Action razz is just like razz except it has a qualifier. To qualify, a 7-card hand must contain a face card (J, Q, K), but the face card needn’t be part of the razz hand.

Here’s a simple hand for illustrative purposes -- before we get to the good stuff. Before I post any hands of interest, I'm trying to build a little formatter that'll make them somewhat more readable.

Online Tourney

Dealing 2000 4000 (500) Action Razz
Everyone antes 400
Four players

SEAT	NAME	Stack/Total bet	Cards
2	poohBear	400 400	[ ] [ ] 9s
3	And_I	18350 400	[ ] [ ] 7d
4 B	SnoopDog	24950 400	[ ] [ ] 7c
5	> DadJeans	74700 400	[ ] [ ] Js
	DadJeans completes the 500 bring-in to 2000
	poohBear calls and is all-in
	And_I folds
	SnoopDog calls
4th St.
2	poohBear	0 800	[ ] [ ] 9s 3d
3	[And_I]	18350[ 400]
4 B >	SnoopDog	22950 2400	[ ] [ ] 7c 4h
5	DadJeans	72700 2400	[ ] [ ] Js Qc
	And_I: gl pooh
	SnoopDog bets 2000
	DadJeans folds
5th St.
2	poohBear	0 800	[ ][ ] 9s 3d 4s
3	[And_I]	18350[ 400]
4 B	SnoopDog	20950 4400	[ ][ ] 7c 4h Ah
5	>[DadJeans]	72700[2400]
6th St.
2	poohBear	0 800	[ ][ ] 9s 3d 4s 5s
3	[And_I]	18350[ 400]
4 B	SnoopDog	20950 4400	[ ][ ] 7c 4h Ah 6s
5	>[DadJeans]	72700[2400]
7th St.
2	poohBear	0 800	[ ][ ] 9s 3d 4s 5s [ ]
3	[And_I]	18350[ 400]
4 B	SnoopDog	20950 4400	[ ][ ] 7c 4h Ah 6s [ ]
5	>[DadJeans]	72700[2400]
	Uncalled 2000 returned to SnoopDog
	SnoopDog	[3c Jh Td]	Face Seven (7 6 4 3 A) Jh Td 7c 6s 4h 3c Ah
	poohBear	[2h 6h Th]	Butt Six (6 5 4 3 2)
1: SnoopDog wins 3200
M: SnoopDog wins 2800

SnoopDog makes a 7 and poohBear makes a 6, but SnoopDog's 7-card qualifies with a Jack, so it's a Face hand, and it wins. poohBear's hand doesn't contain a face card so it's a "Butt" hand and it loses. If neither hand had a face card, both would have been Butt hands and poohBear would have won.

I like the concept of the game, I'm sure it increases the amount of action tremendously

Where is this game online?

It's a great game. It's at a private site under development -- somewhere between alpha- and beta- testing. I'll be happy to PM a link if you're up for some play tourneys.

Yes, please pm me a link. Wouldn't mind helping out and donking around at it. I always play for blood though, even in play money

This sounds fun, hit me up with it too.

Phat Mack,

Is it possible to attribute this variant of Razz to a specific person?

I think it is a wonderful spin on the game and makes Razz eminently playable.

What happens if no one has a qualifying hand? Is the pot chopped?

If two players have the same low hand is there a ranking value to the face qualifiers or do you split the pot?

This is an important question that will need to be answered every 10,000 hands or so.

An important question indeed! This would be a chopped pot -- there's no difference between face cards.

The best non-qualifying hand wins.

Hi Al,

It's good to see you posting in these troubled times. I'll have to think about this and see if I can remember. I believe the game was developed ~2018 by one or more players trying to juice up a HORSE game. They may have been drinking. In the past we had used a high-card-brings-it-in/low-card-then-forced-to-compete system, but this induces more action.

If I remember more specifics about the origin I'll post them here.

PM

This sounds pretty awesome. PM site info if you're still looking for players

Where did you suddenly appear from after being away for 2ish years?