Five card draw was the poker player’s game of choice before Texas Hold’em took the poker world by storm. The idea is to make the best five-card hand after one ‘draw’ – or substitution of cards that the player wants to discard.
Being a draw game it is played with blinds, with the player immediately to the left of the dealer posting the small blind, and the player next left posting the big blind. Each hand starts with players being dealt five hole cards. The first player to act, sitting on the left of the big blind, has the option of folding, calling or raising. This applies to each player in turn in a clockwise direction around the table until all players have acted.
With this first round of betting complete, there then follows a draw. Each player selects from his hand the cards he wishes to discard (if any) by clicking on them. You can change your mind by clicking on the card a second time.
As in the betting round, this continues in a clockwise direction around the table. When the action reaches you, simply press the button to confirm you wish to discard the cards you have selected. After all players remaining in the hand have completed their draws there is another round of betting, starting with the first player to the left of the button who has not folded their hand.
After the second betting round has been completed, the winner of the pot is determined in two ways: the player left after everyone else folds; or the player with the best hand. If more than one player has the same valued winning hand the pot is split equally between them with the suit of each hand having no bearing.
To recap, each hand progresses like this:
- Five cards are dealt to each player.
- The first round of betting begins with the player to the left of the big blind.
- Players swap, or 'draw' cards (if required).
- The second round of betting follows, beginning with the player to the left of the button.
- Showdown (if necessary).
