Action Razz
Forced Money
The game is played with antes. The high card on the board by rank first and then by suit brings it in. The K♠ is the highest possible card followed by the K♥, K♦, K♣, and so on.
Dealing Procedure
Starting with the player in seat one, each player is dealt two cards face down then one card up, followed by a round of betting at the small bet limit.
A second up card is dealt to all active players. This is followed by a round of betting at the small bet limit. Action starts with the lowest hand showing.
A third up card is dealt to all active players. This is followed by a round of betting at the big bet limit.
A fourth up card is dealt to all active players. This is followed by a round of betting at the big bet limit.
A third down card is dealt to all active players. This is followed by a round of betting at the big bet limit. This is followed by a showdown.
Evaluating the Showdown
The best five-card California low hand wins the pot, but with the provision that a player must have at least one face card (Jack, Queen, or King) among their seven cards to qualify.
A hand that qualifies is called a “Face” hand, while a hand that does not qualify is called a “Butt” hand. It is not necessary to play a face card in the best five-card California low hand, but any hand containing a face card defeats any hand without a face card.
As an extreme example, the hand A♥ 2♥ 3♠ 4♣ 5♦ 6♠ 7♣, which would be the nuts in razz as it is typically played, would lose to K♥ K♦ K♠ K♣ Q♦ Q♠ Q♣, which would be the nut low in typical razz. The first player has a “Butt” Five, while the second player has a “Face” Queens full of Kings.
If two or more players reach showdown and none of the players have a face card, then the winner is determined based on the best five-card California low hand (i.e. just like typical razz).
A more realistic example is shown in the following hand, with three players at showdown.
- Player 1: 2♥ 2♦ 3♠ 3♣ 4♦ 5♠ 7♣
- Player 2: A♥ A♦ 2♠ 4♣ 4♥ 6♠ 8♣
- Player 3: 3♥ 5♦ 7♠ 8♦ 9♥ Q♠ K♣
Player 3 wins with their “Face” Nine, 98753. If there was a side pot between Player 1 and Player 2, Player 1’s “Butt” Seven, 75432 would beat Player 2’s “Butt” Eight, 8642A.
Notes
Action Razz is a creation of Kevin Un.
It is believed that the origination of the the terms “Face” and “Butt” for qualifying and non-qualifying hands in Action Razz is due to Cliff Matthews, when he was coding the game and needed to evaluate the razz hands with the addition of the face card qualifier.