Razz Finale - 6th and 7th Street

January 24, 2008

We’re in the home stretch now, and once you’ve put money in the pot on 5th street, chances are you’re going all the way. Have I mentioned paying attention to the other cards that are out yet? This can become very important because if your opponent started with a good hand (three low cards) and his board on 6th street shows four non-paired low cards, it’s better than 2-1 odds that he has paired one of his hole cards. If he is a tight player and has a [XX]4627 and you’ve seen very few other 6s, 2s, and 7s go by, there’s a very good chance he has at least one of those in the hole.

Another important reason to pay attention to the cards that are out is to know when you have you opponent drawing very slim. If you have:

[23]56QA, and he has:

[XX]6426,

you know for certain that he cannot have you beat unless he has a 3. Now if you’ve seen two other players fold a 3, and you have one, you know there’s only one left for him to get to beat you (and he must also have an Ace).

Sometimes you’ll find yourself in the wonderful position of having your opponent drawing dead. Make sure you’re watching his cards as well as your own so you don’t miss it. Practice when you are not in the pot, looking at the hands that are out there and try to figure out the best possible hand a player could have. If you’ve made a nicely hidden 7-5 low such as [A2]75J4 and your opponent is on [XX]67T9 you can see that his best possible hand is an 7-6 low and he’s drawing dead, even though his board is better than yours. If he’s willing to call some bets or raises, keep putting your money out there.

There will be some, but very few situations that come up when you are first to act with a better hand and are very, very certain that he will bet. When this happens you can sometimes go for a check-raise. But you must be very certain he will bet, at least 60% certain. Not only that, you must be certain that he would not raise if you bet first, allowing you to 3-bet. Especially at low limits it’s often best to play your hand in a simple and straight forward manner.

If he still looks to be ahead of you, but you know you have a chance to beat him on 7th and there’s lots of money in the pot, go ahead and make the call. On the other hand, if your hand is poor but your board looks better than his, go ahead and fire a bet if there is any chance he will fold. If he has [XX]64J8 he will have a hard time calling a bet from you with [23]A523 even though you have paired twice.

7th Street Razz Strategy

If I said nothing else than call with weak hands, bet when first to act with medium hands, and raise with strong hands, that would cover 80% of 7th street strategy at low levels. Once again, pay attention to what the boards are. If you know he can’t beat you, go ahead and raise away – but that can go both ways. If your board shows that your best possible hand is a 7-low, and he has a raggy board like [XX]6J59, he’s unlikely to be betting into you or raising without three good cards in the hole to make his 6-low.

When betting or raising on the last round of any poker game, it’s very important to consider what the chances are of having the best hand WHEN YOU ARE CALLED, or even worse, if you are raised. If you knew you had an 80% chance of having the best hand once the last card came out, would you bet? Probably. What if I told you that he would only call 25% of the time (and he would be beating you 15% of the time), and raise you 5% of the time when he had you crushed. Not such an easy decision now is it… If your opponent only calls on the end when he makes a good hand, a lot of the time it can be better to just check/call.

You can also try for the odd check-raise when you are first to act with a board that looks weaker than your opponent, but you really have a very strong hand.

And that’s it! This is a good starting Razz strategy. As you move up and find yourself in tougher games you’ll need to expand your thinking, but then you’ll also have the benefit of experience. If you find yourself playing an interesting hand but are not sure you handled it correctly, email me the hand history for a second opinion.

Good luck!

Frez

More Razz Poker Strategy

How to Play Razz

Starting Hands in Razz

Playing 3rd Street

Playing 4th Street

Playing 5th Street

End game - 6th and 7th street

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