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5 Card Draw Rules &How to Play

5 Card Draw Poker rules are very simple. This game dates back a long way. The rules are very simple. The game is played with a maximum of 8 players in which each player is dealt 5 cards face down followed by a round of betting. There are two betting rounds in each hand. Those players who stay in on the first round have a chance to change or improve hands by replacing none, some, or all of their five cards that they drew.

After this betting round players can discard any of their five cards and receive replacement cards for those that he/she exchanges (the draw). It is entirely up to the player how many they want to exchange which could be none or all. There is then another round of betting after the exchange and then the showdown. The player with the highest five card poker hand wins the pot.

5 Card Draw strategy is a little more complex and the psychology of the game is a little different to community card games such as Holdem or Omaha in that the biggest indication as to the strength of your hand is really how many cards you exchange as the number of cards you exchange will give away information about the hand that you hold. If you exchange one card then you will not be disguising the fact that you have a potentially strong hand (you are happy with four of the cards). Exchange all five cards and players will not expect you to fluke a big hand which can be a real advantage when you do draw a huge hand (as no-one will believe you). It is also common for more deceptive plays to be seen like not changing any of your cards even though you have no hand trying to influence the betting through bluffing by only drawing one or no cards and so trying to represent a big hand (when actually they are holding nothing).

The play is intended to make your opponents think that you have a big hand (which is backed up by a big raise or two) to scare off an opponent, well provided that he/she doesn't have a genuine hand.

5 Card Draw Betting Structure

The betting begins after five cards have been dealt to each player. These cards are all dealt face down. Once all bets have been equalized the active players draw to their hands. There is then a second round of betting followed by the showdown. See poker hand rankings.

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