5 Card Draw Poker Rules

Learn how to play 5 Card Draw Poker

The most famous of all the poker games, and, although rarely played at online poker sites any more, here at Ladbrokes Poker, 5-Card Draw is still alive and well!

The history and image of this game evokes the atmosphere of the Wild West more than any other, and the ‘good ol’ days of the game’. ‘Wild’ Bill Hickok, the legendary outlaw, was playing draw poker when he was shot in the back by Jack McCall in Deadwood, South Dakota. The hand that he was claimed to be holding – two pair in Aces and Eights - is otherwise known as the "Dead Man’s Hand".

5 Card Draw poses a whole different set of dilemmas to most poker games: Keep the ace, or have the extra card to try to get 3 of a kind? Keep the pair or go for the flush? Questions I am sure many people have asked themselves when playing this game that you wouldn’t find elsewhere.

To play 5-Card Draw you are dealt 5 cards face down, and then engage in a round of betting. Those remaining then ‘draw’ cards in sequence and then bet again. ‘Bluff and guts’ are ever-present with a game played with no community cards and completely concealed hands.

If ever there was a poker game that would have been taught round the kitchen table or used to pass the wisdom of cards down from generation to generation then this is it. "Never draw to an inside straight, son, and keep your cards close to you chest".

One for the purists.

How to play Five Card Draw - A Step-by-step Guide

Learn The Game:

In this guide we will detail all the necessary steps to help you feel at home on the tables. We have even enlisted the sage advice of some proven and accomplished players whose results and experience here at Ladbrokes Poker speaks for itself, and they have generously given their time to provide some helpful strategy, hints and tips.

If you wish to practice what you will learn below, but want to feel your way a bit further into the game, then we have a vast selection of free money poker tables available for you on the site.

The Start of the game:

At the beginning of all poker games we start with the button, a white disc in front of one player on the table that signifies who is to be the dealer for any specific hand.

The two players to the left of the dealer now have to post their blinds. The blinds are forced bets (so called because the players have to post them ‘blind’ before they see any cards). The first player posts the small blind and the second player posts the big blind. The small blind is generally half the number of chips of the big blind. After each hand the button progresses one place to the left, and so do both the blinds.

Each player is now dealt five cards face down. Players will now bet in the same fashion as Texas Hold’em poker or Omaha poker, with players required to either call the big blind amount, raise or fold. Once all bets have been matched and - if applicable - the big blind has been given their option (to raise if the bet has not been increased from the initial big blind amount.) The players then have the option to change their cards.

The Draw:

Starting from the player to the immediate left of the dealer button, each player in turn now has the option to change between none and all five of their cards.

Players discard their cards face down and receive all their cards in one go.

The players now bet again, starting from the player closest to the left of the button, and progressing clockwise until all bets are matched. Those players remaining after all bets have been matched then move onto the showdown.

The Showdown

With all betting complete, players now reveal their hands. As usual, it is up to the last player to raise to show their hand first. If there was no positive betting in the preceding betting round (that is to say that all players checked on the prior round) it is up to the player first to the left of the dealer button to reveal their cards first.

The normal ranking of poker hands applies, and there is no differentiation between suits when deciding the value of a hand.

After the pot has been awarded and all cards have been returned, the button then moves to a place to the left, and the next hand is ready to begin.