Draw Poker

Draw Poker refers to all kinds of Poker games, in which each player is dealt a single complete hand face down, and may then discard and replace (“draw”) a certain amount of cards after the first round of betting, in order to develop it into the highest hand possible. All cards are dealt and discarded face down, and player’s hands are not revealed until the final showdown. There are no wild cards in Draw Poker, and all suits are ranked equally. It is common to use antes before beginning game play.

The standard form of Draw Poker is 5 Card Draw Poker, and it is usually played as a stepping stone to learning more difficult Draw Poker variants. For this reason, it is uncommon to find it in casinos. However it is available at most online casinos. 2 – 8 players can play 5 Card Draw.

Badugi is another popular form of Draw Poker. It is a variant of Lowball using an A – 5 low that changes traditional Poker hand rankings. It is called “Badugi” because this word refers to a 4 card hand where all cards are of different suit and value, which is considered a winning hand in this game. There are 3 betting rounds in Badugi, and it is often played with a fixed limit and blinds.

Another lowball variation of Draw Poker is the California High Low Split, in which A – 5 low hand values are used, a Joker is used as a “bug”, and about 3 betting rounds take place. Because it is played as high low, the pot is always split between a high hand, ranked according to traditional Poker hand rankings, and a low hand specially defined as an 8 or better. In California High Low Split, players are not required or supposed to declare which half of the pot they intend to win.

“Q-Ball” is a Draw Poker variation that was created by Poker Pro Michael Weisenberg, and combines several existing Draw Poker variants. It is played with 3 blinds, 1 Joker, 3 hole cards, and 4 betting rounds, and is usually played in fixed limit form. The recommended betting structure for Q-Ball is 1-2-2-4.

Other Draw Poker variants include Double Draw, Triple Draw, Four Before, Johnson/Jack’s Back, Spit in the Ocean, Shot Gun/Roll ‘em Out/Skinny Minnie, and Anaconda/Pass the Trash.