Set of poker rules
Five-card draw (also known as Cantrell draw) is a poker variant that is considered the simplest variant 🫰 of poker, and is the basis for video poker. As a result, it is often the first variant learned by 🫰 new players. It is commonly played in home games but rarely played in casino and tournament play. The variant is 🫰 also offered by some online venues, although it is not as popular as other variants such as seven-card stud and 🫰 Texas hold 'em.
Gameplay [ edit ]
In casino play the first betting round begins with the player to the left of 🫰 the big blind, and subsequent rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left. Home games typically use an ante; 🫰 the first betting round begins with the player to the dealer's left, and the second round begins with the player 🫰 who opened the first round.
Play begins with each player being dealt five cards, one at a time, all face down. 🫰 The remaining deck is placed aside, often protected by placing a chip or other marker on it. Players pick up 🫰 the cards and hold them in their hands, being careful to keep them concealed from the other players, then a 🫰 round of betting occurs.[1]
If more than one player remains after the first round, the "draw" phase begins. Each player specifies 🫰 how many of their cards they wish to replace and discards them. The deck is retrieved, and each player is 🫰 dealt in turn from the deck the same number of cards they discarded so that each player again has five 🫰 cards.
A second "after the draw" betting round occurs beginning with the player to the dealer's left or else beginning with 🫰 the player who opened the first round (the latter is common when antes are used instead of blinds). This is 🫰 followed by a showdown, if more than one player remains, in which the player with the best hand wins the 🫰 pot.
House rules [ edit ]
A common "house rule" in some places is that a player may not replace more than 🫰 three cards, unless they draw four cards while keeping an ace (or wild card). This rule is useful for low-stakes 🫰 social games where many players will stay for the draw, and will help avoid depletion of the deck. In more 🫰 serious games such as those played in casinos it is unnecessary and generally not used. However, a rule used by 🫰 many casinos is that a player is not allowed to draw five consecutive cards from the deck. In this case, 🫰 if a player wishes to replace all five of their cards, that player is given four of them in turn, 🫰 the other players are given their draws, and then the dealer returns to that player to give the fifth replacement 🫰 card; if no other player draws it is necessary to deal a burn card first.
Another common house rule is that 🫰 the bottom card of the deck is never given as a replacement, to avoid the possibility of someone who might 🫰 have seen it during the deal using that information. If the deck is depleted during the draw before all players 🫰 have received their replacements, the last players can receive cards chosen randomly from among those discarded by previous players. For 🫰 example, if the last player to draw wants three replacements but there are only two cards remaining in the deck, 🫰 the dealer gives the player the one top card he can give, then shuffles together the bottom card of the 🫰 deck, the burn card, and the earlier players' discards (but not the player's own discards), and finally deals two more 🫰 replacements to the last player.
Sample deal [ edit ]
The sample deal is being played by four players as shown to 🫰 the right with Alice dealing. All four players anteR$1. Alice deals five cards to each player and places the deck 🫰 aside.
Bob opens the betting round by bettingR$5. Carol folds, David calls, and Alice calls, closing the betting round.
Bob now declares 🫰 that he wishes to replace three of his cards, so he removes those three cards from his hand and discards 🫰 them. Alice retrieves the deck, deals a burn card, then deals three cards directly to Bob, who puts them in 🫰 his hand. David discards one card, and Alice deals one card to him from the deck. Alice now discards three 🫰 of her own cards, and replaces them with three from the top of the deck.
Now a second betting round begins. 🫰 Bob checks, David checks, Alice betsR$10, Bob folds, David raisesR$16, and Alice calls, ending the second betting round and going 🫰 directly into a showdown. David shows a flush, and Alice shows two pair, so David takes the pot.
Stripped deck variant 🫰 [ edit ]
Five-card draw is sometimes played with a stripped deck. This variant is commonly known as "seven-to-ace" or "ace-to-seven" 🫰 (abbreviated as A-7 or 7-A). It can be played by up to five players. When four or fewer players play, 🫰 a normal 32-card deck without jokers, with ranks ranging from ace to seven, is used. With five players, the sixes 🫰 are added to make a 36-card deck. The deck thus contains only eight or nine different card ranks, compared to 🫰 13 in a standard deck. This affects the probabilities of making specific hands, so a flush ranks above a full 🫰 house and below four of a kind. Many smaller online poker rooms, such as Boss Media, spread the variant, although 🫰 it is unheard of in terrestrial casinos.
Maths of Five-card draw [ edit ]
Pre-draw odds of getting each hand
Royal flush <0.001%
Straight 🫰 flush (not including royal flush) <0.002%
Four of a kind 0.02%
Full house 0.14%
Flush (excluding royal flush and straight flush) 0.20%
Straight (excluding 🫰 royal flush and straight flush) 0.39%
Three of a kind 2.11%
Two pair 4.75%
One pair 42.30%
No pair / High card 50.10%
See also 🫰 [ edit ]
