Draw Poker
Draw poker was the original form of poker prevalent before hold'em took off in such a big way and it's the variant they play in all the old poker films. It's still popular in some quarters.
Draw poker differs from stud poker and hold'em in that you get to change your cards. There are lots of different versions but here's how you play the basic game:
- All players put in an ante to get some money into the pot.
- Everyone is dealt five cards face down on the table (hole cards).
- The player to the immediate left of the dealer starts off the first round of betting and this continues around the table in a clockwise direction with players checking, calling, raising or folding as usual. Betting is normally fixed-limit or pot-limit.
- Players now get the opportunity to change their cards if they so wish. Starting with the player on the dealer's left, everyone is allowed to discard up to five cards. Keeping all your cards and discarding none is called standing pat. Discards are placed face down in the middle of the table and immediately replaced by the dealer from the deck, ensuring everyone ends up with five again. If you run out of cards, discards can be shuffled and reused.
- There is now a second round of betting starting with the player who was the first to bet in the opening round.
- Now comes the showdown. Everyone now places their cards face up on the table in front of them, and as usual, the best hand wins.
As with any form of poker, games may not reach the showdown if all but one of the players folds before that point.
There are numerous versions of draw poker - some limit the number of cards you can exchange, or allow more than one draw; some require a payment for each exchanged card, others play lowball (the low hand wins rather than the high hand) or split the pot between the highest and lowest hands.
Lowball
This variant is similar to draw poker, described above, the difference being that the lowest (or worst) hand wins, instead of the highest. You can play:
Deuce-to-seven low - in which aces are high and straights and flushes don't count as low hands. Therefore the best possible hand is 7-5-4-3-2.
Ace-to-five low - in which aces are low and straights and flushes are ignored. Therefore the best possible hand is 5-4-3-2-A.
Ace-to-six low - in which aces are low and straights and flushes don't count as low hands. Therefore the best possible hand is 6-4-3-2-A.
Triple Draw
Triple draw is a variant of draw lowball that's been getting increasingly popular in recent years and is renowned for the action it generates. The play proceeds as follows:
- Two blinds are used as in hold'em.
- Each player is dealt five cards and there's an initial round of betting.
- Players can draw as many cards as they like (zero to five) up to three times each.
- After each round of drawing, there's a round of betting.
Triple draw can be played either as deuce-to-seven low or ace-to-five low. Unfortunately you can't play with more than six players because you run out of cards too often.
