How to Play 5 Card Poker – The Basics of 5 Card Draw

Why should you learn how to play 5 Card Poker? Learning the rules of 5 Card Poker not only gives you a grounding in a popular game, it sets you up for success in other variants, including Texas Hold’em.

So, if you want to become a strong all-round poker player, you need to know these things about 5 Card Draw…

What is 5 Card poker?

5 Card Poker, aka 5 Card Draw, is a traditional poker variant where, unsurprisingly, everyone gets 5 cards. You make hands by holding and exchanging cards, hence the name 5 Card Draw. This makes 5 Card Poker different from community card variants like Texas Hold’em.

If you read our guide to Texas Hold’em, you’ll see that everyone has 2 cards they can use in conjunction with 5 community cards. The fact everyone has the right to use the 5 cards in the middle of the table is why they’re referred to as community cards.

As you learn how to play 5 Card Poker, you’ll understand why community cards aren’t necessary. What’s more, you’ll notice that 5 Card Draw rules have an impact on the strategies you use and the judgments you make about opponent’s hands.

Objectives

The objective in 5 Card Draw is to win bigger pots than you lose. You strive to do this in one of two ways:

1. Having the best-ranked hand at showdown
2. Making everyone else in the hand fold

This concept applies to cash games and tournaments. Indeed, if you leave a cash game winning bigger pots than you’ve lost, you’ll finish with a profit.

If you play 5 Card Draw tournaments, winning bigger pots than you lose will help you survive as long as possible.

If you’re unfamiliar with how poker tournaments work, the ultimate goal is to survive longer than everyone else so you can scoop the biggest prize.

5 Card Poker Rules

5 Card Poker rules are among the easiest to master. Each hand starts with two players putting in forced bets known as antes or blinds.

Some 5 Card Draw rules require everyone to put in an ante before any cards are dealt. However, when it comes to games at online poker sites, it’s more common for two people to put in antes called the small blind and big blind.

Once the antes have been posted, everyone receives five cards face down. These are known as hole cards, and they’re only visible to the person they’ve been dealt to.

Everyone has the chance to assess their cards at this stage and make one of the following moves:

• Fold: give up the hand
• Call: match the current biggest bet
• Raise: increase the size of the current bet

Everyone gets a chance to act, after which one of two scenarios occurs:

1. Someone raises, and no one calls. This player wins the pot without a showdown.
2. At least two players match the current biggest bet.

If two or more players remain active in the hand, they can make one of two moves:

• Stand Pat: keep all 5 of their cards
• Draw: discard any number of cards and exchange them for new ones

Anyone who draws gets their cards before a second betting round takes place. Again, if only one player matches the current biggest bet, they win the pot by default. However, if two or more players call, a showdown takes place.

The winner of a 5 Card Draw showdown has the highest-ranking hand. The rankings are shown later in this guide on how to play 5 Card Poker.

5 Card Poker Example

Here’s an example of how to play 5 Card Poker using a fictitious cash game scenario:

• Game: 5 Card Draw
• Stakes: $1/$2
• Number of Players: 6

The Initial Deal

• Player 1: posts the $2 big blind and receives 5 cards
• Player 2: posts the $1 small blind and receives 5 cards
• Player 3: receives 5 cards
• Player 4: receives 5 cards
• Player 5: receives 5 cards
• Player 6: receives 5 cards

First Betting Round – The Action Starts with Player 3

• Player 3 folds
• Player 4 Folds
• Player 5 calls the $2 big blind
• Player 2 calls the $2 big blind by putting in $1 more
• Player 1 checks (they leave their forced bet in the pot and elect not to raise)

The Draw – The Action Stars with Player 2

• Player 2 stands pat
• Player 1 draws 3 cards
• Player 5 draws 1 card

Second Betting Round – The Action Starts with Player 2

• Player 2 bets $4
• Player 1 folds
• Player 5 raises to $8
• Player 2 calls an extra $4

Showdown

• Player 2 shows: A? 4? 9? 10? J? (a flush)
• Player 5 shows: A? A? A? K? K? (a full house)

Result: Player 5 wins the pot

5 Card Poker Hand Rankings

Does three of a kind beat two pair in 5 Card Draw? Are straights better than flushes? You need to know the answers to those questions if you want to win in 5 Card Poker.

As we’ve said, the rules of 5 Card Draw allow you to win pots in two different ways: by making everyone fold or by having the best hand. Poker card rankings are standardized across variants. Therefore, if you can play Hold’em or Omaha, you can play 5 Card Poker.

Here’s a quick list of how poker hands are ranked. It is the same in 5 Card Draw as in Texas Hold’em and other poker games.

• Royal Flush
• Straight Flush
• Four of a Kind
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a Kind
• Two Pair
• One Pair

Advantage of 5 Card vs Other Poker Variants

Why should you learn how to play 5 Card Draw?

In our opinion, it’s the simplest form of poker to master if you’re a complete newbie. It’s the game all the best poker players of all time started out on.

Aside from the fact there are only two betting rounds, games are usually Limit or Pot Limit.

The fact you can’t bet as much as you want keeps pots smaller. This, in some ways, means you’re under less pressure because your stack won’t be at risk every time you play a hand. Less pressure gives you more freedom to think logically.

Opponents are less likely to bluff in Limit and Pot Limit games because it’s harder to make people fold. Therefore, you need to focus more on the fundamentals of making strong hands.

This doesn’t mean you can’t bluff in 5 Card Draw, particularly if it’s a No Limit game. However, it’s less common, which is why you need to know poker card rankings and, in turn, the odds of making those hands based on your starting cards.

What we’re driving at here is that the simplicity of 5 Card Draw makes it easier to think about fundamental concepts. These are the ideal conditions for newbies. If you can build a solid foundation in 5 Card Draw, you can use that to develop a winning poker strategy in other variants.

That’s the advantage of this variant over others. Of course, there are counterpoints. For example, there’s more scope to be creative and bluff in Texas Hold’em and Omaha. Pots also get bigger in other variants. However, if you learn how to play 5 Card Poker, it sets you up for success in other variants.

5 Card Poker Strategy

Knowing how to play 5 Card Draw is more than rules and hand rankings. You need to know basic poker strategy if you want any chance of winning money. So, before you play 5 Card Draw online, here are 3 key concepts you need to embrace:

FAQs