Five Card Draw Poker Rules

The Basics of Five Card Draw

Five Card Draw is a particularly advanced game. For that reason, we need to cover some of the basic rules first.

>> First off, this game can contain anywhere between two to five players. A standard deck is used – 52 cards.
>> Each player is then dealt five cards, all facing downwards.
>> The first round of betting now begins. Once it is completely, every player is given the opportunity to discard any cards – as many as five – and draw new ones.
>> The second round of betting begins. The showdown comes after its completion.
>> The winner is chosen. Whomever has the best hand as defined by the rankings is the winner.
>> A dealer button is used to denote the dealer. There is a big blind and a small blind. This particular variation of poker can be Limit, Pot Limit, or No Limit.
>> This type of poker can also be played online in a number of online poker rooms.

Prior to drawing their cards, the players have to place bets. They do this in order to fill the pot. Understanding these initial bets depends on familiarizing yourself with certain concepts, especially concerning which players make which bets. So, let's look at some of the roles in Five Card Draw.

>> The dealer: dealing is an automatic thing in this game, but it passes from player to player by way of a dealer disk or button. The dealer always goes last and deals the cards in a clockwise motion. During the next hand, the dealer button goes to the player on the prior dealer's left.
>> The small blind: this is the person who sits on the left side of the current dealer. He or she is responsible for making the first wager, thus placing the amount of the minimum bet into the pot.
>> The big blind: this person is located to the left of the small blind. They are responsible for making a bet which totals the minimum bet doubled.

The First Round of Betting

The player located on the left of the player who put in the big blind begins the first betting round. He or she has the option of folding, raising, or calling. After that, the following players have the choice of doing the same thing. This stops at the big blind, who can check his or her blind bet, as long as no one else has raised on their hand. After everyone has had a chance to raise, call, or fold, then all players can discard the cards of their choice and draw new ones.

Once this round of betting is finished, cards have been discarded, and new cards have been drawn, the second round of betting begins.

The Second Round of Betting

This round begins with the player located on the dealer's left. He or she now has the option of checking, betting, or folding. In the event that this player decides to fold or to check, then the following player will also have the option of checking, betting, or folding. However, if the player who begins this round bets, then the following player can either call, raise, or fold. All the other players will be allowed to see this player's discards.

After this comes the showdown. The player who made the final bet, the final raise, or the final re-raise is the first person to show his or her cards. The only exception occurs if all but one player has folded; the remaining player does not have to show his or her cards. Otherwise, the win goes to whomever has the highest hand, as denoted by the appropriate poker rankings.

Now we need to talk about betting limits. When you are playing this particular game with a fixed limit then each player is only allowed four bets at most. This applies to each round of betting. You can make a bet, you can raise, you can re-raise, and then there is the cap. The cap is defined as the third raise in a round of betting. After the cap occurs, then no one is allowed to bet any more. When the game is a Pot Limit or a No Limit, then the number of bets and raises you can make do not have a limit.

As you can see, Five Card Draw is not a terribly hard game once you know the rules. You simply have to realize that different rules may apply to different variations of this game. Even still, understanding the rules is quite simple, as long as you take the time to learn them. And remember – the best way to learn is to play.