Okay, so I'm SGspecial's friend who suffered this bad beat of poor programming and cluelessness. I've received a followup email from support, and if you've enjoyed the thread so far, you're in for a treat!
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Thank you for contacting us.
We have reviewed your email, please note that you didn’t win the hand because your lowest high card was a 9 and the lowest high card of your opponent was a 7, please remember that objective in razz is to make your best five card low hand, using any combination of the seven cards you are dealt. Aces are always low, and straights and flushes have no effect on the low value of a hand. The lowest possible hand is A2345.
For more information about Razz Rules, please visit our website at
http://www.absolutepoker.com/getting.../razzRules.asp
Thanks for playing at Absolute Poker! If there is anything else we can help you with, please let us know. We are here for you!
Sincerely,
Alex
Team Absolute ~ Customer Support
"To Continue to be the Best and Most Trusted"
Support@AbsolutePoker.Com
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My reply was to ask if in addition to not counting straights and flushes, they are now also not counting pairs. If so, their website most definitely does not say so! The rules page is simple but accurate. It says best 5 card low hand wins razz, and no straight or flushes count.
I believe the original problem was in programming (my guess is it counted AA as high; I further postulate if I had 22 I would have won). The current problem is in lack of knowledge of the support people.