5 Card Draw Poker Rules and Strategy
Five card draw is the first poker game many of us learned how to play when we were younger. It's simplicity and straightforward rules are easy to understand and easy to teach to others. Even I have fond memories of my grandfather teaching me how to play 5 Card Draw at the kitchen table during those endless spring breaks of my youth.
Even though it's not played for real money very often any more, 5 Card Draw is a timeless game. It's one of the easiest games to learn but hardest games to master because you don't get to see any of your opponents' cards. All you have to go on is your opponents' facial expressions and how many cards they discard.
5 Card Draw Rules
Dealer's Button and the Antes
Every hand of 5 Card Draw begins with the dealer's button. This is a small flat disc that's used to represent the dealer each hand. At the beginning of each hand, the dealer's button moves one spot to the left so that each player has a turn posting the blinds and acting as the dealer.
In games that employ the services of a full time dealer, the dealer's button is still necessary to keep track of position and the posting of the blinds.
The rules for the antes vary by venue but there is usually some type of small ante put in the pot by every player or there is a big blind and small blind. If the game uses small and big blinds, these are antes that are only put in place by the two players to the left of the dealer.
The Deal and the First Round of Betting
After the antes or blinds have been placed, each player is dealt five cards face down, one at a time, starting with the player to the left of the dealer and going around the table clockwise.
After each player has received five cards, the player to the left of the dealer starts the betting. He may check, bet or fold. If this first player decides to bet, all the other players must either match this bet, raise it or fold their hands.
The betting action continues clockwise around the table until all the bets have been matched.
The Draw and the Second Round of Betting
After the first round of betting has been completed, the players may now discard any number of cards in their hands and draw new cards.
After all the players have completed their draws, there is a second and final round of betting. The player to the left of the dealer starts the betting again.
Once all the bets have been matched, the players remaining in the hand show their cards. The player who initiated the last bet or raise must show his cards first.
The player with the best 5 card poker hand wins the pot.
House Rules
Many social 5 card draw games play with the house rule that players can only discard a maximum of three cards during the drawing phase unless he discards four cards while keeping an ace in his hand.
Basic 5 Card Draw Strategy
Five card draw is a difficult game to employ strategy because there's not a lot of information available to you. There are four main sources of information in 5 Card Draw:
The betting patterns of your opponents The number of discards your opponents make Any physical tells you can pick up on that indicate the strength of an opponent's hand The history of your opponents
You really cannot rely on any one of these sources of information by itself to make correct decisions in 5 Card Draw. You will have to combine betting patterns with physical tells and opponent history, for example, to determine if an opponent really does have a strong hand or is just bluffing.
The descriptions of these four sources of information are described in a more "defensive" style of poker. These all describe how to tell what your opponents are doing so you can read their hands. If you want to go on the offensive, use your knowledge of these four sources of information to throw your opponents off balance.
But be careful when you do. Five card draw is a game commonly played by amateurs so bluffs and tricky play don't go over too well in most games. If you're up against a strong opponent who can recognize these moves, you can bluff more but you'll have to be even more wary of your opponent.
Betting Patterns of Your Opponents
Betting patterns are a good source of information in most poker variants but in 5 Card Draw you only get two rounds of betting to pick up a pattern. Obvious signs of strength are bets, raises and not discarding cards. If an opponent combines all three of these signs, he either has a strong hand or is pulling a bluff.
Other betting patterns that may indicate strength are your opponents playing the first round of betting passively, then drawing one or two cards and suddenly springing to action on the second round of betting. This may indicate a draw or it may indicate a more subtle but sometimes just as effective bluff.
The more you play 5 Card Draw, the more you'll catch onto these types of betting patterns. Betting patterns are the best source of information you'll get but you still need to combine the information you get from betting patterns with the other three sources of information.
The Number of Discards Your Opponents Make
You can get a general idea how far your opponents are reaching by the number of cards they discard during the drawing phase. If you have an opponent drop 5 of his cards, you will know for a certainty that his final hand is going to be composed of 5 random cards.
When your opponents discard fewer cards, you'll know they either have something strong already or are drawing to a stronger hand. You won't know for sure what they have but it will give you a general idea that their hands are stronger when they draw fewer cards.
Of course you still need to take into account the fact that your opponents may sometimes deliberately deceive you with the number of cards they discard. Opponents who stand pat (don't draw any cards) may have made hands or they may be bluffing.
One thing you can rest assured about, however, is that if your opponent ever discards 4 or 5 cards, he's not doing it to deceive you. He needs new cards. It's pretty obvious but think about it this way: your opponent can't keep a strong hand if he discards all his cards.
Physical Tells
This is probably the iffiest source of information you'll get. Physical tells are sometimes correct but often unreliable. Our opponents may give off random tells on accident, we may interpret tells incorrectly and our opponents may give off tells on purpose to throw us off.
But that doesn't mean there's not a place for physical tells. They do exist. If you catch an opponent make a certain action every time he has a strong or weak hand, use that information to your advantage.
There's no way to give a list of every possible tell on this page but if you watch your opponents closely you can occasionally pick up on certain things. Sometimes people will look at their chips when they have strong hands because they intend to bet. Other times your opponents will purposely sigh and act disinterested when betting with strong hands.
Do not assume these are tells the first time you observe any of these actions. Every person brings their own style, their own tics to the table. Wait until you have proof a tell exists before betting any significant amount of money onit.
History of Your Opponents
Here is one of the best sources of information. When you play with specific opponents long enough, you tend to develop a history together. Look back at that history and get a feel for your opponent's playing style.
Note things like how often he bluffs, how he bluffs, what kinds of hands he takes to the showdown, what kind of hands he draws to and what kinds of hands he gives up on. When you play with your opponents long enough, you get an idea of how they react in different situations. You can use the information to read your opponents hands and to predict how they react to the different situations you can put them in.