15 Steps on How to Play Poker Five Card Draw

Learning how to play Poker Five Card Draw is not as hard as you think. Well, this game is nowhere near as popular as it used to be a few decades ago.

Still, you might get a chance to play it in a home game and there are still some best e-wallet Casino Malaysia offering 5 Card Draw games. So, let’s take a look at what Five Card Draw poker is! 

What is Five Card Draw Poker?

Before we jump into how to play Poker Five Card Draw, let’s take a look at the definition from this types of poker. Five Card Draw is a straightforward variation of poker, where all players will be dealt five cards at the start.

This game can be played using a standard deck of 52 cards and uses the same poker hand rankings as in Texas Hold’em. 

How to Play Poker Five Card Draw: Steps by Steps

As far as the game mechanism is concerned, Five Card Draw is one of the easiest variations to learn. You will only need a deck of cards and some chips or something to track the betting, and you are good to go.

Here are some steps by steps that you can follow to be a master in 5 Card Draw poker. 

Basic Rules in Five Card Draw Poker

The first thing you need to know about how to play Poker Five Card Draw is to learn the basic rules. To give you the best understandings, here are some rules that you need to remember:

1. Remember the Hand Ranks

If you are completely new to the poker game, then you need to know the ranking of the hands before anything else. If you don’t, you can have a winning hand and not even realize it!

Therefore, before we jump into the specific to 5-card, let’s take a look at the hand rankings  from the strongest to the weakest on how to play Poker Five Card Draw:

• Five of a kind (if you play with a wild card)
• Royal Flush
• Straight Flush
• Four of a kind
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a kind
• Two Pair
• One Pair
• High Card (or a big fat nothing)

2. Know the Main Core

So, now that you know the hands on how to play Poker Five Card Draw. Wait a minute… How do you play the actual game? 

Well, for beginners, you can try to make the highest-ranked hand. Here are the basics, and, we will get to the specifics in the next section:

• The dealer will deal everyone 5 cards
• First bets are placed
• Players request the new cards, throwing away a portion of their old cards, making the best hand possible
• Another bets round will take place
• The player with the best hand will take the pot

3. Know the Difference between Blind and Ante Games

The five card has two possible variants when it comes to the start of any round, whether it is blind or ante in poker. Of course, it is all a matter of personal preference. 

In blind games, the player to the left of the dealer is the “small blind”. They will put up a bet before any hands are dealt. In addition, the player to the left of the small blind is the “big blind”. 

They also will put in a bet before any hands are dealt, even though their bet is twice the small blind.

Moreover, anyone who wants to play the round has to match the big blind to play. On the other hand, everyone needs to put a predetermined amount into the pot to be dealt any cards in ante games.

It will discourage folding, at least initially on how to play Poker Five Card Draw. 

4. Understand How to Check, Call, Raise, and Fold

After the dealer dealt your five cards and the betting rolled around to you, then you have 3 options to decide: call, raise, or fold.

Everyone has their own strategy on how to play Poker Five Card Draw, but here is what they are:

• Checking – Generally betting 0
• Calling – When you match the bet that is on the table
• Raising – When you increase the amount of money in the pot
• Folding -When you want to give up or surrender the game

5. Consider the Wild Cards

Learning how to play Poker Five Card Draw is fun, however, an extra element of surprise and strategy appears into play when you introduce the wild cards.

Just ensure everyone agrees on this beforehand. This will make the 5 of a kind as a potential hand and the best one at that. 

6. Work with Limits

If you want to try some control over the amount of money flowing on how to play Poker Five Card Draw, you will use some kind of limit into your game.

However, you don’t have to! It can avoid players from running out of money, a big spender bullying the others, and things will be getting out of hand. 

7. Consider Playing Lowball

Sometimes players’ hands suck! In that case, playing lowball is an option on how to play Poker Five Card Draw, where you can try to get the lowest hand possible.

Therefore, when everyone’s gone around the table and no one wants in or everyone is checking, moving to lowball is an option. 

The Setup in Five Card Draw Poker

We just have done with the basic rules in 5 Card Draw Poker. Now, we can move into the setup of this poker variation. Make sure you read them carefully as we will get into more complex information. 

8. Grab a Handful of Friends

Five Card Draw is best played with 6 people, even though 4 – 8 is OK too, and you can fudge 3 if you absolutely had to.

Clear off your dining room table. grab a bowl of snacks, and set everyone down. 

9. Get Something as a “Bet”

For the first time, you don’t need to practice how to play Poker Five Card Draw with real money.

You will just need things to bet with and to assign them a correlating value. Anything small that you have around is just fine. 

Chips? Those are worth 10. Paperclips? Those are worth 5. Just ensure you don’t eat them in the middle of the game. 

10. Do Your Blind or Ante

You have read that first section, right? Well, do you want to start practicing how to play Poker Five Card Draw with a blind or an ante?

It is all  just about the same amount of money in the end. It is just easier to cope out in a blind of this poker variation!

11. Have the Dealer Shuffle and Cut the Deck and Deal to Their Left

Shuffle that deck up as well! No stacking it and then have the dealer hand the table to the player on their right to cut it.

After that, they deal the deck, five to a player, starting with the player on the left. 

12. Initiate the First Betting Round

Well, so either your blinds or your antes are made, the first round of cards will be dealt, and betting commences.

If you are playing blind, start with the player to the left of the blinds. If you are playing ante, start with the player to the left of the dealer. 

13. Start the Draw Round

The next step on how to play Poker Five Card Draw, now everyone has either bet or folded, the draw round will start.

The players will give the dealer the cards they don’t want in exchange for the same amount of new cards in return, the hand still consists of 5 cards.

Moreover, the dealer will start with the player to his left as usual. 

14. Initiate the Second Betting Round

At this time, everyone has their semi-new hands. The betting will start again from the same player as last time.

It is similar protocol on how to play Poker Five Card Draw, only commonly the stakes are higher. 

15. Start the Showdown!

When it is down to two players, it is showdown time, baby! The player who played the last big move, generally shows his hand first.

The second player will lay his cards down too, and the winner will sweep up the pot. 

Conclusion

The 5 Card Draw is a popular poker variation for a reason. It is simple to learn how to play Poker Five Card Draw and start playing with what to wear to a casino night, or you can practice via online video poker.

This poker variation is certainly ideal for new players who want to practice making high ranking hands while increasing confidence with bluffing and betting.