Five Card Draw

Five Card Draw is one of the first types of poker that many players learn because the rules are simple and very popular in home games. There are two rounds of betting, one before and one after drawing cards.

The size of the blinds is determined by the stakes on the table - small blind is equal to half the small bet, and large blind equals the big bet. For example - to play $2/$4 Fixed Limit Five Card Draw, small blind (SB) will be $1 and big blind $2. At the beginning of each hand, the player left of the dealer button posts the small blind, the player to the left of him posts the big blind. Then, starting from the small blind, players are dealt 5 cards face down to the table and betting starts with the player left of the big blind which is called "under the gun". It may fold (just put your hand and do nothing more), call (i.e. to pay the big blind) or raise (set to twice the big blind). The game continues in this manner until all players at the table pay the sum set or fold. Blinds are considered real bets and count towards the players' bets - i.e. if nobody raises before the order comes to the big blind, it may check and continue to play with the phase of drawing cards or raise and thus start a new round of betting again.

After betting is complete comes the round of replacement cards. Starting with the first player left of the button, each participant chooses how many cards from his hand he wants to change. Then each player receives as many new cards as he discarded. Players may change as many cards as they like - 0 (stand pat) to 5.

After all players receive their cards there should be a second round of betting. All players remaining in hand at this stage show their cards. Each player uses all 5 cards in his hand while using standard poker rules for their formation. The best hand wins the pot, if two or more hands with the same value, the pot is split between the players.