
Five card draw is a classic American poker game that is commonly associated with famous outlaws of the old west like Billy the Kid and Jesse James. It also might be the game you remember playing as a child against your friends for pennies or candy. Well, nowadays the game is much different and it has been granted a new lease on life with its popularity rapidly growing at online based poker sites. There are some important things to note however in that the five card draw games seen in today’s online poker sites are much different than the games played in regular casinos or even in home games. Download Titan Poker for free and gain some experience at one of the best online poker rooms.
Five card draw poker in online poker rooms is usually played with between four and eight players although the game could be played with as few as two. Unlike the version of the game played in real poker rooms that have antes, online five card draw features blinds, much like Texas hold’em or Omaha poker. The small blind is located directly to the left of the dealer button and the large blind is directly to the left of the small blind. The small blind is almost always half of the small bet in the game and the large blind is equal to the small bet in the game. Let’s say we are playing $2/$4 five card draw, the small blind would be $1 and the large blind would be $2. Once the blinds are placed the dealer gives each player one card at a time until each player has five cards.
On the first round of action the player to the left of the big blind is first to act. They have the option of calling the big blind, folding or raising the blind. Play continues in a clockwise motion around the table until all players have acted. Note the important difference between online five card draw and traditional five card draw in that there is no opening requirement in order to bet. Many live five card draw games require at least a pair of jacks or better to open the betting, that is not the case with online games. Once all players have made their move, there is a draw phase. The first player to the left of the dealer button is the first player to discard and draw. The player may discard up to four cards and in return will get new cards from the dealer. Each player still in the hand gets the opportunity to discard in a clockwise motion around the table.
Once the draw phase is complete there is another round of betting. The action begins with the small blind and continues in a clockwise motion. In a traditional game of five card draw played at the casino, the player who opened the betting on the first round would be first to act. In the online game play simply begins with the small blind.
Once all players have had a chance to act there is a showdown to determine the winner. The player who was last to bet or raise must show their hand first. If a calling player can beat that players hand then they may show it on the table. If other players however know that they cannot beat the showing player, they may simply shove their hands face down to the dealer which is known as mucking. The dealer then awards the pot to the player with the best five card poker hand.