Poker Strategy
5 Card Draw – The Game
This 5 card draw beginners guide should give you a basic idea for the concepts and basic poker strategy to one of the oldest formats of poker. Because it is old, does not mean that 5 Card Draw Poker is without merit and indeed, there are many online poker rooms that have now added this classic game to their lobby of tournaments and cash games.
The 5 Card Draw Poker Rules Are Simple
Much like Hold’em, we have the dealer button followed by a small blind (SB) and a big blind (BB). In tournaments or Sit and Go’s, the 5 card draw is usually played at Limit or Pot-Limit stakes with an ascending blind structure, often including an ante (e.g. often a tournament may begin with the SB = 5, BB = 10 with an ante for all players of 1).
1) Each player is dealt 5 cards face down. After looking at your hole cards, there is one round of betting started by the player to the left of the big blind.
2) Once the betting round is complete, we enter the draw phase where players can exchange from 0 to 5 cards (sometimes 0 to 4) with the dealer. This round, as with all the rounds, commences with the player to the left of the big blind.
3) After the draw has been made, there is a final round of betting culminating in a showdown or won pot should all but one player fold.
Basic 5 Card Draw Poker Strategy
Betting Tendencies
Watch the game closely as you play and try to pick up on any of your opponent’s betting tendencies and different poker strategy used by the. Most players have betting tendencies which they might not even notice and if you can pick up on them you’ll be able to make more money. Remember that your opponents will be trying to do the same thing so your poker strategy should also consist of making sure you don’t become predictable at the tables.
Have Patience
In order to win money consistently at 5 card draw you need a lot of patience and you can’t mind waiting through bad hands. A bad habit to pick up is to draw to inside straights or flushes because they don’t hit that often. If you’re going to chase an inside straight or a flush then you should ensure you’re getting good pot odds to chase the draw.
Avoid Chasing: – Most important poker strategy:
The most solid 5 card draw players will rarely play any hands other then when they’re dealt a pair, open ended straight or four card flush with a high kicker. Of course you need to still bluff some pots when you don’t hit a hand, but avoid chasing and try to only play hands you have a good chance of winning.
Try To Hide Monsters
Try to hide when you hit a monster hand so that your opponents are left guessing as to what you have in your hand. For instance, if you have trips you could draw 1 instead of 2 cards and your opponents might think you have two pairs instead of trips. Poker strategy like this can payoff because you could draw potential opponents in the pot through disguising your hand as something weaker than it really is.
Position
Position is vital at the 5 card draw tables and the later you act the better off you’ll be because you’ll get to see how many cards the opponents in front of you draw. This will give you insight as to how strong your hand might be and if it’s worth playing the hand or not.
Conclusion:
5 Card Draw Poker is almost the ultimate bluff game so be sure that you only make worthwhile value calls when you feel you are probably behind. Try to use these winning tips and poker strategy next time you’re sitting down at the tables and I guarantee you see much more success. The key is to not play to many hands and waste money chasing draws and such hands when you could be saving your money for when you have a real hand.
