How to play Draw Poker

Draw Poker is the original form of poker. The most common game is Five Card Draw Poker a simple game that is represented in most old western movies. The game is typically set in the saloon of a small mining village where a professional card player is conning a bunch of professional gunslingers.

Draw Poker is not a very popular form of poker since it is based on a great element of luck. All cards are closed making it difficult to guess the opponents hand and rating your own hand in relation to the hands of your opponents. Draw Poker is poorly represented on the Internet; very few poker rooms offer draw poker.

A Draw Poker table usually consists of between three to six players depending on how many cards can be traded after the first round (only 52 cards in the deck).

First round
Before the game starts the players must post an ante to help build the pot. Each player is then dealt 5 cards face down (hole cards).

The player to the left of the dealer starts the first betting round with either a check or bet. The remaining players can now fold, call or raise. When the betting round is complete and every remaining players has contributed equally to the pot .

Second round
After the first round of betting each player is allowed to trade a number of cards (house rules; usually between three to five) with the deck.

When all players have finished trading cards with the deck another round of betting starts. When this betting round is complete the game goes straight to showdown declaring a winner. The ranking of hands can be seen here.