Draw Poker

In this variation of Poker, three to six players are able to participate. The dealer deals five cards to every player, face down. After this initial deal a betting round follows, starting with the player on the left of the dealer. He and any other player now has to either Call or Raise to stay in the game.

Each player is then allowed to trade up to three cards with the deck. Then there is another round of betting. After this final round of betting the players all show their hands. The ranking of the hand is exactly the same as in Regular Poker.

There are several draw poker variants which we will look at below:

5 Card Draw
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: five down cards to each player
PLAY:There is a betting round after the deal, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. After the betting round, each player may exchange up to three cards. Another round of betting ensues, followed by the showdown. With fewer than six players, a player may draw four cards if they show that their remaining card is an Ace.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:
- Adding wild cards to play (and allowing five-of-a-kinds if chosen)
- High/low: the highest hand and lowest hand split the pot
- Lowball: Lowest hand wins
- Allowing for four card draw with an ace
- Double draw: After the first exchange and subsequent betting, there is another exchange and betting round.

Spit in the Ocean
PLAYERS: 3-12
INITIAL DEAL: 4 cards down to each player, one card up in the middle.
PLAY: As in 5 card draw, but each player receives only 4 cards. The card in the middle is shared by all players and, along with all other cards of the same rank, is wild.
WINNER: High hand

Howdy Doody
PLAYERS: 4-7
INITIAL DEAL: seven down cards to each player
PLAY: As with Anaconda Draw Poker, but with these exceptions: this game is high/low and has wild cards. Threes are wild if and only if the hand they are in is used to try to win the high pot. Kings are wild if and only if the hand they are in is used to try for the low pot. No betting until the showdown.
WINNER: High and low hands split
NOTES: The low pot is usually won by a perfect low. High is usually won by at least a full house.

Trees
PLAYERS: 3-10
INITIAL DEAL: 5 down to each player
PLAY: Bet. Now every player can trade cards freely with every other player. Any number of cards can be exchanged, but a player must give the same number of cards he is receiving. When all no more trades are forthcoming, there follows a final round of betting before the showdown.
WINNER: High hand.

Pick a Partner
PLAYERS: 4, 6, 8, or 10
INITIAL DEAL: 5 down to each player
PLAY: Everyone rolls a card. Highest card showing picks one of the other hands as a partner. The next highest unpartnered hand chooses a partner, and so forth until everyone is paired up. Each partnership combines their remaining 8 cards and chooses 3 of them. Three rounds of betting follow, with one of the 3 cards rolled after each round. The winning team splits the pot. If one member of a team folds, the other can continue playing and, if he wins, he wins the entire pot.
WINNER: High hand.