5 Card Draw Rules

One of the original poker games and an increasingly popular game online 5-card draw is one of the few poker games where all the cards are dealt face-down. This game can be played in several betting formats including fixed limit, pot-limit and no-limit. This article shows the rules of 5-Card draw poker by going through a hand from before the cards are dealt to the showdown at the end.

Blinds

5 Card draw is played with blinds, these are a small fraction of the starting stacks and are posted by the 2 players to the left of the dealer button. The first player posts a half-sized blind, and the 2nd the ‘big blind’. The dealer button moves clockwise around the table after each hand ensuring that all players post the same amount of blinds.

Next 5 cards are dealt face-down – that is only the individual player can see their own cards. A round of betting is then started by the player to the left of the big blind (the ‘Under the Gun’ player). The betting structure of the game dictates how much can be bet.

Betting

In fixed limit draw the amount will be decided in advance and will match the current big blind. A maximum of 4 raises are allowed on each round in fixed betting limit games. Pot limit games set the minimum bet at the size of the big blind and the maximum at the size of the current pot. In No-Limit 5card draw games a player can bet up to what is in front of them at any point during a hand.

Drawing

After each player has had a chance to bet, call, raise or fold and all opponents have reacted to the last betting move it is time for the ‘draw’. Each player can discard any number of their cards and receive new cards from the deck. A player may also choose not to discard any cards – this is known as ‘standing pat’. Drawing of cards is started by the player to the immediate left of the dealer button, with the player on the button drawing last.

Once cards are drawn the second and final round of betting commences. Again the details of this will depend on the betting structure being used. In fixed limit games the betting amount is doubled between the first and second rounds. The second betting round is started by which ever player still in the hand is to the immediate left of the dealer position.

In no-limit and pot-limit betting it is possible that a player will run out of chips before the betting is completed. In this case the pot to which they contributed is separated and a ‘side-pot’ is created for players who still have chips and wish to continue betting. The all-in player can only win the pot they contributed to.

After the second betting round is completed hands are shown down. The highest poker hand wins the entire pot.

Now that you know how to play the game, check out our 5 card draw strategy section for tips and tricks at beating the 5 card draw tables.

Next: 5 Card Draw Starting Hand Guide