Draw Poker
Draw poker is a variant of poker in which each player receives 5 cards down and “draw” from 1 to 5 cards to improve their hand. The most common variant of draw poker is usually played for high only with the best high hand taking down the pot. Players will commonly keep a big pair such as aces or kings and draw 3 cards to try and make 2 pair of 3 of kind. If you are dealt a “pat” hand like a full house, straight, or flush, you stand pat and tell the dealer you don’t want to draw any cards. Tells are a very important part of draw poker because you can judge if your opponent has helped their hand by closely watching their reaction after receiving their draw cards.
In the early eighties, draw poker was very popular in the card clubs in California before Texas Hold’em was invented. Now draw poker for high is played almost exclusively on the internet as live games rarely exist. Other versions of draw poker include lowball, triple-draw 2-7 lowball, no limit 2-7 single draw, and badugi. These versions, especially triple draw 2-7 and badugi, have become quite popular and are often included in larger mixed games in Las Vegas and California. These other versions are played for low in which players try and make the lowest possible hand, usually 2,3,4,5,7.
