Some readers may wonder why one would ever need to compare (say) two threes of a kind of equal rank. This obviously cannot arise in basic draw poker, but such comparisons are needed in poker games using shared (community) cards, such as Texas Hold'em, in poker games with wild cards, and in other card games using poker combinations. In Omaha, a wrap is a straight draw with more outs than an open-ended straight draw (OESD). In other words, wraps are straight draws where you have more than 8 outs. The most powerful wrap draw typically has 20 outs. EXAMPLE “I was holding A-3-4-5, and the board came K-6-7.

  1. Five-card draw (also known as a Cantrell draw) is a poker variant that is considered the simplest variant of poker, and is the basis for video poker. As a result, it is often the first variant learned by new players. It is commonly played in home games but rarely played in casino and tournament play.
  2. A royal flush is the highest straight of cards, all in one suit: 10-J-Q-K-A. This hand is very tough to make. Being dealt this hand in five-card stud poker will happen about once in every 649,000 hands. In five card draw (or video poker), it will happen about once in every 40,000 hands.

There are two different types of post-flop hands that have value in poker: made hands and drawing hands. Made hands are more straightforward than draws and typically much easier to play. In fact, learning what a drawing hand is and how to play it is an often misunderstood yet extremely important component of mastering Texas Hold’em or any poker game for that matter.

So what is a draw in poker? In poker, a drawing hand is when a player has an unmade hand that is not likely to be best on the current street but has the potential to “draw” to the best hand by the turn or river if a particular card comes. The most common draws that come to mind for most people is the flush draw or straight draw.

There are varying strengths of drawing hands ranging from a gutshot straight draw (4 potential outs) all the way up to having a powerful combo draw such as a straight draw that includes a flush draw (up to 15 outs).

What Is an Out?

An out is a potential future card that could be dealt on the turn or river that has the potential of improving a poker hand. Usually, outs are associated with cards that would likely improve a player to the winning hand. For example, if you held Ace King and the board was 952, then all Aces and Kings left in the deck would be considered “outs” since either of them would make you top pair.

What Is a Flush Draw?

A flush is when your hole cards and the community cards include 5 of the same suit. Therefore, a flush draw is when one or both of your hole cards have the possibility of making a flush on the next street.

Examples Two Card Flush Draws

Not all flush draws are created equally. The strongest flush draws are when you either have two of the same suit in your hand and two on the board, or have the Ace of one suit in your hand and 3 of the same suit on the board. Having a single card flush draw that is not to the nuts (the best hand possible) is often a sucker hand to play due to reverse implied odds.

What is Reverse Implied Odds?

Reverse implied odds means that you might improve your hand and still lose to a better draw. The weaker your flush draw the more likely it is that reverse implied odds is an issue. Therefore, unless both cards in your hand are suited, you generally do not want to invest a lot of chips chasing a flush draw. As a rule, straight draws tend to have fewer issues with reverse implied odds.

What Is a Straight Draw?

A straight draw is when one or both of your hole cards allow your hand to make a 5 card straight on the next street. The most common straight draw that most people are familiar with is the open-ended straight draw. This is where one or both of your cards are in between the community cards in such a way that you have 8 potential outs to make a straight.

While reverse implied odds problems are typically not that common with straight draws, it is still possible. If your cards are at the bottom of the potential straight and there are hands that can make a bigger straight, this is known as having the “dummy” end of the straight. The best straight draw to have is when all 8 cards are to the nuts, typically seen as open-ended straight draws.

Are There Any Other Drawing Hands?

Yes. In fact, any time you have a hand that has an obvious route to becoming the best hand on either the Turn or River, it is technically a drawing hand. Examples include:

  • Bottom pair, which has 5 outs to make trips or two pair
  • A gutshot straight draw, which has 4 potential outs to a straight
  • A Backdoor flush draw, which can make a flush if the correct suit comes runner runner on the turn and river
    See the image below for examples of the above hands, respectively shown in the same order as written.

