- 1Ante
- 2Deal
- 3First bet
- 4Draw
- 5Second bet
- 6Showdown
How a hand is played
Five Card Draw is the simplest poker game to learn: five cards, one chance to swap some of them, two rounds of betting. Everything is hidden, so the only public information is what people bet and how many cards they draw.
Every player puts one chip in the pot before seeing a card.
Five cards each, face down, starting left of the dealer button.
Starting left of the button, players check, bet, call, raise or fold.
Each remaining player discards up to three cards (four if they keep an ace) and receives replacements.
A second betting round at double stakes, then the best five-card hand takes the pot.
If everyone folds to one player at any point, that player wins the pot without showing a card. The dealer button moves one seat left after each hand.
At this table: you draw up to three cards, or four if the card you keep is an ace. Standing pat (drawing none) is always allowed. With a full table the deck can run out during the draw; the discards are then shuffled back in, as in a home game. Any player who drops under 30 chips is topped back up to 200 at the start of the next hand, so nobody is ever all-in.
Hand rankings
From strongest to weakest. Ties within a category are broken by the ranks involved, then by the remaining cards (kickers). Suits never break ties. The odds column is the chance of being dealt that hand in your first five cards.
An ace plays high in a straight (10-J-Q-K-A) and low in the wheel (A-2-3-4-5). It cannot wrap around the corner.
Betting at this table
This table plays fixed limit. Before the draw the bet is 2 chips; after the draw it is 4. Each round allows a bet and up to three raises. Fixed limit keeps decisions clean, which makes it the best structure for learning the strategic core of the game.
- Check passes the action without betting. Only possible when nobody has bet yet this round.
- Bet puts the first chips of the round in. Others must call, raise or fold.
- Call matches the current bet to stay in.
- Raise matches the bet and adds another bet on top.
- Fold surrenders your hand and anything you have already put in the pot.
A betting round ends when every player still in has put in the same amount, or when everyone has checked.
What to open with
Jacks or better.
The oldest rule in draw poker is still the best starting point: open the betting with a pair of jacks or better. A pair of jacks wins about half the time heads-up after the draw. Lower pairs do not, so they want a cheap look at the draw rather than building a pot.
- Two pair, trips or better: open, and raise if someone else opens. These are big favourites before the draw.
- Pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces: open. Against an opener, call with jacks and queens, raise with kings and aces when the field is small.
- Small pair: check, and call one bet if the pot is offering a fair price. Fold to a raise.
- Four to a flush or an open-ended straight draw: call one bet with two or more players in the pot. Your draw hits roughly one time in five and makes a hand that beats almost everything.
- Inside straight draw, three to a flush, ace-high: fold to a bet. These are the hands that quietly drain a stack.
Position tightens or loosens all of this. Acting first with players behind you, be stricter: you have no idea what is coming. Acting last, you can open lighter, and you can call lighter because nobody can raise behind you.
What to draw
The draw is where most beginners lose money, and it is the easiest part to play perfectly. The numbers below are exact for a 47-card stub (your five cards are known).
| You hold | Draw | Improve | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight or better | Stand pat | — | Already a hand that wins most showdowns. Never break it. |
| Four of a kind | 1 | — | You cannot lose value. Drawing one disguises the hand as two pair or a flush draw. |
| Three of a kind | 2 | 10.4% | Drawing two reaches a full house 6.1% and quads 4.3%. Keeping a kicker drops this to 8.5%. |
| Two pair | 1 | 8.5% | Four outs to the full house. Never break up two pair for a flush draw. |
| One pair | 3 | 28.7% | Two pair 16%, trips 11.4%, full house 1%, quads 0.3%. Keeping an ace kicker cuts improvement to 26%, and only helps when two pair ties. |
| Four to a flush | 1 | 19.1% | Nine outs. Prefer the flush draw over a low pair when three or more players are in; prefer a pair of jacks or better over the draw. |
| Open-ended straight draw | 1 | 17.0% | Eight outs. Worth a draw in a multiway pot; not worth chasing a raise. |
| Four to a straight flush | 1 | up to 32% | Flush, straight and straight-flush outs together. Better than a low pair. |
| Inside straight draw | Don’t | 8.5% | Four outs. Draw to your high cards instead, or fold if it costs a bet. |
| Ace-king, nothing else | 3 | ~33% | You will usually still have nothing. Keep the ace alone and draw four if the king is weak in the pot. |
Reading the draw
Because most players draw sensibly, the number of cards an opponent takes is close to a confession.
