5 Card Draw Rules: How to Play
There was a point in time where poker meant 5 card draw. It was the game you learned to play when you heard about poker. It brings up images of cowboys in saloons, holding up and hiding behind five cards and staring each other down. Things have switched to Texas Hold’em and Omaha though, and the WSOP hasn’t offered a 5 card draw bracelet event in years.
While 5 card draw has waned a bit in popularity, it’s still a great game that’s widely available in casinos and online poker rooms. The rules are pretty simple. The goal is to get the best five card poker hand you can get. To start out, every player gets five cards. Players get one chance to draw cards or stand pat.
After that, players show their hands, and the dealer declares a winner. Those are the broad strokes of the game, now let’s get into more details.
How to Play 5 Card Draw
5 card draw is a relatively simple game and that’s why it’s such a common game to learn to play poker with. Players sit, determine blinds and button, and get dealt five face-down cards by the dealer.
Action then starts from the big blind’s left. This is the first betting round and it goes around the table. After the betting has concluded, players then have a chance to discard cards. You can pick just one or all five cards and get a whole new hand. If you really like your hand, then you don’t have to draw any. That action is known as “stand pat.”
After that, there’s another round of betting. This time the action starts on the button’s left. After betting, players reveal hands, and the best five-card poker hand wins the pot.
When all the chips have settled, it’s time for another hand.
Drawing Strategy
While the game is simple, there’s an infinite number of ways to play and strategies you can use. Drawing typically aims to improve your hand, but it can also be used as a bluff at times.
For example, when you stand pat (draw no cards and keep your hand as is) that usually indicates an incredibly strong hand. This could turn into a powerful bluff if you know your opponents and how you’re being perceived at the table.
For straightforward play, draw three with a pair, draw one with two pairs, and draw two with trips. These are the strongest hands in the game and will help you make money in the long run.
Flushes and straights are deceptive in 5 card draw. Indeed, with many cards already out, even if you’re just one card away from a flush or straight, you’re approximately a 4-to-1 underdog. That means you hit it about one out of every four times. To be profitable, the pot you could win should be at least four times larger than the amount you call.
This can be incredibly tough if you’re playing limit 5 card draw and is still unlikely in no-limit since there’s only one betting round before you get to pick a new card, whereas in Texas Hold’em there have already been two rounds of betting if you’re drawing after the flop. This creates bigger pots and better odds for drawing hands.
Remember, in 5 card draw you only have one shot to hit your hand, so, mathematically, it’s always best to improve on the hand you have then try to draw to a big one. But if you’re in the mood to gamble and hit big hands, then draw away.
A bold move after betting big is drawing five. Sometimes players make the choice to go for a hail Mary when they know they’re absolutely beat. It’s a great way to strike a little bit of fear into your opponents and throw some unpredictability into your game. Don’t forget to mix it up too. To keep opponents guessing and make your play less predictable, consider showing a pair after every draw (three, two, or one).
Betting Strategy
This all depends on the format you’re playing. There are three different betting structures you can use when you’re playing 5 card draw. The first is limit. That means there are big bets and small bets and you can only bet and raise that fixed amount. Players typically cap these bets at three re-raises as well.
The second is pot-limit. That means you can only bet the amount that’s in the pot. Things can build up pretty quickly in pot-limit games though, but they don’t tend to get as big in 5 card draw as they do in other games like Omaha where there are four rounds of betting.
The last form of betting is no-limit. As the name implies, there is absolutely zero limit to how much you can bet. If you want to go all-in right off the bat, you’re more than welcome to do so. The strategy you take on depends on the type you’re playing. It’s a little harder to bluff people off hands in limit because of the smaller pot sizes and betting. However, you can still find opportunities to bluff since most people playing limit tend to be tighter. You can counter them with constant and solid aggression when you have a decent hand.
Pot-limit and no-limit offer better chances to bluff and more importantly, they have a better chance to build a bigger pot that you’ll need to get odds for your bigger drawing hands to pay off. If you can get better than 4-to-1 odds and then know your opponent will keep paying off after you hit, then bet big.
FAQ
There are tons of different casinos and poker games online that offer the game. If you’re looking a place to go live, look up local casinos in your area and check the games they have listed. If you’re looking for an ideal online poker room, then look no further. Our expert reviewers diligently review the best poker sites out there to find out which ones are the absolute best for every kind of player. If you want to play freerolls or use Bitcoin, our reviewers have amassed all the information you need to know on our reviews page.
5 card draw uses your standard poker hand ranking. This goes from a high card at the low end all the way up to a Royal Flush at the top end of the spectrum. You’ll hit a high card every hand but there’s only a 1 in 649,739 chance that you’ll get dealt a Royal Flush. You do get a pair about 50 percent of the time, so keep that in mind when you’re playing.
If you need a refresher on poker hands, head on over to our poker hand ra
king page to find a full guide and a printable .pdf to keep handy.
There are plenty of different websites and online forums where you can find more in-depth 5 card draw strategy and discussions. There is significantly less literature and coaching when it comes to 5 card draw though. There really aren’t any definitive books on the game either so your best bet is to start playing, read sites and make friends you can discuss strategy with.
