Five Card Draw Rules

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A Draw Poker game with 5 cards.

Betting Structure

Draw poker has an ante and two betting rounds. The game will be identified by its betting limit, e.g. $1 game will use bets and raises of $1 throughout the game. Antes are generally equal to 1 bet.

The second round of betting can be done with a higher bet amount, usually double the first round bets. If this is the case, the game will be identified as a Draw High $1/$2 game where the $1 is the small bet (and ante) and the $2 is the large, second round bet.

The Deal Players all post an ante.

Players bet, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. The bet amount for this round of betting is the small bet. There is a maximum of four raises during the betting round.

The Draw Players who have not folded can discard any or all of their cards and have replacement cards dealt to them.

Players can ask how many cards another player drew up until someone opens the betting for the next betting round.

Players again bet, starting with the first active player to the dealer’s left. The bet size now increases to the big bet, which is generally double the small bet.

Showdown The player with the best poker hand wins the pot.