Draw poker rules info

Draw Poker is played in various forms, of which the most popular is Jackpots. The cards, seating, determination of dealer, shuffle and cut. Five cards are dealt, one at a time, face down, to each player in rotation. There is then a betting interval, after which each active player in turn may discard one or more cards and the dealer serves him that number of cards from the top of the pact to restore his hand to five cards. (A player need not draw; he may play the cards originally dealt to him, in which case he is said to "stand pat.")

After the draw, there is another betting interval, and if two or more players remain after this betting interval, there is a showdown.

The popular forms of Draw Poker are:

• Jackpots. Usually each player antes equally at the start of the deal; some players prefer, for convenience, to have only the dealer ante-one white chip for each player in the game, or one red chip, or one blue chip.
  When the deal is completed, each player in turn, beginning at the left of the dealer, has the right to open (make the first bet), or to pass. In Jackpots, the word pass is equivalent to check; pass is an ambiguous term in Poker, because sometimes it means check, sometimes it means drop. A player may not open unless he has jacks or better-a pair of jacks, or a hand that would beat a pair of jacks in a showdown.
  If no one opens, through the dealer, everyone (or the next dealer) antes again and there is a new deal by the next dealer in turn.
  If any player opens, the first betting interval has begun. Each other player in turn after him (including players who passed on the first round) must drop, call, or raise, until this betting interval ends. There is then the draw, as in all forms of Draw Poker; another betting interval, and the showdown.
  The player who opens must "show openers" before he can discard his hand. He need show only as many cards as will prove to the other players that he had the requirements. Of course, if he is in the showdown he must show his entire hand.
• Progressive jackpots. This is the same as Jackpots except that, if no one opens, on the next deal queens or better are required to open; on the next, if two in a row are passed out, kings or better are required; on the next, aces or better; and some run the series all the way up to two pair or better.
• Jacks or bobtail to open. Many play that one may open either on a pair of jacks or better; or on any bobtail, that is, four cards of the same suit, called a fourflush, or a bobtail straight, which is four cards in sequence that can become a straight if the card at either end of the sequence is drawn. (8-7-6-5 is a bobtail, because either the nine or the four will make it a straight; A-K-Q-J is not, because only a single card, the ten, will fill it; 9-8-6-5 is not, because only a seven will fill it, this being called an "inside straight.")
• Open on anything. The rules are the same as in Jackpots except that there is no minimum requirement for opening, and so the P who makes the first bet need not show openers at any stage.
• Pass and out. Each player in turn, beginning at the left of the dealer, must either bet or drop. There is no minimum hand rewired for opening. This is distinguished from Jackpots or Open on Anything, which are "pass and back in" games.
• Blind and Straddle. This is an early form of Draw Poker, but is still much played. The player at the left of the dealer is known as the age, and must put up an agreed amount, usually a white chip, as an ante or blind before seeing his cards. This is a compulsory bet and never varies in amount. The player to the left of the blind may pass or he may raise the blind: this raise is known as a straddle, and must be double the amount of the blind, or 2 chips. (In many games, at least one straddle is obligatory.) The advantage of the straddle is to make the next player at the left of the straddler the first to say whether he will stay in, the game. If the blind is straddled, the next player at the left may straddle again, by doubling the last previous straddle, and the next player may straddle him again, and so on around the table until the agreed straddle limit has been reached. If any person, in his turn, refuses to straddle, this prevents any player on his left from a further straddle; such a refusal puts an end to the period of blind and straddle, and the players may look at the five cards dealt them. A straddle may thus be made only by a player who sits at the left of the blind or a straddler.
  After looking at his cards, the player to the left of the blind, or to the left of the last straddler if there has been any, has the first say. If he does not wish to continue in the play, he passes (drops), turns down his hand, and withdraws from the game; the privilege moves on to the player at the left, and so on around the table. The first player who decides to stay must bet double the amount of the last straddle. Any following players who wish to stay in must equal the amount of this bet, the age putting up enough to make his blind equal to the total, and each straddler doing the same, counting the chips he has already put in. Each player in turn may raise up to any amount within the betting limits. Any such raises must be met in turn by the players who wish to stay in the game, according to the general laws of Poker. If no one calls the blind or a straddle, the player who made the uncalled bet wins the pot and the game is over. If two or more players are in the game, and bets are equalized, this betting interval is over, and players still in the game are ready for the draw.
• Blind opening. In this game, after cards have been dealt and whether or not they have been looked at by players, the player on the dealer's left is required to open the pot for a specified amount, regardless of the hand that he holds. Other players have the option of meeting the compulsory bet, raising it, or dropping, according to the general laws of Poker betting. In some games, a player to the left of the blind opener is required to double the blind bet if he wishes to stay in.
• Blind and straddle, English style. (see Blind and Straddle, above) The age must open blind, the player at his left may straddle, blind; if he does so, the player at his left may straddle, blind. After the draw, the active player to the left of the last blind bettor must bet first. Therefore, by straddling a player acquires the best position, whereas if he did not straddle he would have the worst position, "under the guns."
• Block system. In this game, 25 chips are put into the pot before play starts: these chips consist of a 19-chip ante of the dealer, a 2-chip blind opening by the player at the left of the dealer, and a compulsory raise to 4 chips by the second player on the left of the dealer. The third player then has the first privilege of betting, after he has looked at his cards. The limit of any player's raise before the draw consists of 2 chips. After the draw the limit for any raise is the total number of chips bet by each player before the draw (the 19-chip ante not counting as a bet).

