How To Play 5 Card Draw Poker – Rules, Tips, and Strategy for Five Card Draw

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Learning how to play 5 card draw poker is a great place to start for beginners. Besides being the oldest and most traditional form of the game, it is also the most simple to play. In a five-card draw, players each receive five cards with which they should form the best hand. Players can also discard and replace these cards with new ones from the deck to create their hand.

We introduce you to how to play 5 card poker, the rules of the game, the basic action you can take, and the variations of the game. You can also find top tips and strategies for playing 5 card poker hands.

What is 5-Card Draw Poker?

Five card draw is the easiest variation of poker. In this game, there are no hole cards and community cards like we find in Texas Holdem or Omaha poker. Instead, each player receives five cards at the beginning of the game. Like in all other variations, the aim is to see if you can get the highest-ranked hand – or bluff others into believing you have the best hand.

This version of poker is played with a standard 52-card deck and uses the same hand rankings as those found in Texas Holdem, where the highest ranking hand is the Royal Flush and the lowest is the High Card.

How to Play 5 Card Draw Poker

Learning how to play five card draw is straightforward. When new players learn the basics of poker, the 5-card draw variant is usually where they start.

The aim of the game is to try to build as strong a hand as possible. Since there are no hole cards and community cards to combine, this becomes a little easier. We take you through the steps of playing the 5 card draw poker below.

A hand of five-card draw has several stages. These begin with players putting down their forced bets before they receive their cards – commonly known as ante or blinds. Players can then bet or replace the cards in their hand with new ones from the deck.

Blinds and Dealing

The first step in playing 5 card poker is deciding who the button or dealer will be. Then it is time to put down the initial bets. When playing poker at home, games typically use the ante, where all players pay the bet. However, when playing online poker or at a land-based casino, the game generally uses blinds, where the player to the immediate left of the dealer posts the small blind, and the player directly to the left of the small blind posts the big blind.

Once these forced bets have been placed, the dealer begins dealing out the cards face down. Players receive the cards one at a time, and the dealer starts with the player to their immediate left and works their way sound the table until all the players have five cards.

Pre-Draw

Once all the cards have been dealt, a round of betting ensues. During this round of betting, you can call, check, raise, or fold. A raise must meet the previous bet and increase the bet value while a call should strictly meet the previous bet.

The betting action starts with the player to the left of the big blind and continues in a clockwise direction.

This round of betting ends when there is only one player left or if all the remaining players have matched the last raise or bet.

The Drawing Stage

This next phase is called the drawing stage. Starting with the player immediately to the left of the button, players must decide how many cards they would like to draw – and must discard the same number of cards from their hands.

Each player gets a chance to change any number of cards – from 1 to 5 – moving in a clockwise direction around the table. To draw, a player must put the cards they have chosen to discard face down on the table and slide them toward the dealer, so the dealer can see how many cards must be replaced.

If you are happy with your hand and you don’t want to draw, you can opt to be skipped or “Stand Pat” by tapping the table. The dealer will then move on to the next player.

Second Betting Round

When all players have made their draw, another round of betting ensues. Starting with the player on the immediate left of the button, each player gets to take action. Here, they can call, raise, fold, or check. The betting round closes when all players have matched the last bet or raise or there is only one player left standing. Depending on which version of the game you are playing, this may be your final betting round too.

The Showdown

In an instance where there are several players remaining at the end of the post draw betting round, the game enters a showdown. Here, all remaining players must reveal their 5 card poker hands. The player with the strongest hand wins.

Hands Ranking in 5 Card Draw Poker

When you learn how to play poker, you’ll find that the aim is to build the strongest hand. As such, you’ll need to know what the different poker hands are and how they rank. Below, you can find the 10 poker hands in order from strongest to lowest:

• Royal Flush – The most valuable cards (A, K, Q, J, and 10) from the same suit. (A♦️, K♦️, Q♦️, J♦️, 10♦️)
• Straight Flush – Any five cards in order, of the same suit (6♠️, 7♠️, 8♠️, 9♠️, 10♠️)
• Four of a Kind – Four cards of the same face value (A♣️, A♠️, A♥️, A♦️, K♦️)
• Full House – Three cards of the same face value and two other cards of the same face value (K♣️, K♠️, K♥️, Q♣️, Q♦️)
• Flush – Any five cards from the same suit (A♠️, K♠️, J♠️, 7♠️, 4♠️)
• Straight – Five cards in numerical order but from different suits (A♠️, K♣️, Q♥️, J♦️, 10♣️)
• Three of a kind – Three cards of the same face value and two side cards (A♣️, A♥️, J♠️, J♦️, 9♥️)
• Two Pair – A pair of cards of the same face value, and then another pair of cards of the same face value, and one side card (A♣️, A♥️, J♠️, J♦️, 9♥️)
• One Pair – A pair of cards of the same face value and three side cards (A♣️, A♦️, 5♠️, 4♦️, 2♣️)
• High card – Five cards that don’t work together to make any of the combinations discussed above. (A♣️, Q♠️, 6♥️, 4♣️, 2♦️)

5 Card Poker Betting Limits

There are three types of betting structures applied to 5 card poker and other poker variants. These structures determine the amount you can bet or raise when playing. Below, we look at these three poker structures and explain how they work.

