Event #33: $2,500 Razz

Chris "Fox" Wallace may not be a household name, but you've probably come across it a time or two. That's because Wallace, who hails from the Twin Cities in Minnesota, has been a poker player, columnist, commentator, coach, ambassador and noted author in the industry for years.

In addition to serving as a commentator on the MSPT and writing article for various poker media outlets, Wallace has authored or co-authored numerous poker books including No Limits: The Fundamentals of No-Limit Hold'em and The Tournament Rules.

What's more, Wallace is an accomplished Razz player; in fact, he used to make his living playing the game online. While thousands of players used to play online, how many can say they successfully grinded at the Razz tables? Last year Wallace, who has made Day 2 of this event for the fifth straight year, had his best performance yet when he finished in 17th place for $5,904.

With all of that experience it's no surprise that this tournament is Fox's favorite of the year. He even wrote about his Day 1 experience in his blog:

Today was day one of the Razz event at the WSoP, my favorite tournament of the year. I've cashed the last three years in a row, and last year's 17th place finish was my deepest run yet. I'm hoping this is my breakthrough year. It was a long day, which leads to short blog posts, and lists are easy, so…

Stuff you might care about -

1. I bagged up 23,000, well above average, and will be restarting tomorrow with around 130 players left at 2 pm Vegas time. You can follow my progress on twitter @foxpokerfox or on pokernews at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2013-world-series-of-poker/event-33-2-500-seven-card-razz/chips.htm

2. Also still in contention at Tom Hammers with a short stack and Adeel Qureshi with an average stack. Both are strong players and I wouldn't be surprised to see either of them deep in the money.

3. My table was fun today, with Brett 'Gank' Jungblutt, Tom McEvoy, Cindy Violette, Marco Traniello, and a number of other well known players.

Wallace is looking for yet another deep run but will have his work cut out as he sits with a below-average stack of 16,000.

We walked into a really interesting hand at a table that included Bill Baxter, Andy Bloch, John Hennigan and David Bach.

Hennigan, Baxter and Bach were all in a hand together at the river. Here were their boards:

Baxter:     /   
Hennigan:     /   
Bach:     

In a hand where 2 players had 3-of-a-kind showing, Baxter let out a bet on the river, and Bach folded. Baxter flipped over an eight-perfect, and Hennigan flipped over his losing hole cards, exiting the tournament area just before players went on their first break.

Billy Baxter	54,000	34,800
John Hennigan	0	-21,600

Mike Matusow completed with a   and was raised by an opponent showing  . Matusow made the call, and he took the lead with a   when his opponent paired his ace. Matusow's opponent called, and the see-saw continued when Matusow caught a   and his opponent a  .

"I paired it," Matusow said, folding and showing a five after his opponent bet.

"A monkey could win a Razz tournament," Matusow said in a conversation we overheard shortly before that hand. It's certainly a fairly basic game, but we're not sure about all that.

Mike Matusow

25,300

1,200

It looks like it will not be back-to-back Razz victories for Phil Hellmuth. The Poker Brat won this event last year, marking his 12th bracelet win, but his tournament came to a short end today when he was eliminated by Tim Burt.

When we caught the tail end of the hand, here is how the boards read:

Hellmuth:        
Burt:        

Hellmuth was very low in chips (around 2,300) the last time we walked around the table. "Good luck everybody," he quietly muttered as he walked away from the tournament area.

Phil Hellmuth

0

-2,800

Todd Brunson was heads up with Stephen Chidwick on fifth street.

Brunson:    
Chidwick:    

Brunson, who had called bets on the initial two streets, bet out at his opponent after catching the five. Chidwick called, then action went the same on sixth when Brunson caught   and Chidwick  . Both checked on seventh.

"Seven," Brunson announced, turning over    . "Aces up for high."

Chidwick mucked to Brunson's strong hi/lo hand.

