How to Play 5 Card Draw Poker for Beginners

Five-card draw is the poker game of old Westerns and kitchen tables: five cards each, one chance to change some of them, and two rounds of betting. It is the simplest poker game to learn, which makes it the best first game.

What you need

• 2 to 6 players. It plays best with four or five.
• One 52-card deck.
• Chips.

The hand, step by step

1. Ante. Every player puts a small, equal bet in the middle — the ante. (Some games use blinds instead, as in hold'em.)

2. Deal. The dealer deals five cards face down to each player, one at a time.

3. First betting round. Starting left of the dealer, each player can check (if nobody has bet), bet, call a bet, raise or fold. The round ends when every remaining player has put in the same amount.

4. The draw. Starting left of the dealer, each player still in may discard some cards and be dealt the same number of replacements. Common limits:

• Up to three cards, or
• Up to four cards if you show that your last card is an Ace.

You may also stand pat — keep all five.

5. Second betting round. Same as the first, starting with the first active player left of the dealer.

6. Showdown. Remaining players show their hands. The best five-card hand wins the pot, using the standard poker hand rankings.

The deal moves one seat to the left for the next hand.

Jacks or better

A popular variation: nobody may open the betting without at least a pair of Jacks. If nobody can open, the hand is thrown in, everyone antes again, and the pot grows. The opener must show their openers at the end of the hand.

What to draw

• One pair: draw three.
• Two pair: draw one.
• Three of a kind: draw two (or one, to disguise it).
• Four to a flush or an open-ended straight: draw one — but it misses more often than it hits.
• A straight, flush or full house: stand pat.

How many cards an opponent draws tells you a lot. A player who draws one card has two pair or is chasing a straight or flush. A player who stands pat is either very strong or bluffing.

5 card draw with 2 players

It works the same way heads-up. Alternate the deal each hand; the non-dealer acts first in each betting round. With only two hands in play, middling hands — a pair of 8s, say — are worth a great deal more.

Lowball

Want something different? Deuce-to-seven lowball is played the same way, but the worst hand wins. Straights and flushes count against you, and the best possible hand is 7-5-4-3-2 in mixed suits.

Five-card draw is a game for a round table and real chips. Clay chips stack, riffle and land with the right sound.