Five card draw is the poker most people learn first: everyone gets five cards, there is a round of betting, you swap some cards to improve, there is another round of betting, and the best hand wins. Here you play it against one to three computer opponents with play chips, so you can practice reading hands, choosing what to discard and sizing your bets.
How to play
- Choose 1, 2 or 3 computer opponents and press Deal. Everyone starts with 1,000 chips.
- Every player antes 10 chips, and each receives five cards face down.
- First betting round: starting left of the dealer button, each player checks, bets, calls, raises or folds. The minimum bet is 20; raises must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise.
- The draw: tap the cards you want to throw away — up to three, or four if you hold an ace — and press Draw, or press Stand pat to keep your hand.
- Second betting round, then the showdown: remaining hands are revealed and the best poker hand wins the pot.
The button moves one seat left after each hand. Keyboard shortcuts: F to fold, C to check or call, R to bet or raise, N for the next hand.
Draw odds
These are the chances of improving with common draws, assuming you know only your own cards (47 unseen):
| You hold | Draw | Improves to | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| One pair | 3 | Two pair or better | 28.7% |
| Three of a kind | 2 | Full house or four of a kind | 10.4% |
| Two pair | 1 | Full house | 8.5% |
| Four to a flush | 1 | Flush | 19.1% |
| Open-ended straight draw | 1 | Straight | 17.0% |
| Inside straight draw | 1 | Straight | 8.5% |
The one-card draws follow directly from counting outs: a four-flush has 9 suited cards left among 47, so 9 ÷ 47 = 19.1%.
Worked example: pair or flush draw?
You hold 7♥ 7♣ 2♥ 9♥ K♥. You can keep the pair of sevens and draw three (28.7% to improve, but most improvements are only two pair), or keep the four hearts and draw one (19.1% to make a flush, which beats any two pair or trips). If several opponents are in the pot, the flush draw is often the better play because a pair of sevens rarely wins a multiway pot unimproved. Heads-up, keeping the pair is usually stronger.
Strategy tips
- Play fewer hands from early seats. Acting first gives you less information; strong pairs (jacks or better) are a reasonable minimum to bet.
- Watch how many cards opponents draw. Standing pat often means a straight or better; drawing three usually means a single pair.
- Don’t chase inside straights unless the pot is very large — 8.5% needs pot odds of roughly 11 to 1.
- Keep a high kicker only with an ace. Drawing four to an ace has a low chance of winning; folding is often better.
- Bet your strong hands. The computer players call fairly often, so value bets get paid.
Rules and simplifications
- No-limit betting with a 10-chip ante and a 20-chip minimum bet; there is no opening requirement.
- Side pots are exact. If an all-in player is called, each opponent can win from that player only as much as they matched; chips nobody matched are returned.
- Any all-in raise reopens the betting, even if it is smaller than a full raise.
- Split pots are divided evenly; an odd chip goes to the winner closest to the dealer’s left.
- All remaining hands are shown at the showdown. Players who run out of chips leave the table; the game ends when you or the computer players are out.
Hand values follow standard rankings — see poker hand rankings for the full list and probabilities. For community-card poker, try Texas Hold’em; for a fast casino game against the dealer, try Three Card Poker.
This is a free game using play chips only. Computer opponents use simple estimates, not expert strategy, so results here are no guide to real-money play.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards can I draw?
Up to three, or up to four if you keep an ace. Choose the cards to throw away, press Draw, and they are replaced from the deck. You can also stand pat and keep all five.
What are the chances of improving a pair?
Keeping a pair and drawing three improves it about 28.7% of the time: two pair 16.0%, three of a kind 11.4%, full house 1.0% and four of a kind 0.3%.
How do the computer players decide what to do?
They estimate their chance of winning by simulating a few hundred random deals, compare it with the pot odds, and add a little randomness so they occasionally bluff or slow-play. They draw with a simple fixed strategy, such as keeping pairs and four-card flush draws.
What happens when a player goes all-in?
Side pots are calculated exactly: an all-in player can only win the amount each opponent matched. Any chips nobody else matched are returned to the player who bet them.
Is there an opening requirement like jacks or better?
No. Anyone may open the betting with any hand. Requiring jacks or better to open is a common home-game variant, but it is not used here.