Introduction to Draw Poker and Five-Card Draw

There are many variations of poker. One of them is draw poker. Draw poker is usually considered to be the standard poker form and is the kind of poker beginners usually learn. The number of players involved in the game varies from 3 to 7 persons. Draw poker doesn't refer to one specific poker game though. There are actually quite a few variations of draw poker.

So how do you classify a game to be a draw poker game?

A draw poker game is when each player is dealt a complete hand before the start of the first betting round and is only able to develop the given hand by discarding some of the cards and drawing new cards from the deck during succeeding rounds.

Some draw poker variations are: Standard Five-Card Draw, Jackpots or Jack to Open, Spit in the Ocean, Anaconda, Three Legged Race, Dog Butt, All for One One For All, and so many many more. With all the existing variations of draw poker it can be quite confusing for beginners to get the hang of the game. So when attempting to learn poker stick to one variation first and master it before attempting to be good at ALL of them.

Of all the draw poker variations Standard Five-Card Draw is the most popular. It is also very easy to learn. Standard Five-Card Draw is actually the very first poker variant that most players learn. When people mention poker, especially people who don't really play poker, they are actually usually referring to Five-Card Draw. Five-Card Draw, although very common in homes games, is not a very popular game in casinos and in poker tournaments. In fact it is rarely played in either of the two.

Five-Card Draw can be played with 2 to 7 players. The game starts after 5 cards are dealt to each player. The players then bet after the cards are dealt. The players are then allowed to exchange up to three cards before another betting round ensues right before the showdown. In five-card draw a player is allowed to draw four cards if the player can show that his remaining card is an ace. This is only allowed, however, if there are less than 6 players. The winner in five-card draw is the player who has the highest hand.

Due to the very basic gameplay of Five-Card Draw some variations have cropped up to spice up or at least complicate the game just a bit. Some variations include adding wildcards in the game and allowing a hand with five-of-a-kind when this happens; the so called High/Low wherein the winners of the game are the ones holding the highest and lowest hands - winners get to split the pot; the Lowball is simply the opposite of the standard game, since this time the player with the lowest hand wins the pot; and the Double Draw where an additional round of exchange and betting is done after the first round.

Paul Graham is a poker enthusiast, a writer, researcher, speaker, and consultant. You can visit his blog and sign up free to get blog updates by email, along with game winning tips, tested poker strategies, the latest poker news, free poker tools, additional resources, and a whole lot more! Go now to http://www.SmokePoker.com and you'll also receive a Free Poker Bot for streamlining and automating your poker play, as a thank you for visiting!