If you are a novice in poker and don’t know where to start, 5-Card poker would be your perfect choice. It is one of the easiest variants of poker to learn, with simple yet interesting rules to know about. 

5-Card poker is not so popular as, for example, a Texas hold’em and is not presented in most of the casinos. However, there are thousands of fans of 5-card draw all around the world, and because of that this variant is very popular on online poker sites. It is also a good choice for comfy home games with friends. Now it is time to learn how to play five card poker!

If you have ever played any other types of poker, 5-card rules will feel familiar to you. Your main task is to achieve the best five-card combination in your hand. Ranks of poker hands from weakest to strongest are similar to Texas hold’em, with High Card being the weakest and Royal Flush being the strongest hand. The difference comes with two methods of pre-flop betting. The first way is often used in “home games”, where players pay an ante before receiving their cards. The second type of pre-flop betting considers doing small and big blinds. 

5-card draw also has different betting structures: no-limit, pot-limit and fixed limit. These formats have the same rules as other main poker variants, but different structures create a necessity to adapt tactics and strategies. Some combinations of cards that are not played in no-limit will be very useful in fixed-limit, and vice versa. Consider your playing tactics before you start the game and know for sure what type of poker you are playing.