Strategy: 3rd and 4th Street

Razz Tips for Third and Fourth Streets

Third Street

Well let’s begin with opening hands and what constitutes a good opening hand in Razz poker, well obviously the lower your 3 cards are the better, but any 3 cards ace to 5 is a great hand, and you should certainly be raising and re-raising on 3rd street with this type of hand.

Next, any three cards ace to 6 is also a very good hand, although a certain amount of discretion is needed if there is heavy pre-flop action going on, still it’s a very rare occasion that you would consider folding this pre-flop and you should definitely raise if first to act.

Three cards between ace and 7 is still a good starting hand that you will want to see the next street with and even be prepared to raise and call raises with more often than not.

8 high hands are getting into more borderline territory that you have to use your discretion with. In a loose game these should often be folded when you don’t have position, on the other hand these are routine hands for trying to ‘steal’ (often you are ahead) the antes and bring-in when you do have position.

It also of course very much pays to be observant as we have already said about Razz. Folding can be the right decision when holding 8 high or even on occasion 7 high when there are many low cards visible on the table. On the other hand if you have 9 high and all the other players have Ten or higher as their up-card, you can go ahead and raise, secure in the knowledge that at that time you have the best hand.

Fourth Street

Fourth street, although it is only one more card, can dramatically change both the strength and the perceived strength of both your and your opponents’ hands. We’ll cover a few likely situations you may face here.

Situation 1: You have a strong starting hand and it improves.

Here is a prime example of the simplicity of Razz, in No limit Hold’Em you have to realistically consider slow-playing, check raising, betting to extract value, betting with the hope of getting your opponent’s stack there or on a later street. In Razz however, as said before, there is less scope for deception, it’s highly likely to your observant opponents that you have indeed got a strong hand, so regardless of whether your opponent has improved or not, you should go ahead and bet. Why? If your opponent also has a strong hand then you need to make him pay while you’re ahead for the next card instead of allowing a free chance to check, which is in essence what you would be doing, as the likelihood of him betting so you could check-raise are slim. If your opponent’s hand has worsened , you should still bet, he’s probably going to fold, which he should do, if he doesn’t fold then you have made him pay for his mistake, betting with your good hands here will also give a certain amount of protection for when you are bluffing.

Situation 2: You have a strong starting hand and it appears to have improved, but in actuality has given you a pair.

If your opponent has received a bad cad, then you must bet, as he will probably fold, if he does not fold here then although he is correct in this case, in the situation that he is in, with the information he has available, he is making a mistake, which you can punish him for in the long run. Even then not all hope is lost, as there is the possibility that 5th card may bring him yet another bad card, and unless you have got yourself one almighty fish, you can expect to take the pot then should you land another good card.

Situation3: You tried to steal pre-flop and got called, but now your hand has improved.

Similar to situation 2, if your opponent has peeled off a bad card, go ahead and bet and hope to take the pot there and then. If he also has got a good card on fourth street, then you need to be more cautious, remember unlike you he genuinely liked his hand pre-flop and is unlikely to give up in this spot.

These are just some of the examples to get you thinking of how to play your hands on fourth street, it should go without saying though, that the more opponents you have, the more circumspect you have to be about your own hand. Good Luck!