Five Card Draw is considered one of the oldest forms of Poker and is one that places a lot of weight on a player’s ability to interpret opponents’ idiosyncratic tells as well as the ability to bluff in a timely and effective manner. Aside from these “clean” skills including when to play certain cards, and when it would be more appropriate to fold, in the old days the game attracted a lot of outright cheating and the consequential thievery.
In its heyday Five Card Draw gave rise to its fair share of card sharps (professional cheats), as well as a lucrative industry in marked cards that were used to swindle unwary punters out of their money and belongings. In those early days betting was seldom if ever restricted to table stakes (meaning you got to lose only the money you brought to the table) which meant that cheating, bad play or plain bad luck could see a man stripped of all he ever owned. As would be understandable, poker was therefore seen as a wicked game that brought ruin to those who played it recklessly or without at least choosing the venue and players carefully.
Regardless Draw poker variants have their own charm, proof of the fact being that Draw poker remained an iconic representation of the game in the collective psyche right up to the advent of 7-Card Stud by which time it’s popularity as a card room favourite began to wane substantially. Yet Draw poker is far from dead. This year for instance the WSOP will still be holding some Draw poker tournaments in the form of Low Ball and Deuce-to-seven Triple draw.
Play in 5-card draw is simple. A designated Dealer deals 5 cards to each player at the table (2 to 8). Each player then views his cards and determines whether or not to stay on or fold his cards. Then starting from the first active player to the Dealer’s left, players are offered the opportunity to Check, Bet, Raise or Fold. When the first betting round has been settled the remaining players then proceed with a draw. During the draw, players can exchange anything from one to four cards. The Draw is then followed by another round of bets and any remaining player still in the game after the second round of bets proceed to a showdown where the best hand wins the pot.
Draw poker including all related variants places a great deal of emphasis on the psychology of play rather than actual evaluation of (card-related) partial information available at the time of play. For all intents and purposes no draw poker player ever has any significant information regarding an opponent’s holding other than that opponent’s betting and drawing patterns. Tells therefore hold an important niche in the arsenal of tools at the disposal of a Draw Poker player, all the more so since the list of tools is indeed short.
While Draw poker did attract many players over the course of its history, it does not come as a surprise that many tried introducing variations to make the game more playable or perhaps marginally more exciting. Some speculate for instance that Stud poker developed as an attempt to compensate for this lack of information, which is blatantly obviously in Draw, as well as garner more action and betting during any given round. Still let us focus instead on some of the Draw variants that evolved but which remain strictly speaking part of the Draw family of poker games.
Jackpots for instance was a Draw poker variant that required that a player have at least Jacks or better in order to open for a bet. If no one had Jacks or better, then all hands were folded and a new deal would start over. The obvious angle of this variant was that the range of possible winning hands was significantly reduced leaving only the strongest hands to battle it out through bet-draw-bet and eventual showdown.
With just two betting rounds, Five Card Draw did not really offer the kind of action some players sought. This gave rise to another variation Double Draw. As the name suggests Double Draw offered a further draw and betting round. With two opportunities to improve a hand and three possibilities to manipulate the pot and game outcome through well placed bets, this variant offered more possibilities to those who endorsed its gameplay.
Another Draw poker variant that practically turns poker on its head is Deuce-to-seven Triple Draw poker. This variant is played for low. Aces are high so the best hand you can get (the lowest) would be 2-3-4-5-7. Why not 2-3-4-5-6? Well because in this variant a straight or a flush will count against you. This variant with three draws and four betting round is perhaps one step closer the the modern more popular Community poker games such as Hold’em and Omaha which both have 4 betting rounds (pre-flop, post-flop, Turn and River).
Some poker pros have made their fame and fortunes playing Draw poker variants. John Juanda comes to mind as well as the mad genius of poker Mike Caro who wrote the chapter on draw poker in Doyle Brunson’s poker bible Super System. Personally I do not favour the rationale behind this branch of poker games favouring instead the structure of community poker games. Yet tastes will be tastes and I am more than sure that there are still poker players out there that love the very texture and game progression of Draw over other Poker variations.
Some actually argue that while 5 card draw does allow for some elements of strategy, ultimately techniques employed at the card table are mostly about projecting the impression of powerful hands using psychology and bluffing against other players. On a more tangible level, some pros recommend to never attempt drawing to straights or flushes (unless the price is right). Fold marginal hands with say no pairs or possible draws and play aggressively when you get good cards.
That’s all I have time for, hope you found all this informative interesting and that I have perhaps piqued your interest in this venerable genre of poker games. If you feel like delving deeper into the game-play and history of draw poker, follow this link.
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