What
is 5 Card Draw poker?
For
many people including myself, 5 Card Draw is one of the first poker
games that you learn. One of the main reasons for this is that it's a
'real world' game that people often become accustomed to before they
enter the world of online poker, where Texas Hold'em and Omaha reign
supreme. Although you can find 5 Card Draw games on various online
poker room websites, it's not as popular for the simple reason that
there's only two betting rounds and it's not as lucrative as games
like Texas Hold'em and Omaha, where there are four rounds of
betting. This often means bigger pots and more money if you know the
game well.
5
Card Draw to many is still the archetype of poker, due to it being a
direct descendant to Primero, a card game that was popular in
Victorian Britain and many parts of Europe that allowed players to
bet money on who had the best hand. 5 Card Draw is synonymous with
the saloons and casinos of the Wild West, and if you ever see the
likes of John Wayne, Burt Lancaster or Kirk Douglas playing cards in
one of the old westerns, it'll be 5 Card Draw that they'll be
playing.
It
remains a favourite today because it's an easy game to learn
(possibly the easiest poker game to pick up and play) with friends.
My first introduction to 5 Card Draw was working in the pub trade in
my late teens where at around 11pm on a Sunday night the landlord,
some of the bar staff, and a few regulars would have a 'lock in',
break open a bottle of Irish Whisky and a pack of King Edward cigars
and play 5 Card Draw into the early hours of the morning. They'd play
small stakes for fun, and it was my boss David who first taught me to
play poker. I've been a fan ever since.
The
Rules of 5 Card Draw poker
5
Card Draw is played by no more than eight players, due mostly to the
fact that if all eight participants wish to draw more than three
cards each, the dealer would run out of cards. After all, eight
players with five cards each uses up forty cards from a fifty two
card deck. It is possible to draw a straight, flush or a full house
but usually in 5 Card Draw winning hands hold high pairs
(1010,JJ,QQ,KK,AA), medium/high two pair hands, three of a kind or if
you're luck is in the Holy Grail of poker hands – Four of a kind!
As a reminder of the hand ranking system in poker I've inserted it
below.
So
lets get started. Each player puts in an 'ante' which is a small bet
before the cards are dealt. An ante is usually 10% of the betting
limit, so if you're playing a $5/$10 game then the ante for each
player will b $1. The dealer deals one card face down to each eight
players, and then again until all eight have five cards face down
that only they can see.
After
assessing their cards there is a round of betting, and the choice to
fold, call or raise. After the bets have been placed the original
ante and the bets are added to the pot. Each player can discard and
draw up to three new cards if they wish or opt to 'stay' and keep
their original hand. This is the only chance to 'draw' in 5 Card Draw
(some variations of the game such as 2-7 Triple Draw allows you to
draw new cards three times, however, by allowing this the true
blood-and-guts spirit and do-or-die attitude of the game is lost).
There
is now a final round of folding, betting and raising. If more than
one player has called, then all players who are still in turn their
cards over and the winner takes the pot.
Variations
of 5 Card Draw poker
7
Card Draw poker – In this variation seven cards are dealt to each
player instead of five.
High
/ Low Declare – In this high / low split variation of the poker
game that can either be played with five or seven cards, each player
needs to declare between the first round of betting and the draw
which end of the pot they are aiming to win. The pot is split equally
between the highest and lowest hands. A player who declares a low
hand but ends up drawing a high hand is excluded from the pot.
Jacks
or better – In this variation of 5/7 Card Draw players may only
ante in and play a hand if they have a card that is Jack or higher.
Shotgun
poker – In this variation things progress as with any draw game
until the final betting round, after which each player turns one card
over and betting begins again. When this round is over each player
shows a second card and betting begins again until each player has
either folded or turned all their cards over. The winner with the
best hand wins the pot unless a high / low split game is declared by
the dealer at the beginning of the game.
2-7
Triple Draw poker – In this variation which has proved to be quite
popular in some online poker rooms each player aims for a low hand of
cards between 2 and 7. Low pairs, trips or a full house will lose to
a hand with no pairs. There are also three drawing rounds which
increases each player's chances of making the ideal hand of
2-3-4-5-7.
Winning
Strategies in 5 Card Draw poker
A
round of 5 Card Draw is short, especially given that there are only
two betting rounds. Poker psychology and the experience/confidence to
be able to mislead, manipulate and bluff are key to being successful.
One of the most powerful strategies in 5 Card Draw is to
raise/re-raise before the draw, opt out of the draw or draw only one
card, then follow the drawing round with another raise. Use this
sparingly as after a while other players will call you every time
instead of folding, which is what you want them to do, giving you an
easy win.
Bluffing
can be a powerful tool in 5 Card Draw poker, but can also damage you
severely. In nine out of ten scenarios it is best to play the hand
you are dealt, and play it well. Drawing three cards (unless you
already have a pair) in the drawing round means you are chasing a
hand and relying on luck instead of intuition; if you've got a weak
hand fold it and save your money. Your average player will always bet
to get to the drawing round, but this strategy leaves them high and
dry with no a short stack of chips very quickly. This is the
difference between gamblers and skilled poker players.