- Stands pat: a straight, flush or better, or a bluff called a snow. Against most players, believe it.
- Draws one: two pair, or a flush or straight draw. Two pair improves only 8.5% of the time and a draw hits under 20%, so a one-card drawer bets after the draw much less often than they check.
- Draws two: three of a kind, or a pair with a kicker. Take it as trips unless the player is loose.
- Draws three: one pair. If they opened the betting, assume jacks or better.
- Draws four or five: nothing. They are hoping.
Combine the draw with the betting. A player who opened and then drew three almost always has a single high pair, which means your two pair is a big favourite even if they bet again.
Pot odds
When someone bets, compare what it costs to call with what you stand to win. If the pot holds 10 chips and the bet to you is 2, you are paying 2 to win 12, so you need to win more than 2 out of 14 times, about 14%. A flush draw hits 19%, so it is a call. A four-out inside straight hits 8.5%, so it is a fold.
The coach shows this as two numbers: your estimated win chance and the price the pot is offering. Call when the first is bigger than the second. Raise when you are also a favourite against everyone left, and check or fold when you are not.
Your fair share is one divided by the number of players in the pot. Three players, 33%. A hand that wins more often than its fair share is a hand to build a pot with.
Estimating your win chance at the table
The coach's numbers come from a simulation, but the method behind them is arithmetic you can do in your head. Five steps and three small tables to memorise.
- Put each opponent on a range. The number of cards they drew, and whether they opened, tells you what they hold. Use the first table below.
- Decide which slices you beat. A made hand beats every slice below its category. Inside a slice the higher hand wins: two pair, kings up, beats about half of the two-pair slice; two pair, fours up, beats few of it.
- Add up the slices. That sum is your chance to beat that one opponent.
- Multiply across opponents. Beating two players at 70% each is roughly 70% × 70% ≈ 50%. The true figure runs a little higher, because a hand that beats one player usually beats the other, but the product is close enough at the table.
- Compare with the price or with fair share. Facing a bet, call when your estimate beats bet ÷ (pot + bet). Nobody has bet: bet when you beat fair share (1 ÷ players) by about 15 points, raise when you beat it by about 18. Below that, check or fold.
What a draw count means
Where a typical opponent ends up after the draw, by the number of cards they took. Rows are percentages. An opener who drew three has a single high pair almost every time.
| they drew | nothing | one pair | two pair | trips | straight or better |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stood pat | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 86 |
| One | 31 | 18 | 37 | 1 | 13 |
| One, after opening | 4 | 8 | 78 | 1 | 9 |
| Two | 10 | 18 | 5 | 59 | 8 |
| Three | 23 | 57 | 11 | 7 | 1 |
| Three, after opening | 3 | 69 | 16 | 11 | 1 |
| Four | 47 | 44 | 6 | 3 | 1 |
The one-card row is a mix of two hands: two pair, which fills up 8.5% of the time, and flush or straight draws, which get there under 20% of the time. If the player opened, it is nearly always two pair. If they merely called, it is often a draw, and a draw that misses is nothing at all.
