Five Card Draw: A Complete Guide to Playing This Classic Poker Game

Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker variant in the world, and for good reason. It’s a perfect balance between being easy to learn and hard to master, so it appeals to a broad audience. However, playing any form of poker can feel monotonous over time; when that happens, you might not know what to do.

Thankfully, there are many different poker games to explore. If you feel like Texas Hold’em’s strategy can be overwhelming and just want to relax with a simple variant, then Five Card Draw is an excellent choice. We’ll cover everything you need to know, from the game’s history as a classic poker variant to its basic rules and mechanics.

Whether you’re a Texas Hold’em veteran or a beginner looking to start learning poker, this guide is perfect for you.

Five Card Draw Overview

Five Card Draw evolved from early poker games that arrived in the US from France, influenced by the French game “poque” played in New Orleans. Early American poker used a 20-card deck, but the game saw numerous improvements over time, including expanding to a full 52-card deck and adding structured betting rounds.

Poker in general became very popular throughout the US during the 1861 Civil War, with soldiers playing various forms including Draw and Stud variants. After the war ended, soldiers brought these poker games home, spreading them throughout the Midwest. Five Card Draw remained one of the most popular forms of poker throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, until Seven Card Stud and eventually Texas Hold’em gained prominence.

Nowadays, Five Card Draw’s popularity is a fraction of what it once was. The game is still popular for casual home games since it’s very easy to learn, but its lack of depth compared to other poker variants is why you don’t often see it in casinos or poker tournaments. Unlike community card poker games like Texas Hold’em and Omaha, Five Card Draw gives each player their own private hand with no shared community cards on the table.

Antes and Blinds

Five Card Draw uses antes, a common mechanic used to seed a pot with funds prior to the hands being dealt.

The antes are forced bets players must make before getting their cards. The amount of the ante would be determined prior to the start of a game and remain the same throughout. For example, a 6 player game with $1 antes would have $6 in the pot prior to the deal, though ante amounts vary widely based on stakes.

The antes exist to discourage hyper-conservative play. In some games, one player would pay the full ante for the table to save time, with the payee rotating to ensure everyone pays them equally. This added “cost” to playing the game prevents players from waiting until they have a strong hand. Some poker games use a small blind and big blind structure instead, where the two players to the dealer’s left post forced bets before cards are dealt.

Betting Limits

Five Card Draw can use any betting format, with Fixed Limit being the traditional standard, though Pot Limit and No Limit versions also exist. For this guide, we’ll focus on No Limit Five Card Draw since many players are familiar with this format from Texas Hold’em.

No Limit is the betting format Texas Hold’em uses, and it allows players to raise and bet any amount they can afford, even going all in with their entire stack of chips. This leads to explosive action and the biggest pots compared to Fixed Limit or Pot Limit formats.

Hand Rankings

Poker involves players trying to make the best possible hand. Five Card Draw uses the traditional hand rankings found in nearly every high poker variant, from Texas Hold’em to Omaha to Seven Card Stud.

From strongest to weakest, the poker hand rankings are: Royal Flush (five cards of the same suit from Ten to Ace), Straight Flush (five sequential cards of the same suit), Four of a Kind (four cards of the same rank), Full House (three of one rank plus two of another), Flush (five cards of the same suit), Straight (five sequential cards), Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card. These hand rankings apply to most high poker games and determine the winning hand at showdown. Note that lowball variants reverse these rankings, rewarding the lowest hand instead.

Five Card Draw: The First Deal

Five Card Draw begins with the dealer dealing five cards face down to each player. Prior to receiving the cards, each player pays the ante, and the first player to the dealer’s left begins the action.

With the antes paid, the players can take any standard poker action: Check, Bet, Call, Raise, or Fold. Checking means you are taking no action and the action passes to the next player. Betting means putting in an amount of chips that other players will have to at least match if they want to continue in the hand. Calling means matching the previous bet’s exact amount.

Raising means increasing the active bet size and forcing all players to respond to it, even the player who made the first bet. Folding means giving up your cards and leaving the game. If everyone except one player folds, that remaining player wins the hand by default. This is where bluffing becomes powerful in poker games.

After every player has responded to any bets, the first betting round ends and the game moves to its second phase: The drawing round.

The Draw Phase

During the drawing round, players can exchange their cards for new ones to try and improve their hands. They can choose any quantity of cards to discard, with the dealer dealing an equivalent number from the deck.

There are many variations of Five Card Draw since it’s primarily a home game; different places have their own rules. One of the most common is only being able to draw three cards, forcing players to think carefully about which cards to get rid of.

Players can also choose not to draw and keep their hand as it is, known as “standing pat.” This usually signals a very strong poker hand. After everyone has drawn or stood pat, the game progresses to its third and final phase: The final betting round.

The Final Betting Round

Five Card Draw only has two total betting rounds, compared to Texas Hold’em’s four. This final betting round doesn’t start with an active bet, allowing players to check or make their own bet. If someone chooses to bet, everyone will have to respond with a call, raise, or fold.

Once the final betting round ends, if two or more players remain in the hand, the showdown occurs. Every remaining player reveals their poker hand, and the player with the best hand wins the pot. The dealer button then rotates to the next player for the following hand.

Playing Five Card Draw Online

While Five Card Draw isn’t as prominent in poker tournaments as Texas Hold’em or Omaha, you can still find it when playing online. Many online poker sites offer Five Card Draw tables where you can play poker for real money against other players. The convenience of playing online means you can enjoy poker games anytime without organizing a home game.

When playing online, the software handles the dealer duties automatically, dealing cards, managing the pot, and determining the winning hand. Online poker also offers various betting limits to suit different bankrolls, from micro-stakes to high-stakes real money games.

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Strategy and Bluffing

Understanding poker strategy in Five Card Draw means knowing when to draw cards and when to stand pat. Observing how many cards opponents draw provides valuable information about their likely hand strength.

When opponents draw three cards, they often hold one pair, though they could also be drawing to a straight or flush. Drawing two cards commonly indicates two pair or three of a kind. Drawing one card typically signals a straight or flush draw. Standing pat indicates a made straight, flush, or better—though skilled players will sometimes stand pat as a bluff.

Bluffing plays a significant role in poker. Since no one sees community cards face up on the table like in Texas Hold’em, representing a strong hand by standing pat can win pots even when you don’t have the best hand. However, use this tactic strategically against observant opponents.

Five Card Draw Variants

If you want more out of your five-card draw experience, you can try slightly changing the rules. One of the most common ways to do this is by adding a “bug,” more commonly known as a wild card, usually represented by a joker.

The bug traditionally acts as a limited wild card that can complete a straight, complete a flush, or be used as an ace. However, many home games use fully wild jokers that can represent any card. Wild card rules vary significantly between different poker games, so clarify the rules before playing.

Another popular variant is Lowball, where the lowest poker hand wins instead of the highest, completely reversing the usual hand rankings and strategy.

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