When going through a downswing, or just running poorly, hold ‘em players will sometimes joke: ‘Oh, I should play one of those games where you have to make bad hands.’
Well, that’s exactly what Shane Littlefield did back in the day when grinding cash on Full Tilt Poker and other online sites during the peak of the poker boom. And it’s led him to become one of the best Razz players you may never have heard of.
“Everyone goes through times when they struggle, and I always felt like I was making bad hands, so I was like, ‘let me play a game where I get paid to make a bad hand.’ So, I found Razz. Right? You just make bad hands, that’s how you win.”
The stud variant where the lowest five-card hand wins became Littlefield’s specialty in college, as while working on his Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics, he was working his way up from low stakes to the highest games available back in the days of ‘rail heaven.’
It was also watching one of the biggest names in those days, known online as ‘BigRiskky’, that inspired him.
“One thing always comes to mind is Scott Clements, who I think is probably one of the best Omaha players around. I would always see him 20 years ago, just sitting with piles of money at an Omaha table, just cleaning people out. And I thought that was because not that many people played Omaha. He got really good at it and just took their money. That was part of the motivation for playing Razz.”
The guy behind your favorite slot machine
Fast forward to the current day, as after years post-Black Friday, when he could no longer play his game of choice online. Littlefield now lives in Las Vegas, where, along with again making ‘losing’ hands into winners, he makes people lose in another way.
“I’m the mathematician who designs slot machines. So, I’m the guy that makes sure people lose.”
It was a natural fit for Littlefield, as a poker player, to leave Chicago for the new gig in Las Vegas after several years of jobs that weren’t inspiring him.
“I found some typical stuff, like an accountant, some government jobs, teaching, but then I found a lot of slot machine companies were looking for mathematicians. I never really considered that. It was just a good fit.”
So, when that one-armed bandit isn’t paying out like you want it to, you can blame Littlefield.
Razz rush!
This past week, you could also blame him for taking your chips in every Razz tournament in the city, as he’s been on a heater like he hasn’t seen since his days playing online.
He began by winning the Orleans $600 Razz Championship last Friday for just under $21K, then followed that up with a 12th-place finish in the WSOP $1,500 Razz for another $6,122. Littlefield then went a perfect three-for-three in deep Razz runs by final tabling the WSOP $10,000 Razz Championship, a tournament he wasn't planning on playing until he ran deep in the $1,500, finishing eighth on Wednesday for another $36,395.
These results are now the headliners of a Hendon Mob profile that has only seen a scattering of results since 2006, and none since 2019.
Returning to the Razz streets with a trio of live results like these is something Littlefield always believed he could do.
“I’ve been telling my friends for years that I’m good at Razz. I know my buddies from back in college know I’m good at Razz; they’ve seen my results from playing cash back in the day, but I think a lot of the friends that I have here, because Razz isn’t a game that you play here, they have no idea."
Littlefield credits his background in math to being a successful player in the somewhat niche game, saying his ability to recognize card removal and understand probability well are key benefits.
Being seen as a wild card in these WSOP fields, something he may not be able to rely on for much longer after these results, has also served him well.
“I like being the unknown. Nobody knows who I am. I have all these famous guys at the table, and they’re like, ‘Who are you?’ Yeah, good question, who am I?”
Back to hold 'em
With Razz-exclusive tournament offerings now done for summer 2026, Littlefield will return to his regular 2/5 No-Limit Hold ‘em games at Aria, with a stop in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker first. And while he won’t be as likely to fly under the radar next summer, he’ll be itching for a Razzle Dazzle repeat.
“Absolutely. I will be here, hopefully making more final tables and deep runs.”
Photos courtesy of World Series of Poker.
