How to Play Five Card Draw

Five-Card Draw is a classic poker game where players try to create the best 5-card poker hand. To play, first each player puts a predetermined ante into the pot, like 10 dollars. Then, the dealer deals everyone 5 cards face down, one at a time. Each player looks at their hand, and the player to the left of the dealer, player 1, can either check (bet nothing) or bet by putting money or chips into the pot. Then, the player to their left, player 2, can do one of four things: check (unless player 1 bet, in which case player 2 must bet to stay in that round), call (match the bet in the pot), raise (bet more than the player before them), or fold (forfeit that round). If player 2 calls, the bet stays the same, and player 3 then must either call, raise, or fold. Alternatively, if player 2 raises, then the bet increases for each subsequent player, and player 1 must add the difference between their initial bet and the raised bet to the pot. Once every player has checked, called, raised, or folded, each player can give up to 3 cards from their hand to the dealer in exchange for new face-down cards from the deck. If a player has an ace in their hand, they can exchange up to 4 cards instead. Players don’t have to exchange any cards if they’d like to keep all of the cards in their hand. Once every player, including the dealer, has exchanged any cards they’d like to, another round of betting begins, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. Once everyone is finished betting, each player still in the round reveals their hand. The player with the highest hand wins the pot. In order from lowest to highest, the cards are ranked: high card, one pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush, royal flush. For tips on how to place bets if you don’t have poker chips, read on!