Five-Card Draw

Five-Card Draw

Five-Card Draw is a game that almost everyone has played. Every person of age has probably at one occasion played a game of draw poker with their friends or with their parents. It is regarded as an old and outdated game in today's world of poker, maybe because of the big upswing Texas Hold'em has had during the last years. But it is still a funny and exciting form of poker.

Basic Concept

The goal in five-card draw is to make the best poker hand out the five dealt to you. All the cards are dealt and held faced down. There are usually two betting rounds in draw poker, one before the draw and one after but there are a high number of different variations of draw poker so it might vary depending on what the local rules say. The game can be played with or without ante or blinds. It is played in fixed limit, pot limit and no limit. In Europe the most popular form is without a doubt pot limit.

How a hand is played

The dealer is identified by a white button called the dealer button and it moves clockwise as soon as a hand is completed. If the game is played without blinds or antes the dealer gives each player five cards. First to act is the player to the immediate left of the dealer who may check, fold or bet, and then it's the next player's turn and so on till it's the dealer's turn. When the dealer has made his or hers move its time for the draw. The first player discards between one and five cards and the dealer gives the same number of cards from the deck. When all players have made the draw the second betting round begins. Again it's the player to the immediate left of the dealer who begins and betting proceeds as usual in clockwise order to the dealer button. The player who made the last bet was called by the others and has to show the cards first. The best poker hand wins the pot. The dealer button moves one step to the left and a new hand may begin.