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» About
Draw Poker is the basic form of Poker and the place to start
when introducing new players to the game. It's fairly uncommon
these days in the casinos, but it is the form from which all
other Poker games are derived.
The essence of Draw Poker is that the player builds a hand
from 5 cards. After the initial round of betting the player
may discard some or all of their cards and receive replacements.
The players cards should never be revealed until the final
Showdown, and are only then if absolutely necessary (more
on that later). During the game, all cards are dealt and discarded
face down.
There are two main things to learn when it comes to Draw
Poker. The first is Poker's 5-card hands and their ranking.
The second is the course of play including when and how to
bet.
» The Course of Play
A round of Poker begins with determining the Dealer. The
Deal usually rotates around the table from the right: if you've
just dealt then the person on your left deals next.
» The Ante
Once assigned, the Dealer receives the deck and shuffles.
Each player pays the "ante" which is a small, flat
fee you pay to purchase the right to play that round. If you
don't ante it means you are "sitting out". These
monies and all others in the game go into the center of the
table in a pile called "the pot". Once the antes
are in, the Dealer deals one card at a time, face down, to
each player around the table, beginning on the Dealer's left.
Then the second card is dealt to each player, and so on until
each player has 5 cards, all face down.
» Pass, Bet or Fold
Players pick up their cards and assess their hand. The player
to the Dealer's left opens the betting round by either placing
a Bet, indicating a Pass by placing no bet, or Folding by
discarding their hand.
» Call and Raise
The next player to the left now has the opportunity to Bet.
Or they can Fold. If the previous players Passed then they
can Pass too or place a Bet of their own. If other players
have Bet and they wish to stay in the round they must Call
by matching any outstanding bets. They can then Raise by placing
a bet of their own.
The betting then moves to the next player on the left, then
the next, and so on back to and including the Dealer.
Once the Dealer has placed their bet, the other players must
Call any outstanding bets or Fold. Generally speaking, no
Raises are permitted once the betting has passed around to
the Dealer.
» Discarding
Players may now Discard any or all of their cards based on
their hopes of building a better hand. Cards are discarded
face down and collected by the Dealer.
» Replacements
The Dealer now deals each player, starting on the left, their
replacement cards, face down.
As before the Player on the Dealer's left begins the betting
and the betting proceeds around the table.
Again, the Dealer gets the final Raise. Then everyone else
must Call or Fold. Finally, the remaining players are ready
for the Showdown.
If at any time there is only one player left in the game
they take the pot. This player is encouraged to keep their
cards hidden and muck them to the Dealer.
» Showdown
After the final betting round, and all the necessary Calls,
the players still in the game have reached the Showdown. The
player's hands are revealed. The best hand wins and the winner
takes the pot.
If there are tied winning hands then the rank of the individual
cards determines the winner. For instance Full House of Aces
over Jacks beats a Full House of Kings over Jacks. If it's
still a tie and there are no kickers (spare cards not used
to build the final hand) then the pot is split.
If the rank of the individual cards doesn't determine the
winner, then the kicker(s) of higher rank determines the winner.
If it's still a tie, the pot is split.
If there are no "name" hands (all players have
No Pair), then the highest ranking single card is declared
the winning hand. If it comes to a dead tie (no clear winner,
all cards same rank) then the pot is split.
Suit is never used to determine a winner in Poker.
» Conclusion
While hands and betting are the basic rules, there is much,
much more to being a successful Poker player. Poker is not
about having the highest ranking hand, it's about winning
the biggest pots. How you do that, short of cheating, is your
business and that is what makes Poker the beloved game that
it is
»
Click here to see the Ranking
of Poker hands
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