Weak Draws

The possibilities are endless. What is really important is in determining which draws have enough value to continue with and then choosing the correct lines to maximize the expected value. Mastering tactical play in these spots takes lots of time and effort.

What Are the Odds of Making a Draw by the Turn or River?

Understanding the odds of drawing hands is one of the basic fundamental concepts of texas hold’em. The probability of completing a draw is based on the number of outs you have. Here is a poker outs probability chart showing the odds of making a few of the common draws on the turn or river, based on the number of outs.

An Easy Math Shortcut to Help You Figure out the Odds

If you can remember the numbers 4 and 2, you can figure out your approximate chances of hitting a flopped draw on the turn or by the river. For your chance of improving by the river, multiply your expected number of outs by 4. For your chance of improving on the turn, multiply your expected number of outs by 2. That’s it, easy peasy.

Of course, the numbers won’t be exactly correct and are going to be off by around 1% most of the time. Even so, it’s close enough to make intelligent decisions at the table. Let’s test it out, just to be sure. Say you have an open-ended straight draw and are curious how often you will hit your straight by the river. Since an open ender is 8 outs, we multiply that by 4 and end up with 32. If you check the chart above, you will notice that the actual number is 31.5%; pretty dang close. Feel free to test a few other possibilities to get the hang of it.

Why Are Drawing Hands so Valuable?

Now, let’s briefly get a bit more advanced and discuss the theory of why drawing hands are so valuable. In short, it’s because they tend to do very well against the strong made hands and have much better equity against the nuts (the strongest hand possible) or near nuts, even on the turn.

Equity is basically what percentage of the pot your hand is going to win if everyone involved in the pot happened to get all-in right now at this very moment on this street. If you compare the equity of a made hand like top pair versus the nuts, you will see that that type of hand has very little chance of winning by the river. On the other hand, your run of the mill low flush draw will usually beat the stone cold nuts more than 1 in 3 times by the river.

As an example, 32s, with a two card flush draw, has over a 33% chance of winning the pot by the river versus QJo on an AKT, 36% if your opponent doesn’t share a suit with you. See the results below, as shown in a program called Pokerstove, which calculates raw flop equity based on known hole cards and the board.

Now, look at how top pair does versus the same hand.

Only 7.5% equity! Now you see the full impact of draws. Versus an opponent who likely has a really strong range, it is much better to have a draw than a medium strength hand, like top pair.

While it’s better to have a draw over a made hand when up against a really strong hand, the real power of a draw is the fact that sometimes your opponent(s) will fold and you take down the pot uncontested. This extra money you win the times that you get a fold is known as fold equity.

The Power of Fold Equity

The entire reason a draw is profitable has nothing to do with actually making your hand. Even most of the stronger draws will have less than 50% equity on the flop. If no one ever folded, then it would be virtually impossible to show a profit with a draw. Take a look at this screenshot of the graph from my recent play while holding either a flush draw or straight draw.

Hold’em Manager Graph Showing My Results With Flopped Draws

As you can see, I won a lot of money with my draws but would have been a loser if it were not for the non-showdown earnings I achieved via fold equity. These “red line” earnings were made when I bet and my opponents folded. This is known as “Semi-Bluffing.”

What is a Semi Bluff?

When you represent a made hand by betting or raising while on a draw, it is known as semi-bluffing. One of the reasons that good poker players win is not because they have the best hand at showdown more than everyone else, but rather how they make opponents fold the best hand. The best hands to “bluff” are ones that are most likely to improve on a later street; namely draws. Therefore, the most effective bluffs are ones that have a lot of equity, such as flush draws or straight draws via semi-bluffs.

What Is A Draw In Poker

Summary

One of the keys to learning how to play winning poker is to master how to play a variety of hands after the flop. Not only do you have to know how to get value from made hands, you also have to learn how to maximize your drawing hands as well. In fact, learning how the equity of made hands versus draws works can make the difference between being a losing and a winning player. This makes mastering how to play a drawing hand of utmost importance.

