference them; for live play you can open our free poker table to practise betting discipline and hand-reading, while understanding it plays high-hand community poker rather than seven-card stud lowball.
Strategy tips
- Start with three low cards. A strong Razz starting hand is three unpaired cards eight or lower (the lower the better); muck weak starts early.
- Read the up-cards. Because four of every player's cards end up exposed, track which low cards are dead — if the deuces and treys you need are showing in other hands, your draw is weaker.
- Fear pairs. Pairing one of your low cards is a disaster in Razz; a made eight-low usually beats a 'rough' draw that keeps catching paint or pairs.
- Respect the bring-in and position. The lowest board acts first on later streets, so a scary low board lets you bet your opponents off marginal draws.
- Distinguish smooth from rough lows. A 'smooth' 8 (like 8-4-3-2-A) is far stronger than a 'rough' 8 (8-7-6-5-4); chase the smooth ones and fold rough draws against aggression.
- On our table, transfer the discipline not the rules — it's high-hand community poker, so fold weak holdings and value-bet strong ones rather than playing for the low.
Variants
Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo (Stud 8-or-Better) — high and low split the pot · London Lowball (deuce-to-seven version of stud low) · California Lowball / Ace-to-Five draw — same low ranking, draw format · H.O.R.S.E. — Razz is the 'R' in the mixed-game rotation · Eight-or-Better qualifiers in split-pot stud games · Fixed-Limit betting (the standard structure for Razz)
Razz Poker — frequently asked questions
What is Razz poker?
Razz is seven-card stud played for low: the lowest five-card hand wins the pot. There are no community cards — each player gets their own seven cards (three down, four up) across five betting streets. Aces are low and straights and flushes don't count, so the best hand is 5-4-3-2-A, known as the wheel. Razz is a fixture of the H.O.R.S.E. mix and the World Series of Poker.
What is the best hand in Razz?
The best hand in Razz is 5-4-3-2-A, called the wheel or the bicycle. Because Razz uses ace-to-five lowball ranking, the ace is always low and straights and flushes are ignored, so five unpaired cards from ace to five is the unbeatable low. The next best hands are six-lows (e.g. 6-4-3-2-A), then seven-lows, and so on.
How is Razz different from regular (high) poker?
Razz reverses the goal — the lowest hand wins instead of the highest. It's a stud game with no shared board: each player builds their own seven-card hand. High cards and pairs are bad, the player showing the highest card pays the bring-in, and the best low board acts first. By contrast, Texas Hold'em uses a shared community board and awards the pot to the best high hand.
Can I play Razz online free on this site?
You can read the full Razz rules here and play poker free in your browser with no signup and no money. Be aware, though, that our live table runs a community-card, high-hand poker engine (Texas Hold'em style), so it does not deal seven-card stud or score the low. Use it to practise betting and hand-reading; for the true Razz deal, follow the rules on this page.
Do straights and flushes count against you in Razz?
No — in Razz they are simply ignored. Razz uses ace-to-five (California) lowball ranking, which does not penalise straights or flushes. So a hand like 7-5-4-3-2 all in one suit is scored only as a seven-low, not as a straight flush. Pairs, however, do hurt you: any pair is worse than a five-card hand with no pair.
Why does the highest card pay the bring-in?
Razz has antes instead of blinds, so the first betting round needs a forced bet to get the action started. Because low is good and high is bad in Razz, the rule is reversed from stud-high: the player showing the HIGHEST door card must post the bring-in. It's the player most likely to have the worst hand who is forced to put chips in first.