Usually I write about hold ’em in this column. Limit hold ’em, pot-limit, no-limit–it’s all the rage as poker-palooza sweeps the country.
But today the game is razz, and here’s why: No matter the brand of poker, you have to read people as much as you read cards, maybe more so.
Razz is played like seven-card stud–first two cards down, next four up, last card down–only you’re looking to make the lowest hand, not the highest. Aces play low in razz, which makes A-2-3-4-5 the lowest hand, which makes it the best hand.
It can be a maddening game of wild swings–picture cards show up when you don’t need them, low cards suddenly pair.
If you caught this week’s episodes of the World Series of Poker on ESPN, you saw the final table of the razz championship (It will be replayed Tuesday night on ESPN2.)
And if you caught the show, you also caught a hand that crippled one player because another spotted a tell.
“I might not know your name,” longtime pro T.J. Cloutier likes to say in that gruff Texas voice of his, “but if we played poker 10 years ago, I’ll remember your game and how you play.”
T.J. Cloutier’s hand
Jack of spades
3 of diamonds
8 of clubs
Cloutier drew J-3 in the hole. His door card was an 8. A decent lowball start.
Young pro John Juanda, meanwhile, showed a 5, allowing him to represent a good low hand.
And then Juanda did something strange: He started talking.
“I’ll be the chip leader after this hand,” Juanda said, among other things.
This pretty much qualifies as reciting the Gettysburg Address for the quiet, precise pro, and Cloutier knew it.
“He had low cards up and he started talking on the hand, making some stuff out of line that he usually doesn’t do,” Cloutier recalled. “I said, `He paired that card.’ “
Indeed, Juanda, with K-4 down, not only counterfeited his 5 up with another 5, but would draw another 4 for two pair, which would be solid in hold ’em, but kills you in razz.
John Juanda’s hand
King of hearts
4 of diamonds
5 of spades
5 of hearts
4 of clubs
“I just made up my mind that I had the best hand, and I called him with a jack playing lowball,” Cloutier said. “And I was right on. He didn’t have anything.
“I didn’t hesitate because of what he did. It doesn’t matter how good your hand is, as long as it’s the best.”
Turned out, the short-stacked Juanda was eliminated shortly after that big loss and Cloutier would draw enough of the best hands to win the razz event and capture his third World Series of Poker bracelet.
Poker lingo
Door card: The first card turned up in a stud game.
Counterfeit: To pair a card; bad news in lowball when you’re looking to make the lowest hand.
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srosenbloom@tribune.co