• Fixed-limit – In a fixed-limit five-card draw, the raise must always be twice the value of the big blind. Additionally, the small blind is always half the big blind value. So, in a $2/$4 limit 5 card draw game, the big blind will be $2, and the small blind will be $1.
• Pot-limit – This poker structure is far less common. Here, you can bet anywhere from the value of the big blind, which is the minimum bet right up to the current pot value. However, you may not bet higher than the total pot value or go all in.
• No-limit – In no-limit 5 card draw rules, the opening raise must be double the value of the big blind. Then, all subsequent bets or raises must equal the value of the last bet. The maximum bet you can wager here is all your chips, and this is called going all-in.

Variants of 5 Card Draw Poker

When you learn how to play 5 card draw poker, you’ll find that there are two variations of the game available on most offshore poker sites: single draw and triple draw. Below, we introduce you to these two variants and how they differ.

Single Draw

This is the poker variant we discussed in our how to play 5 card poker section above. In this version, there is only one drawing round followed by a single post-draw betting round. After this, players must enter a showdown and reveal their hands.

Triple Draw

In triple draw, you have three rounds of drawing, followed by three rounds of betting before you reach the showdown stage of the game. This offers a longer game and is more popular.

Five Card Draw Hi-Lo

This is a variation where the pot is split between the player with the highest hand and the player with the lowest qualifying hand.

Jacks Variant

A requirement where a player must have at least a pair of Jacks (or sometimes higher) to open the betting. If no player has at least a pair of Jacks, the hand is re-dealt.

Wild Cards

Some games may introduce wild cards (like jokers) that can substitute for any other card to improve hands. This can significantly alter hand rankings and strategies.

Five-Card Poker Betting Rules – Fold, Call, and Raise Explained

There are different actions you as a poker player can take during the betting rounds of a poker game – be it the 5-card draw or Texas Hold ‘Em. Below, we take you through your options and explain what each option means.

Call

If you opt to call, you choose to match the value of the previous bet. However, if no player has raised before it is your turn to act, you must then match the amount of the big blind.

Raise

If you choose to raise, you meet the existing bet (last raise or big blind) and then increase it. The amount by which you increase the bet depends on the betting structure you’re using for that particular game. You can find games that offer fixed-limit, fixed-pot, or no-limit play.

Fold

If you decide that you don’t have a strong hand and you don’t think you can get other players to fold, you yourself may choose to fold. In this case, you slid all of your cards, face down, toward the dealer and exit that hand.

Check

You do a check when you do not want to do any of the above actions. This is your ‘waiting to see how the game goes’ move. A check only holds good if all players before you have not done anything with their hands either.

5-Card Draw Poker Strategy & Tips

While you can learn how to play 5 card draw fairly quickly, as with anything, practice makes perfect. One of the best ways to practice 5 card poker is by playing online using demo games or using bonuses at online poker sites. This also allows you to put several five-card draw strategies into place. Below, we cover some must-know strategies:

• Make sure you don’t play too many hands. Instead, playing tight – a technique where playing fewer hands than average – is a better choice when learning how to play the game.
• Consider your position. The closer you sit to the button, the sooner you get to decide what kind of play to make – instead of being dictated by the actions of other players before you. It also allows you to see how many cards your opponents draw, thus giving you an idea of the hands they hold.
• The best way to enter a pot is with a raise, irrespective of your position.
• A pair in hand means you should ideally draw three cards to see if you can make three of a kind/trips or a stronger hand. If you have trips, draw two cards to see if you can get quads or something better. Similarly, if you have a two-pair, change the sole card to see if you can make a three-of-a-kind or a stronger hand.
• Be mindful of the hand’s probability when drawing cards.
• Knowing which hands to keep and which to discard is one of the most important things to have your head around in 5 card poker. It is best to only stick with stronger hands, especially early on in the game.
• Since there are no community cards in this variation of the game, it is difficult to know what hands your opponents may have. This makes bluffing much easier. By considering your opposition’s habits and the number of cards they exchange, you can get a good read on their hand and implement more believable bluffs.
• When you find yourself with three or four cards moving towards a royal flush, straight flush, or straight, you should hold those cards – even if they don’t currently form a winning hand yet. That said, the odds of completing these hands successfully are quite low.

That said, it is always worth being discreet about your chosen strategies and when you implement them. For instance, while drawing three cards if you have a pair makes sense, your opponents may be watching and then will have a better understanding of the hand you hold, making it more difficult to bluff. In this case, you may need to only draw one card or stand pat to give the impression that you have a stronger hand.

Conclusion

Learning how to play 5 card draw is quick and easy, making it a great starting point for novice players. While you have less idea of the cards your opponents hold because all five cards are dealt face down, this makes it easier to bluff and to read the action your fellow bettors take. As such, you can develop and implement basic strategies that will help you get ahead, in this fun and exciting poker variant.

5 Card Draw Poker FAQs