RAZZ Tips

Here are some tips about the intricate aspects of Razz:

1. Generally the higher an opponent's up-card, the more likely he is to be "perfect" in the hole. When players come in with an Eight up against a strong Board and then catch a Seven, you can be pretty sure it didn't pair them.
2. If there's a lot of action on the three-card starting hands and your opponent catches a Seven on the Turn, that's bad news for you. He almost certainly doesn't have a Seven in the hole.
3. The minimum hand that you should be willing to play against a strong Board is three (cards) to a Seven.
4. The minimum you should play as the first raiser against a weak-to-normal Board should be 8-6-3.
5. If you're trailing after four cards (in a head-up situation) and don't gain on Fifth St., you should usually pass.
6. Unless you can read your opponent, you should generally call on the end when the action gets that far. That's providing you have some chance at the pot and if your opponent occasionally makes desperation bluffs.
7. If you're "perfect" on Fourth St. (and you figure your opponent is too), you can still call on Fifth St. even if he catches good and you don't.
8. However, if you and an opponent have three Babies and a garbage card after four (cards) and he catches a Six (on Fifth St.) and you get a face-card, you should almost always pass.
9. After five (cards), a smooth four-card Come hand against a rough complete Nine is the favorite. (Unless the exposed cards in other hands dictate otherwise.)
10. You should value bet on the end into a player who has a Ten showing. You're almost sure to get called. Especially, bet a 9-7 into a Board with a 10-8 showing, because you'll usually get called (if he has a Ten) and are unlikely to get raised (if he has an Eight).
11. Except against very good players, allow yourself to be "trapped". That is, if a player checks to you, assume he's showing real weakness and bet whenever you think you have the better hand. It's unlikely that bad players will raise.
12. A made Eight on Fifth is a favorite over any four-card drawing hand (no matter how smooth it is). But if your opponent checks to you (with what looks like a made Eight) he probably doesn't have it — so you should bet. Conversely, if he bets, you should assume that he actually does have the Eight and therefore you should merely call.
13. However, with a smooth four-card Come hand (on Fifth St.), you can bet into an opponent who you think has a rough Nine made (say a 9-8). If you think his Nine is smooth (say a 9-6) don't bet. (Even if you had an A-2-3-4-K, you would not be a favorite over a made 9-6.)
14. If you're in a three (or more) handed pot, you should bet a Come hand such as A-2-3-4-K against a made 8-7 if you think you can keep a third player (with a worse hand than yours) in the pot.
15. This is really crucial: Know what your hole-cards are and never look back except for "show". You've got enough to think about without having to double-check (your hole-cards). What's more, you might give away your hand to other astute players.