Starting Hands

As far as good 5 Card Draw Starting Hands are concerned, we have built an entire chapter on this subject. Please refer to the “Starting Hands” button on the left menu.

Reading The Opposition – Poker Tells

The most critical factor in any good 5 Card Draw strategy is knowing your opponents. It will take at least a few hands to discover distinct behavioral patterns, but observing any consistent movements or nervous reactions (twitching, scratching, hands to the face, etc.) will give you a much better idea of what they’re holding. These common reactions are known as “Poker Tells”. For example, if a player smoothes his or her hair frequently, pay attention to how many cards they discard and what kind of hand they end up with (or Folded). See if there is a pattern.

When playing poker online, Poker Tells are much harder to read. You must discover their betting tendencies. For example, is one player betting and raising on most every hand? Likely they are bluffing. Try calling the bluff and see if they back down. If not, try playing it out once to find out. You can usually stop a constant bluffer by calling their bluff just once.

Player Position

Where your turn lies in the betting cycle is extremely important in terms of reading your opponents. The best position to be in is the Dealer (or Dealer Button). This gives you a late betting position in the first round and last position in the final round.

In the first betting round, you are able to observe most of your opponents’ actions before deciding whether to move on or Fold. In the case of Folding, you lose absolutely nothing. In the final betting round, you have the opportunity to read each and every opponent before deciding whether your hand has the strength to go to a Showdown.

Other Elements of 5 Card Draw Strategy

Common Pre-Draw Bet/Raise Maneuvers

This 5 Card Draw strategy deals with a player’s betting tendencies. Pay close attention to how a player bets, how many cards they throw away and what hand they come out with. This can offer significant insight as to what they are betting on in subsequent hands. Common betting/discard habits include the following:

Check or Call – Discard 3: Has a Pair
Check or Call – Discard 2: Pair with Ace or King Kicker
Check or Call – Discard 1: 2 low Pair or Flush/Straight Draw
Raise – Discard 3: High Pair, usually Aces or Kings
Raise – Discard 2: Trips or High Pair with high Kicker
Raise – Discard 1: Usually 2 Pair, or Flush/Straight Draw if in late position
Bet/Raise – Discard 0: Straight or better
Check from Blind position – Discard 1: Flush/Straight Draw

Knowing The Outs

A skilled 5 Card Draw poker player always knows how many outs he has to a better hand. An “Out” is any card that will give you a likely winning poker hand. For example, an Outside Straight has 8 Outs (5-6-7-8 would need a 4 or 9, of which there are 4 of each in the deck – 4+4=8). Then again, a high-card Outside Straight, such as 10-J-Q-K would have even more Outs by creating a Pair, though this isn’t considered a very strong 5 Card Draw poker hand. In certain scenarios, such as late position with easy-to-read opponents, these can be considered Outs.

Outs are more difficult to determine in 5 Card Draw since you cannot make a good assumption on how many Outs remain in the deck (you can’t see any of your opponents’ cards). Even so, the more Outs you have, the better your odds become.

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