I’m not a great Razz player, but you really don’t need to be to do well in a large-field Razz tournament. I like to break the players down into two categories: those who understand the basic strategy of the game (how to evaluate starting hands, when to continue past 4th, obvious bluffing and bluff-catching spots) and those who do not. There are things that truly great Razz players can do to get an edge on those of us who are merely competent, but it’s a simple enough game that I don’t believe that the ability to save an extra bet here or there gives them a big edge. There is, however, a huge gap between those who do and don’t understand the basics. To wit, here’s a guy capping 6th and 7th streets with the 7th nuts when I’m showing three wheel cards:
PokerStars Game #67218783066: Tournament #2011090015, $200+$15 USD Razz Limit – Level VII (100/200) – 2011/09/08 14:29:19 MT [2011/09/08 16:29:19 ET]
Table ‘2011090015 41’ 8-max
Seat 1: shuriken555 (7908 in chips)
Seat 2: Schappuscha (5226 in chips)
Seat 3: foucault82 (4323 in chips)
Seat 4: Wall131TCI-I (5866 in chips)
Seat 5: -=NIK71113=- (2797 in chips)
Seat 6: 7Be/\eC7 (8381 in chips)
Seat 7: RuiNF (4593 in chips)
Seat 8: gr1d1r0n (5894 in chips)
shuriken555: posts the ante 20
Schappuscha: posts the ante 20
foucault82: posts the ante 20
Wall131TCI-I: posts the ante 20
-=NIK71113=-: posts the ante 20
7Be/\eC7: posts the ante 20
RuiNF: posts the ante 20
gr1d1r0n: posts the ante 20
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to shuriken555 [8s]
Dealt to Schappuscha [4h]
Dealt to foucault82 [4s Ac 5d]
Dealt to Wall131TCI-I [9c]
Dealt to -=NIK71113=- [3d]
Dealt to 7Be/\eC7 [Kh]
Dealt to RuiNF [Js]
Dealt to gr1d1r0n [5c]
7Be/\eC7: brings in for 30
RuiNF: folds
gr1d1r0n: folds
shuriken555: folds
Schappuscha: raises 70 to 100
foucault82: calls 100
Wall131TCI-I: folds
-=NIK71113=-: raises 100 to 200
7Be/\eC7: folds
Schappuscha: calls 100
foucault82: calls 100
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to Schappuscha [4h] [Jd]
Dealt to foucault82 [4s Ac 5d] [5s]
Dealt to -=NIK71113=- [3d] [7d]
-=NIK71113=-: bets 100
Schappuscha: folds
foucault82: calls 100
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to foucault82 [4s Ac 5d 5s] [3s]
Dealt to -=NIK71113=- [3d 7d] [2c]
-=NIK71113=-: bets 200
foucault82: calls 200
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to foucault82 [4s Ac 5d 5s 3s] [2s]
Dealt to -=NIK71113=- [3d 7d 2c] [2h]
-=NIK71113=-: bets 200
foucault82: raises 200 to 400
-=NIK71113=-: raises 200 to 600
foucault82: raises 200 to 800
Betting is capped
-=NIK71113=-: calls 200
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to foucault82 [4s Ac 5d 5s 3s 2s] [8c]
-=NIK71113=-: bets 200
foucault82: raises 200 to 400
-=NIK71113=-: raises 200 to 600
foucault82: raises 200 to 800
Betting is capped
-=NIK71113=-: calls 200
*** SHOW DOWN ***
foucault82: shows [4s Ac 5d 5s 3s 2s 8c] (Lo: 5,4,3,2,A)
-=NIK71113=-: shows [7c As 3d 7d 2c 2h 4c] (Lo: 7,4,3,2,A)
foucault82 collected 4590 from pot
No big mistakes here, but this is the other really big pot that I won:
PokerStars Game #67221422068: Tournament #2011090015, $200+$15 USD Razz Limit – Level IX (160/320) – 2011/09/08 15:18:19 MT [2011/09/08 17:18:19 ET]
Table ‘2011090015 41’ 8-max
Seat 1: shuriken555 (7226 in chips)
Seat 2: Schappuscha (4652 in chips)
Seat 3: foucault82 (4231 in chips)
Seat 4: Wall131TCI-I (1968 in chips)
Seat 5: Crush1nDonks (5473 in chips)
Seat 6: 7Be/\eC7 (11381 in chips)
Seat 7: RuiNF (6110 in chips)
Seat 8: gr1d1r0n (10380 in chips)
shuriken555: posts the ante 32
Schappuscha: posts the ante 32
foucault82: posts the ante 32
Wall131TCI-I: posts the ante 32
Crush1nDonks: posts the ante 32
7Be/\eC7: posts the ante 32
RuiNF: posts the ante 32
gr1d1r0n: posts the ante 32
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to shuriken555 [Ah]
Dealt to Schappuscha [9c]
Dealt to foucault82 [2d 6d 4d]
Dealt to Wall131TCI-I [4h]
Dealt to Crush1nDonks [5d]
Dealt to 7Be/\eC7 [Tc]
Dealt to RuiNF [Kh]
Dealt to gr1d1r0n [3c]
RuiNF: brings in for 48
gr1d1r0n: calls 48
shuriken555: raises 112 to 160
Schappuscha: calls 160
foucault82: calls 160
Wall131TCI-I: folds
Crush1nDonks: raises 160 to 320
7Be/\eC7: folds
RuiNF: folds
gr1d1r0n: calls 272
shuriken555: raises 160 to 480
Schappuscha: calls 320
foucault82: calls 320
Crush1nDonks: raises 160 to 640
Betting is capped
gr1d1r0n: calls 320
7Be/\eC7 said, “lol”
shuriken555: calls 160
Schappuscha: calls 160
foucault82: calls 160
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to shuriken555 [Ah] [8h]
Dealt to Schappuscha [9c] [Jd]
Dealt to foucault82 [2d 6d 4d] [9s]
Dealt to Crush1nDonks [5d] [5s]
Dealt to gr1d1r0n [3c] [Td]
shuriken555: bets 160
Schappuscha: folds
foucault82: raises 160 to 320
Crush1nDonks: calls 320
gr1d1r0n: calls 320
shuriken555: raises 160 to 480
foucault82: raises 160 to 640
Betting is capped
Crush1nDonks: calls 320
gr1d1r0n: calls 320
shuriken555: calls 160
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to shuriken555 [Ah 8h] [3h]
Dealt to foucault82 [2d 6d 4d 9s] [5c]
Dealt to Crush1nDonks [5d 5s] [Qc]
Dealt to gr1d1r0n [3c Td] [5h]
shuriken555: bets 320
foucault82: raises 320 to 640
Crush1nDonks: folds
gr1d1r0n: calls 640
shuriken555: raises 320 to 960
foucault82: calls 320
gr1d1r0n: calls 320
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to shuriken555 [Ah 8h 3h] [Qs]
Dealt to foucault82 [2d 6d 4d 9s 5c] [Ad]
Dealt to gr1d1r0n [3c Td 5h] [2s]
foucault82: bets 320
gr1d1r0n: calls 320
shuriken555: calls 320
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to foucault82 [2d 6d 4d 9s 5c Ad] [6c]
foucault82: bets 320
7Be/\eC7 said, “nice pot”
gr1d1r0n: calls 320
shuriken555: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
foucault82: shows [2d 6d 4d 9s 5c Ad 6c] (Lo: 6,5,4,2,A)
gr1d1r0n: mucks hand
foucault82 collected 10544 from pot
Seat 8: gr1d1r0n mucked [7d As 3c Td 5h 2s Qh]
These were both relatively early in the event. Then I played for hours and hours and ended up min-cashing after 7.5 hours. This is the ugly side of the WCOOP and why I generally avoid or at least late register the limit events.