Benchmarks before the draw
Your chance to win the showdown if everyone stays in, by the number of opponents. Memorise the shape: a pair of jacks is a coin flip against one player and a one-in-four shot against four.
| you hold | vs 1 | vs 2 | vs 3 | vs 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ace-high, no draw | 46 | 26 | 19 | 14 |
| Open-ended straight draw | 35 | 22 | 19 | 15 |
| Four to a flush | 41 | 26 | 23 | 21 |
| Pair of fours | 46 | 28 | 20 | 16 |
| Pair of eights | 58 | 38 | 26 | 19 |
| Pair of jacks | 66 | 45 | 30 | 24 |
| Pair of kings | 75 | 56 | 44 | 33 |
| Pair of aces | 80 | 64 | 54 | 44 |
| Two pair, sevens and threes | 79 | 62 | 50 | 39 |
| Two pair, kings and nines | 86 | 76 | 65 | 57 |
| Three of a kind | 92 | 84 | 77 | 71 |
| Straight | 97 | 95 | 91 | 89 |
| Flush | 98 | 96 | 94 | 92 |
Notice that the flush draw is worth more against four players than the pair of fours, while the pair of eights is worth more heads-up. Draws want company; small pairs want a lonely opponent.
After the draw, against one opponent
Your made hand against a single opponent, by the number of cards they took. This is the table that turns a draw count into a decision.
| you hold | they stood pat | drew one | drew two | drew three |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pair of nines | 6 | 41 | 18 | 50 |
| Pair of aces | 10 | 49 | 28 | 80 |
| Two pair, eights and fours | 10 | 56 | 27 | 83 |
| Two pair, aces and kings | 12 | 85 | 31 | 92 |
| Three of a kind | 13 | 87 | 49 | 93 |
| Straight | 32 | 88 | 93 | 98 |
| Flush | 67 | 92 | 93 | 99 |
| Full house | 86 | 97 | 93 | 99 |
Read the two-card column carefully: a two-card draw usually means trips, so even aces up is an underdog to it. A pat hand beats everything short of a flush most of the time.
Prices at this table
| the call | price | hands that clear it |
|---|---|---|
| 2 into a pot of 4 (heads-up, before the draw) | 33% | A pair of eights or better; a four-flush needs a second caller |
| 2 into a pot of 5 | 29% | Any pair of eights up; small pairs and open-ended draws are close |
| 2 into a pot of 8 | 20% | Almost anything with a pair or a real draw |
| 4 into a pot of 8 (after the draw) | 33% | A hand that beats the bettor's range one time in three |
| 4 into a pot of 12 | 25% | Two pair against a three-card drawer, easily; a pair against a one-card drawer, no |
| 4 into a pot of 20 | 17% | Even a modest pair, if the bettor could be bluffing |
Worked example
You hold two pair, tens and fours, after the draw. Dev opened and drew three; Mara called and drew one. Nobody has bet yet and there are 9 chips in the pot.
- Dev (opened, drew three): one pair 69, you beat all → 69. Two pair 16, you beat about half → 8. Better 12 → 0. Total about 77%.
- Mara (called, drew one): nothing or one pair 49, you beat all → 49. Two pair 37, you beat about half → 18. Better 13 → 0. Total about 67%.
- Both: 0.77 × 0.67 ≈ 52%. Fair share is 33%; the bar to bet is about 47%. Bet.
If Mara had opened and then drawn one, her two-pair slice climbs to 78% and your total against her drops to about 45%. The product falls to 35% and the correct play becomes a check. That single shift, from "called" to "opened", is the whole read.
Why the thresholds are what they are. Fair share is what a random hand wins. A hand exactly at fair share makes nothing by betting, because the hands that call are the ones that beat it. Adding about 15 points makes you a favourite against the callers, not just against the field. The raise bar is a little higher because a raise gets called by a narrower, stronger range. The call bar is only the price, because a call buys nothing but a showdown: there is no one left to fold.
How the coach thinks
At every decision the coach deals thousands of possible futures. It gives each opponent a random hand consistent with everything they have shown: a player who opened is given at least a pair of jacks, a player who drew one is given two pair or a draw, a player who stood pat is given a straight or better. Then it plays every draw option you have against those hands and counts how often each wins.
The recommendation follows from those counts and the price the pot is offering. The explanation names the rule of thumb the numbers support, so that after a few sessions you can make the same call without the numbers.
Grades: Optimal matches the coach. Fine is a close alternative that costs little. Mistake means the numbers clearly point elsewhere. Your record is on the Progress tab.