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I have heard players say that you can teach a monkey to play razz. They also say that razz players and topless dancers have something in common - it's what's up front that counts.

Yes, having a strong front counts for more in razz than in any other poker game. But levity aside, the most important factor in winning at razz is knowing how to react to various situations that occur over and over again. Most of these situations are very cut and dried; in fact, more so than in any other poker game.

You don't need terrific ability to read a hand, as you do in other games, because the betting situations in razz are fairly automatic. For instance, if you start good and your opponent starts good, then you catch a bad card on fourth street while your opponent catches a good card, your hand should fly into the muck (unless there have been several raises on third street). Even though the card that your opponent catches may have paired one of his hole cards, you still will be looking at his strong upcards throughout the hand.

Tom believes that it is much easier to read players in razz than in other games because, "If you bring it in for a raise with a four on top and an opponent calls you, there is no question that, unless he is a really bad player, he has started with three little cards. If he starts with a marginal upcard, such as an eight, you can be assured that his hole cards are really low. You sometimes can get a read on your opponent's hole cards based on what cards appear on later streets. Therefore, it isn't nearly as difficult to read a hand in razz as it is in stud or even stud/8."

Traditionally, razz has been a "rocky" game, a game made for tight play. "It's a game of sourpusses," says Tom "not a game that you can gamble at as you can in hold' em." If you start with only two small cards in razz, you're going way up-hill most of the time, so it isn't a good game in which to chase. But it's a great game if you're up against players who are willing to play that way against you. In fact, razz can be the best game of all when you have bad players in it. On the other hand, if everyone is playing reasonably well, it isn't a game in which you have much of an edge. And if you become impatient, you're dead in the water."