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How to Play Draw Poker Online
Draw poker is generally regarded as the original poker game and shares many characteristics with some of the other games. These include the number of cards making up a hand and the hand rankings themselves. Draw Poker hands are always made up of five cards and follow the following hand rankings below:
Royal Flush
Straight Flush
Four of a Kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
Three of a Kind
Two Pair
Pair
High Card
If you're unsure what cards are required for any of the above hands then check out our guides to the various poker hand rankings and apply these to your game when you play draw poker online.
The game of draw poker is based around the idea of building a hand throughout the various rounds by discarding unwanted cards and adding to your hand from deck cards.
As with all other forms of poker, the game of draw poker begins by defining a dealer. This is usually decided by dealing a single card to each player with the high card holder being the dealer. The dealer position then rotates around the table after each hand.
Once the cards have been shuffled it is time for all players to 'ante up'. The ante is a small token fee that all players have to pay if they wish to play in that particular round. All of the ante bets are added to the pot. Once the antes have been collected the dealer deals cards face down to all players, continuing until each player has 5 cards.
After each player has had a chance to review their cards it is time for the first betting round to take place. Play begins with the player to the left of the dealer; they can either bet, check (pass the bet onto the next player without having to bet) or fold, discarding their hand.
Normal betting then continues with the next player to the left. If a bet was placed by the first player, then the player can either: call the bet (match the bet), raise the bet (adding to the current bet) or to fold their hand. If the bet was 'passed' or 'checked' through then the second player may also pass the bet onto the next player. This process continues around the table until all players who wish to play the hand have an equal number of chips in front of them. In most cases, when you play draw poker online, once the bet has passed the dealer no further raises are permitted usually bringing the first betting round to a close.
It is now time to make any replacements to cards in the hand. This is done by discarding any or all unwanted cards from the hand and receiving replacement cards in return. Cards are discarded face down and handed back to the dealer. The replacement cards are then dealt out to each player face down by the dealer.
Once all cards have been dealt out a further betting round commences. As with the first round, betting starts with the player to the left of the dealer. Betting proceeds in the same way and again, the dealer gets the final raise. All players who wish to remain in the hand must have called to the same amount before a showdown takes place.
All remaining players still in the hand have reached the showdown stage of the hand. All players now reveal their hands at which point the winning hand takes the pot. The hand ranks work in the same way whether you play draw poker online or live and follow the rankings list above.