Not to be confused with each other, 5 Card Draw and 5 Card Stud are two uniquely different types of poker. While the two games share similarities, there are distinct variations which must be understood in order to recognise the rules of the game you’re playing. With names so similar, it can be easy to get the two confused so players need to be wary of the differences.

So what are the differences between 5 Card Draw and 5 Card Stud?

Rules of 5 Card Draw poker

5 Card Draw poker is the older and somewhat more popular game of the two and offers a good chance for bluffing, one of the strategies that significantly added to pokers fame. It is one of the most basic forms of poker available and the kind you’ll typically see in movies and TV shows.


The game uses a standard 52 deck of cards and can be played with two to six players, with six players being ideal.

To begin, each player places an agreed upon ante into the pot to enter the game. The ante is typically the equivalent of the minimum bet of the game.

The dealer then deals five face down cards to each player, starting from the left of the dealer.

Players look at their cards and the first betting round starts, with the player to the left of the dealer beginning the betting.

What Is A Broadway Draw In Poker

Each player has the option to call, raise or fold. Typically, each betting round is limited to four raises, but there are variations on this rule. If all players fold within the first betting round, the pot remains and each player adds another ante to start a new deal.

The remaining players in the first betting round now have the choice to improve their hand by swapping cards. Players can discard and obtain up to three cards, or have the choice of keeping their original cards.

Once all players have received their new hands, the second and final round of betting takes place. The player who started the first betting round also starts the second. During this betting round it’s a common rule that the minimum and maximum betting limitations are often doubled.

This brings us to the showdown. All remaining players after the second betting round must reveal their cards, starting clockwise from the last player to call or raise. The player with the highest ranking five card hand is the winner and takes home the pot. If only one player remains they automatically become the winner.

What

Rules of 5 Card Stud poker

This is the sister game to the popular 7 Card Stud poker variant and follows a very similar game format. 5 Card Stud uses a standard 52 deck of cards and allows up to 10 players to play at once.

Each player places an agreed upon ante into the pot to secure their place in the game.

What Happens In A Draw In Poker

The deal begins with each player receiving one face up card and one face down card (the hole card).

Betting begins with the player showing the highest value face up card, or if two players have cards of the same value, the player closest to the left of the dealer begins the betting.

Each player has the option to call, raise or fold. If a player raises and all succeeding players call or fold but don’t raise, no further raise may be made until the next betting round.

Each player is then dealt a third face up card and a second round of betting takes place, with the player to the left of the dealer starting the betting round. This continues for a fourth face up card and a third betting round, then a fifth face up card and a fourth betting round.

During these subsequent betting rounds, if each player checks, play proceeds directly to the next betting round. If a player raises, following players only have the choice to raise, call or fold.

What Is A Straight Draw In Poker

The remaining players then enter the showdown to reveal their final hand. If only one player remains they don’t have to reveal their hole card, which is where bluffing skills come into play. The player with the highest ranking five card hand wins. The winner of the game takes the entire pot.

Difference between 5 Card Stud and 5 Card Draw

After reading the rules of the two games, you can see that five card stud and five card draw are indeed quite different. The most significant difference is that whereas in 5 Card Draw players start out with a complete hand of five cards, in 5 Card Stud players only start with two cards, and work their way up to a five card hand if they manage to stay in the game. In 5 Card Draw players also have the option to exchange less desirable cards for the chance of a better hand, while in 5 Card Stud players must make do with the cards that they are dealt.

Where to Play 5 Card Stud and 5 Card Draw Online

What Is A Draw In Poker

The version of poker you choose to play comes down to personal preference and neither five card variation is technically “better” than the other. 5 Card Draw is one of the most basic forms of poker and is a good starting point for beginners.

Our recommended online poker websites offer both versions, so you can try your luck at either in free play mode in order to choose which five card poker variant you like best. Once you’ve familiarised yourself with the games you have the choice to move on to play for real money wagers using a range of secure deposit and withdrawal methods. Our favourite poker sites include 888 Poker, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. These poker venues both require a quick software download, which is free and only takes a couple of minutes, opening the door to a huge range of poker games including 5 Card Draw and 5 Star Stud.