How to Play Five-Card Draw
Description
The poker variant that made poker famous — five cards, one chance to swap, and then a showdown. Everything happens before you see a single card your opponents are holding.
Objective
Win the pot with the best five-card poker hand, or by getting everyone else to fold.
Setup
Every player antes into the pot.
Deal five cards face down to each player.
Rules
A round of betting follows the deal.
Each remaining player then chooses how many cards to discard — from zero to five — and draws replacements from the stock.
A second round of betting follows the draw.
Winning
Remaining players go to showdown; the highest-ranking five-card hand wins the pot.
Hand rankings from highest to lowest: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card.