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5 Card Draw Poker Rules

5 Card Draw Poker rules are very simple. 5 Draw dates back a long way. The rules are very simple. 5 Card Draw is played with a maximum of 8 players. In 5 card draw, 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 their five-card hands by replacing none, some, or all of their cards.

After this betting round players can discard any of their 5 cards and receive replacement cards for those that he/she exchanges (the draw). It is entirely up to you how many of your cards you want to exchange. You can opt to exchange none or you can exchange all 5 - the decision is yours. The rules then state that there is then another round of betting after the exchange and then the showdown. The player with the highest poker hand wins the pot.

5 Card Draw strategy is a little more complex and the psychology of the game is a little different in that the biggest indication as to the strength of your hand is really how many cards you exchange. In exchanging a certain amount of cards, you will be giving away a lot of 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. Exchange all 5 and players will not expect you to fluke a big hand, which you can use to your advantage when this happens. 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 by bluffing in representing starting 5.

The play is intended to make your opponents think that you have a big hand (which is backed up by a big raise or 2) and should scare off an opponent, well privided 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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