The draw

Method of the deal

All players who have stayed in may draw cards to improve their hands. A player may discard any or all of his original five cards, or he may stand pat by keeping his original hand. When six or seven players are in the game, it is customary to limit the amount of the draw to three (sometimes four) cards. Each player in turn must state distinctly the number of cards that he wishes, which are at once given to him off the top of the pack, When serving himself, the dealer must state aloud the number of cards that he takes.

In many games the dealer burns (discards) the top card of the pack, face down, before he begins dealing for the draw. If the opener in a game of Jackpots remains in the game for the draw, he may place his discard under the chips in front of him, regardless of what he holds or what he is drawing to. This discard must remain there throughout the game, even if other discards are gathered up and redealt. He may split his opening qualifications if he wishes to do so, and he is not obliged to state this fact. He need not put his discards in the pot ff he is confident that he can persuade the other players that he had openers, even if (for example) holding J-J-10-9-8 he opened, discarded one jack, and drew one card.

Dealing cards for the draw begins with the active player on the dealer's left and proceeds as usual from one active player to another around the table. No player should discard until it is his turn to draw cards.

Incorrect dealing in the draw

The following irregularities constitute errors on the part of the dealer. They may be corrected or penalized as stated:

1. Exposed card. If a card is found faced in the pack, exposed by the dealer in dealing, turned over by the wind in the deal, or otherwise shown so that it can be identified by name by any player: A player must accept such exposed card if it is the first card drawn or to be drawn by him; any subsequent exposed card which would have fallen to the same player must be placed face down among the discards. It is replaced from the top of the pack after all other players, including the dealer, have been served their required number of cards.
2. Incorrect number of cards. If a player asks for the correct number of cards and the dealer fails to give them to him, the error must be corrected the moment the dealer's attention is called, to it, provided that the player has not lifted or looked at any of the drawn cards. If the player has looked at any of the drawn cards, his hand is foul. If he has not looked at them and has drawn a surplus card, this card should be placed on the top of the pack and dealt in the usual order. If he has too few cards, additional cards should be supplied immediately, without waiting for others to be served. In any case, if any card has been served to a player after him, he may only increase his discard to make room for the excess draw, or drop.
3. Draw out of turn. If a player allows a person on his left to be served out of his proper turn, he must play the hand without drawing, or abandon it. If he has discarded, his hand is dead. (Some permit such a player to play with an insufficient number of cards.)
4. Card known to player drawing it. Whether or not the player to be served can see a card about to be dealt to him, unless it is exposed on the table, he must take that card.
5. Irregular draw by dealer. If the dealer deals too many cards for himself, he must take them. If he looks at any of them before discarding enough cards to accept them, his hand is foul. If he has not looked at any of the cards drawn, he must discard enough cards from his original hand to make a correct number with the draw. If the dealer takes too few cards, his hand is foul. (Some players allow the dealer to play with an insufficient number of cards.)
6. Irregular draw corrected. If a player asks for too few cards before discarding and before the next player has been served, the error may be corrected. If he has looked at any of the cards drawn his hand is foul.

If a player asks for too many cards before discarding and be- fore the next player has been served, the error may be corrected. If he has looked at any of the cards to be drawn, his hand is foul. If he has not discarded and the next player has been served, he may correct the error by discarding enough cards from his original hand to make a correct number with the draw.

Other rules governing the draw

1. There must be no change in the arrangement of the pack between dealing the original hand and the end of the draw. Shuffling and cutting are not allowed, except when the cards are exhausted and discards must be used for further draws.
2. A player must have five cards, including his discard and the cards held in his hand, in order to draw.
3. A card taken from a player's hand and discarded face-down on the table may not be taken back under any circumstances.
4. If the cards in the draw become inadvertently mixed up with discards or another player's draw, the dealer may be called upon to straighten them out. If he cannot do so to all players' satisfaction, the unclean cards, discards and mixed cards must be shuffled together and cut, and the draw proceeds.
5. No player is allowed to give any information concerning the number of cards drawn by a player, except in the case of the dealer. A player who is still in the game and has not yet bet may ask how many cards the dealer drew, and the dealer must give the required information.
6. If a player, before discarding, intentionally sees the face of any card dealt to him in the draw, his hand is foul.

Final betting interval

After the draw has been completed, the final betting interval starts. The duty of starting the betting falls to the player who opened the pot before the draw. If the opener is not still in the game, the privilege passes to the active player next to his left.
If the opener drops, he must show his opening qualifications, and the rest of his hand face-down to prove a fair hand of five cards.

False openers

If a player has opened without the necessary qualifications, or has a foul hand, the following rules apply.

1. If it is discovered, after the draw, that the pot was opened falsely, the opener's hand is foul and he loses all claim to the pot. In addition he forfeits any of his chips already bet. Those players still in the game are allowed to remain and play, regardless of the false opening.
2. If the opener announces, before the draw, that he does not have openers, any player who has openers and wishes to open may announce the fact. This player takes the place of the original opener, and the game proceeds. If there is no opener, all players except the false opener withdraw their bets and the deal passes. The antes and the bets of the false opener remain in the pot for the next deal. (In some sections, more severe penalties are imposed upon the false opener, such as having him ante for all on the next deal.)
3. If no one calls the false opener before the draw, all chips remain in the pot for the next deal. If no one calls the false opener after the draw, all other players may withdraw from the pot any chips they put in, except antes; but the opener's chips and the antes remain in the pot for the next deal.
4. If the false opening is not discovered before the showdown, the opener's hand is foul and the pot goes to the highest fair hand; if all hands have been abandoned, the pot remains upon the table for the next deal.