Watch any movie that features poker before Chris Moneymaker and the WPT made Hold 'em the most popular poker game in the world, and most likely you'll see the characters playing 5 Card Draw poker. Draw games are the foundation of all other poker games, and 5 Card Draw is the most basic of these.
Beginners' Tip: Draw games played with a blind are very positional, meaning players who act later have the advantage of seeing how their opponents are going to play. For this reason, you should pay strict attention to how many cards your opponents are drawing and how they bet. Sometimes a pot can be won just by betting when the action is checked to you.
5 Card Draw
5 Card draw can be played by up to eight players. It is not as common as most other forms of Poker in poker rooms, but is finding more popularity recently. It can be played as an antes, but is more commonly played as a blind game. When played with blinds, the deal begins with the small blind. Players receive five cards face down, followed by a round of betting. The betting round is identical to a betting round in a Hold 'em game with blinds. After this round of betting, players can select to discard up to five cards from their hand and receive replacements. The cards drawn are dealt in a clockwise order and each player receives all their cards at once. For example, if you discard two cards and another player discards three cards, you will receive your two cards right away, then the next player receives three. After all players have had the chance to draw, another round of betting commences and there is a showdown. The best five-card hand wins the pot.
Beginners' Tip: You may wonder what happens in a draw game when players have drawn more cards than are left in the deck. When this occurs, all discards are re-shuffled and play continues using the discarded cards.
Triple Draw A-5
A popular variation of Draw poker is Triple Draw Ace to Five. Played with blinds, each player is dealt five cards, and the object is to make the lowest hand you can. The best hand in Triple Draw A-5 is 'the wheel', which is an ace to five straight. In Triple Draw, there are four rounds of betting instead of two, and after each of the first three rounds, players can select to discard up to five cards from their hand. Straights and flushes do not count against players in Triple Draw A-5.
Triple Draw 2-7
You will also see Triple Draw Deuce to Seven being played. Triple Draw 2-7 is identical to Triple Draw A-5, with the exception that straights and flushes do count against players, and the ace is a high card. Therefore, the best possible hand in Triple Draw 2-7 is 75432.
Badugi
'Badugi' is a four-card triple-draw poker game that has found its way into poker rooms from many home games. It is played as a blind game, and the deal begins with the player in the small blind. Players receive four cards face down, and four round of betting follow. After each of the first three rounds, players may discard up to four cards from their hand.
Betting and drawing follows the same procedure as Triple Draw A-5.
The object of 'Badugi' poker is to create a 'Badugi', which is four unsuited cards. 'Badugi' uses different rankings of hands than traditional poker. Hands are ranked as low hands, making the best possible hand A234 with all four cards being different suits. While players each have four cards in their hand, at showdown, it is possible they will only use one, two, or three of them. At showdown, players must remove from their hand one of any pair of cards and one of any two suited cards. The remaining cards will be unsuited and unpaired. Just like in other low games, the highest card in each hand is considered first when determining rank.
Badugi Example 1
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Your Hand |
My Hand |
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You hold 6d 5c 4s 2h. I hold 7c 4h 3d As.
You win the pot, because your 6d is lower than my 7c.
Badugi Example 2
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Your Hand |
My Hand |
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You hold Kh Qh 6d 3c. I hold Qd Qs 7c 4h.
I discard the Qd from my hand because it is a paired rank.
You discard the Kh because it is a paired suit.
You win the pot because your remaining cards form a lower three-card 'Badugi' than mine.
(Qs 7c 4h Vs. Qh 6d 3c)
