Once you have decided to start your poker journey things can get difficult because of the many and very diverse versions of poker that have been invented. The most usual poker game is 5 Card Draw and it is part of the draw poker games category. This category includes poker games which allow the player to exchange the cards that are not of great help to his hand with new cards. The number of cards which one is allowed to exchange as well as the number of opportunities you have to make this decision in one betting round depends on the game or on the casino.

5 Card Draw requires a regular 52 cards deck and up to eight players can join the game. Just before the cards are dealt blind bets must be placed into the pot. These are also called ‚forced bets’ and they are usually two: the small blind and the big blind. Their amount varies but in most of the cases the small blind is half the small bet, while the big blind equals the small bet. It means that for a $2 small bet poker game, the small blind will be $1 and the big blind will be $2. Blinds are placed by the two players sitting on the dealer’s left.

Each of the players is dealt five cards and then the first betting round begins. Each player evaluates his hand and decides how to bet according to his chances to win. The options are to fold, check, open the pot, call or raise the bet. Mainly the player decides whether to step out of the game or to continue and take his chances with the cards he has. The ultimate goal is that he holds the highest ranked hand at the table and he wins the pot. In order to sustain this goal, 5 Card Draw consists in two betting rounds and in between players have the opportunity to draw cards, which means they can give up cards that are useless to their hand and they receive new ones. The number of cards discarded has to equal the number of cards received so that at any point each player has a 5- card hand. Players who have already folded are not considered as participants in the game anymore and so they are not allowed to draw cards. The draw session is also an opportunity for the competitors to try to guess the other players’ cards.

In order to increase the amount in the pot, the casino might add a specific feature to the game which is that a player must pay for each card he draws. It is in fact an option which can be included in any of the draw poker games.

After the draw session, a second betting round begins. This round will end with the showdown when all hands are revealed. The best hand wins the pot.

These are in short lines the general steps which follow in a 5 Card Draw poker game. 5 Card Draw is the first game begginers usually learn and it is recommended you practice it before going further in your poker adventure!