Draw Poker, Learn different Variations of Draw Poker | Poker Strategy

In draw poker a player gets dealt a complete hand before the first betting round starts. The player will then try and improve his hand by 'drawing' cards. While in casinos this poker variation is being played less and less, it is still very popular during home games and also online draw poker is becoming more popular. Especially PokerStars has a great variety of draw games on offer. 5-card draw, 2-7 triple draw, 2-7 single draw and even Badugi can be played at PokerStars. In this article we will briefly discuss the various forms of draw poker.

Five Card Draw
Just like Texas Hold'em, 5-card draw is played with blinds. There is a small blind and a big blind. This is the variation that

is predominately played in casinos and online. During home games you often see the players introduce an ante, with the same ante rules applying as they would in stud poker, for example. In this article we will stick with the variation with a small blind and a big blind.

Five Card Draw is played with a maximum of eight players. Every player receives five cards that are dealt face down. A betting round follows. Every player may call, raise, fold or check (when in the big blind). Just like with Hold'em, this variation can be played as Fixed Limit, Pot Limit or No Limit Five Card Draw. The first betting round is followed by the first draw round. This means that players can now trade in their cards. If you want to, you can even trade in all of your cards. Every player gets the same number of cards back on his hand as he traded in. Of course you also have the choice to not trade in any of your cards. This is called "standing pat".

Once every player received his cards, the second and last betting round starts. Once the bets are placed, a showdown follows (as long as there are still at least two players in the hand). The best 5-card hand wins the pot.

As you might have noticed, this game gives you very little information about the possible hands your opponents could be holding. The only information you get is from the number of cards your opponents trade in and the bets they make. As a result, you will have to see a lot of showdowns before being able to really put your opponent on a hand. One thing you need to figure out quickly is how light your opponents value bet.

If a player trades in 3 cards, this often indicates that this player is likely to hold a pair and is going for three of a kind or better. If a player trades in only one card, this player is likely to be on a straight- or flush draw, or maybe he has two pair. You can of course also use this to your advantage by creating a wrong impression amongst your opponents. If you don't trade in any of your cards, this is a sign of great strength. Bear in mind that, when playing a fixed limit variation, you will have to focus more on playing your hand than tactical games, as it is more difficult for you to protect your hand, which minimises the chance of a successful bluff.

Deuce to Seven Draw
In Deuce to Seven Draw, also called Lowball, the player with the lowest hand wins. Deuce to Seven Lowball is often also referred to as Kansas City Lowball. In many ways the game is very similar to Five Card Draw. There is a small blind and a big blind and every player receives 5 cards dealt face down. Again this poker variation can be played as Fixed Limit, Pot Limit or No Limit.

As mentioned above, the player with the lowest hand wins the pot. Bear in mind though that the Ace counts as a high card only in this game! As you might have guessed from the name, the best hand in Deuce to Seven is 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 off suit. When evaluating the strength of a hand you always start by looking at the highest card. If two players have the same high card, you look at the next highest, and so on. Hands with pairs, trips, straights, flushes and better are always worse than hands with five different cards that don't form a flush or a straight.

Hand rankings from strong to weak:
1. (7-Spades)

As mentioned before, the draw poker basics are the same. In Single Draw Deuce to Seven the cards are dealt, followed by a betting round, followed by a draw round and finally there is one last betting round followed by a showdown. There is also a triple draw variation where players can trade in their cards three times. This variation is often only played with a maximum of six players because there will often not be enough cards to go around for more players.

The more draws there are in a game, the better your hand needs to be to win a showdown. Especially when players only trade in one or two cards on their first draw, the chance is big that they will hold an 8-low or better in the end. This game involves a little more psychology than the single draw variation, as you can stand pat after the first draw, which means you don't trade in any more cards for the last two drawing rounds. This comes across very strong as you are basically stating that your hand is good enough already to see a showdown with. With triple draw you can give away a lot more misleading information about your hand by means of betting patterns and the number of cards you choose to trade. It is often not a good idea to still draw in the third drawing round if your opponent is already standing pat. Therefore, position in draw poker is just as important as it is in Texas Hold'em.

Badugi
Badugi (also called Badougi or Padooki) is similar to Ace-to-Five low. It is also a lowball variation where the player with the lowest combination of cards wins. There are, however, some significant differences. The rules for Badugi are as follows: Every player receives four cards that are dealt face down. After every player receives their cards, the first betting round begins, starting with the player left of the blinds. This is followed by a maximum of 3 draw rounds, with a betting round after each draw. The last betting round is followed by a showdown, if this is necessary.

Winning hands are made up of cards with different suits and different values. The Ace counts as low in Badugi. The lowest possible combination is therefore A-2-3-4, with all four cards in different suits. If a player has four different suits, with no pairs, trips or quads, then this is called a Badugi. When a player has two cards of the same suit at showdown, one of the two cards (the higher one) needs to be discarded and doesn't count towards the hand. The same counts for pairs or trips.

The cards that remain in the end are called the Badugi. A 4-card Badugi is a hand that consists of 4 different suits, with no pairs. A 3-card Badugi is a hand that consists of 3 different suits. There is also a 2-card Badugi. A 4-card Badugi will always beat a 3-card Badugi. If two Badugi hands have the same number of cards, you start by looking at the highest card. The hand with the lowest "high" card wins the hand. If two or more players have the same high card, then you look at the next highest, and so on. If all four cards are the same then the pot gets split.

Hand rankings from high to low:
1. (A-Clubs)

= 4-card, 4-high Badugi. Best possible hand.
2. (2-Spades)

= 4-card, K-high Badugi.
3. (3-Spades)

= 3-card, 8-high.
4. (5-Spades)

= 3-card, 8-high.
5. (2-Diamonds)

= 3-card, 9-high.
6. (2-Diamonds)

= 2-card, 9-high

Badugi is usually played as a triple draw game. It is mostly played in a Fixed Limit format, but Pot Limit and No Limit are also possible. In terms of strategy this game is very similar to other triple draw games like Deuce to Seven Lowball.

A little side-info on Badugi: Badugi (바둑이) is popular in South Korea, where the game originated from. Badugi is a common name there given to dogs that have spots in different colours. This symbolises the rules of the game. Furthermore, the different drawing rounds in the game are called breakfast (아침), lunch (점심), and dinner (저녁). This stands for the 3 meals that are fed to the Badugi.

This articles explains how Draw Poker is played and what to look for in Draw Poker. An interesting read if you want to take a look at the different Draw Poker games out there.