Todd Brunson	28,000	10,100
Stephen Chidwick	12,500	-2,900

We caught a hand between Andy Bloch and Scott Bohlman, where Bloch kept catching monster cards on every street and kept firing.

Bloch:     
Bohlman:     

Bohlman completed on third street to 600, and Bloch (seated to his immediate left) raised to 1,200. Bohlman called.

On fourth street, Bloch raised and Bohlman called. Same as on fifth street, where Bloch bet and Bohlman called. On sixth street, Bloch bet again, and noticing that he was far behind, Bohlman folded.

Andy Bloch

30,000

6,900

If you're following Razz updates, you'd better know how to play so you can make sense of it all. If you're unfamiliar with the game, we've put together a synopsis on how it's played. Check it out below.

Razz, played between two and eight players, is essentially Seven Card Stud low. The objective of Razz is make your lowest five-card hand using any combination of the seven cards you are dealt. Unlike Texas Hold'em and Omaha, Razz is a forced-bet game that features antes instead of blinds. Every player must ante up before the hand begins. The ante does not count towards any future bets.

Every player is dealt a total of seven cards over the course of a hand beginning with two hole cards and one up card. A round of betting occurs and then three more cards are placed face up, each followed by a round of betting. The seventh and final card is then dealt facedown to each player, giving him or her three down cards. A final round of betting ensues.

1.) The Goal—Make the lowest five-card hand using any combination of the seven cards you are dealt.

2.) The Ranking of Hands—Razz uses the same ranking system as Ace-to-Five Triple Draw, meaning straight and flushes do not count and aces are always low. That means the best possible hand in Razz is a wheel (A-2-3-4-5). A hand like 6-5-4-3-2 is known as a "Six-Low" because its highest card is a six, while a hand like 8-6-5-4-3 is known as an "Eight-Low". Hands often take it one card further and would call it an "Eighty Six".

Here are ten sample Razz hands ranked from best to worst:

•       (best possible hand)
•       (second-best possible hand)
•      
•      
•      
•      
•      
•      
•      
•      

3.) The Bring In — Play always moves clockwise and starts with the players seated after the dealer button (typically represented by a plastic disk which moves every hand). After each player has anted and been dealt their hole cards and one up card, the person with the highest card must post the "bring in" (the opposite of Seven Card Stud), a required bet of either approximately half of the low-limit bet size in the pot or a full bet (the amount is determined by the player but it's very rare to see it brought in for a full bet).

If two or more players share the lowest card, the suits will come into play. While there is no industry standard, the most common ranking of suits is reverse alphabetical order: clubs (lowest), diamonds, hearts, and spades (highest). The bring-in counts as your first round bet, so as long as nobody raises, you won't have to place any more money in the pot to see the next card.

In the rare case that the player with the high card is all in and cannot afford the bring in, the next player to the left (regardless of their card) becomes the new bring in.

4.) Betting rounds: There are five rounds of betting in Razz, one after you receive your two down cards and one up card, and then four subsequent rounds—the turn, fifth street, sixth street and seventh street (the last card is dealt face down). After fourth street, the player with the low hand showing acts first and then action proceeds clockwise around the table.

In fixed-limit Razz, which is the most common variant, all bets and raises must be equal to either the low limit or high limit bet size, depending on the round. In the first two rounds, all bets and raises must be equal to the low-limit bet size. In the third, fourth, and fifth rounds, all bets must be equal to the high-limit bet size.

In the rare case that all players in an eight-handed game make it to the end and cards run out before Seventh Street, a single community card will be dealt for all players to share.

8.) The Showdown— Anyone who has not folded after the last round of betting will showdown their hand in hopes of taking down the pot. When playing Razz, the person who bet last is the first to show their hand, and then it proceeds clockwise from there. Each remaining player has the choice to either show his or her hand or muck it. Often times a player will muck their hand if they aren't going to win the pot, and don't want their opponents to see what they played.

For more poker rules, be sure to visit PokerNews' Poker Rule Section.