A Little More Razz

So now that we understand the starting requirements for Razz a little better, I’d like go into a little detail about the next stage of Razz. Determining how you want to play a hand.

Here is an example from the 2000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt. Players were dealt as follows.

Dealt to Elendil22 [6h]
Dealt to AHNAHN [Ts]
Dealt to Ironface337 [2c]
Dealt to deadbolt [Td]
Dealt to kevi3205 [8h]
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [7d 6s] [As]
Dealt to hollisterpmp [8c]
Dealt to Gray Fox 17-85 [3s]
AHNAHN is high with [Ts]

Ahnahn has the bring in because of holding the highest up card. The bring in is a forced bet after the antes and encourages action to take place. The next action moves to the person to the left of the bring in who is Ironface337. As you look at the cards you need to focus on the up cards of your opponents and keep track of quality cards that are folded as well as the ones in play. Here is how the action went.

AHNAHN brings in for 15
Ironface337 folds
deadbolt folds
kevi3205 folds
pokerenthusiast completes it to 50
hollisterpmp folds
Gray Fox 17-85 calls 50
Elendil22 folds
AHNAHN calls 35

What you see is a bet by pokerenthusiast, a call by Gray Fox 17-85 with a 3 up and a call by AHNAHN with a 10 up. The assumptions you must make here is that Gray Fox has three cards below a 9 and AHNAHN has 2 below a 10. These assumptions are based on what you have learned so far. I question AHNAHN calling here with two other players in because he is clearly behind both players. Even with two low cards he will be trailing either player if they get two cards below a 9. Regardless he made the call and the hand continues.

*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to AHNAHN [Ts] [5c]
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [7d 6s As] [2h]
Dealt to Gray Fox 17-85 [3s] [Jd]

Here pokerenthusiast is clearly ahead. In this case you will always want to bet to try and get heads up with an apponent. It is always easier to beat one player than two.

pokerenthusiast bets 50
Gray Fox 17-85 folds
AHNAHN calls 50

From the action you can see that Gray Fox folded and AHNAHN called. This defines the hand of your remaining opponent and you can be assured that he has three cards 7 and lower but he is still behind.

*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to AHNAHN [Ts 5c] [Kd]
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [7d 6s As 2h] [Tc]

Pokerenthusiast has a made 10 vs. a made K by ANHAHN. Pokerenthusiast must bet here to make the opponent pay to see another card.

pokerenthusiast bets 100
AHNAHN has 15 seconds left to act
AHNAHN calls 100

Very questionable call here but AHNAHN is getting 4.3 to 1 to call but does he have the odds? Lets assume he has A2 behind. In this case he needs one card 7 or below to improve to a better hand than pokerenthusiast. But if pokerenthusiast hit any card below a 10 that doesn’t pair then AHNAHN is still behind. AHNAHN has 12 cards to take the lead but pokerenthusiast has 16 outs to improve so he should fold but he is now a chaser.

*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to AHNAHN [Ts 5c Kd] [9d]
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [7d 6s As 2h Tc] [7c]
pokerenthusiast bets 100
AHNAHN folds
Uncalled bet of 100 returned to pokerenthusiast
pokerenthusiast mucks
pokerenthusiast wins the pot (530)

Now after hitting a 9 and having a lesser made 10, he folds to a bet and pokerenthusiast scoops the pot. Now, if you remember right, AHNAHN should not have been involved in the hand with two players who clearly had better hands. This a great example of how to look at the board and know you are ahead or behind and thus you can make the right play by betting, calling or folding your hand.