How to Play Five-Card Draw Poker
One of the many different variations of poker is called Five-Card Draw Poker.
This is the variant most poker players often learn first. Commonly played as a home game, Five-Card Draw Poker is rarely seen in casinos and tournaments. We will discuss how to play this household variant of poker.
Five-Card Draw Poker is played by four up to six players. Like the other poker variations, the objective is simple. The poker player who has the highest hand wins the game. The winner will then take the pot.
Typically Five-Card Draw Poker uses an ante to start the betting. An ante is a forced bet where each player would place an equal amount of money/chips into the pot. In a casino or home game the first betting round typically starts with the person seated to the left of the big blind. Betting starts from the left of the dealer and moves counter clockwise. The second round of betting begins with the poker player who opened the first round.
Then the Five-Card Draw Poker game officially starts. Each poker player will recieve five cards, one at a time -- all of them face down. The remaining deck of cards will be placed aside. Pokers players would then pick up their cards, holding them carefully with their hands. Poker players conceal their cards so the other players wont see them. Additional bets can be made after cards are dealt.
Many poker players fold after the first round of betting. As long as there will be more than one player remaining in the game the draw phase begins. Poker players can ask the dealer to replace their cards with new ones. Three would be the usual maximum number of cards that can be replaced. When a player changes certain cards, it will be replaced by the dealer with the same number of cards. These are called the burn cards. Like the first five cards dealt by the dealer they are all face down. After the burn cards are dealt more betting would occur. Bets would always start with the poker player who opened the first round of betting.
After all bets have been made and all cards are dealt the game moves on to the showdown phase. The remaining poker players will then compete with each other. The poker player who has the highest hand wins the game. The poker player who wins the game also wins the pot prize along with the bets. After this, the game restarts until one of the poker players retire.
That's basically how we play Five-Card Draw Poker. It is pretty easy to learn and can be played even in our own homes.