Along with Texas hold'em, five-card draw is perhaps one of the most well-known variations of poker and is commonly played both online and in person at home games and in casinos. This page will explain how to play five-card draw including the rules, ranking of hands, gameplay and common variations.

Learning how to play five-card draw poker is fairly easy compared to some other poker games. The game uses standard rankings for poker hands, with a royal flush the best possible hand, going down to the player with the highest card ranking on the bottom end.http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/games/draw/

Each player receives five cards, all of which are face down. After a round of betting, each player is permitted to exchange some of their cards. House rules generally state each player can exchange three cards, four if they are holding an ace, however these policies may vary from each poker room or casino.http://www.pokergame.org/5-card-draw/variations/

To give the game a bit of spice, some variations will use only cards ranking from ace to seven, allowing players to more-easily make bigger hands like a full house or three of a kind. Other variations will allow players to exchange cards more than once.http://www.pokergame.org/5-card-draw/variations/

To play five-card draw, everyone will need to understand the rules and know the hand rankings. A standard deck of 52 cards, objects for betting, like chips, and at least two players are also required.

As five-card draw is a very simple game, many choose to add one or more variations to the rules or gameplay process to make it more interesting. While most-often seen in home games, the variations listed below can also be found at several online poker sites.

1. Double and triple draw variations will allow players to discard and receive cards twice or three times respectively, rather than just once.
2. To increase the chances of making higher-ranking hands, two standard jokers can be added to the deck. Jokers act as aces, allowing a player to exchange four cards rather than three. Additionally, the hand rankings must be altered to allow for additional hands, such as five of a kind, to be made.
3. In deuce-to-seven triple draw poker, players can exchange cards with the dealer three times. The player with the lowest hand (2, 3, 4, 5, 7) wins the pot.
4. The baseball variant makes threes and nines wild. Additionally, if a player receives a four card, they can show it to the table and receive an additional card.
5. Blind and straddle includes an extra round of betting before the cards are dealt. Unlike an ante, players can bet up to the limit, if any, to play in the hand. Players unwilling to match the bet do not receive cards or play in the hand.http://www.pokergame.org/5-card-draw/variations/

Before play begins, each player should know all of the rules and how the hands will be ranked. Additionally, things like limits and stakes should be determined before the game begins.

1. Games must contain between two and 10 players.
2. Blinds are variable, but must be determined before each game. Limit, no limit or pot limit are all standard options.
3. Stakes are also variable, with minimum bets ranging from a few cents to upwards of hundreds at a time.
4. While common, antes before each hand are not required. Should a game choose to use an ante, it should be much smaller than the minimum bet, like 25 cents for a $2/$4 game.
5. All play goes in a clockwise manner, including the dealing of cards and betting. The player who will receive the first card when dealing and will place the first bet will move one seat clockwise after each hand.
6. Aces can be played high or low in a straight.
7. If two players tie for the highest hand at the end, the pot will be split. Ranking of suits is not applied in five-card draw. Hands are ranked using a standard scale of rankings as listed below.

Once everyone knows the rules, it's time to shuffle up and deal. Don't forget that you will need a standard deck of cards, at least two players and objects to use as bets, such as chips.

1. If you decided to use an ante, each player must contribute that amount to get the pot started.
2. The player to the immediate left of the dealer or dealer button must bet the small blind. The person in the next seat clockwise must bet the large blind.
3. Starting with the player to the immediate left of the dealer, each player is dealt cards, one at a time in a clockwise manner, until all players have five cards in their hand.
4. The first round of betting follows, with the person clockwise of the player who submitted the large blind, either calling the large blind, raising or folding their cards.
5. Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each remaining player is permitted to discard up to three of their cards. If they are holding an ace, some tables will allow that player to discard four.
6. The dealer, starting with the person to their left, deals new cards back to each player, the name number they discarded.
7. A second round of betting follows, with each remaining player permitted to check, bet, call a previous bet, raise or fold.
8. After the bets are completed, each player, starting with the person left of the dealer, flips their cards over to show the table. The player with the highest hand wins the pot. Should two people tie, the pot will be split between the winners.
9. The cards are shuffled and the process is repeated for each hand.http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/games/draw/