Popular 5 Card Draw Versions

5 card draw is the most classical variation of poker. Being played all over the world for many years, the game has been changed and modified numerous times. At this page we describe the basic game and some popular 5 card draw versions.

Basic 5 Card Draw

The main principle of 5 card draw can be described as follows: Each player receives 5 face-down cards. Then the first betting round takes place, after which all players can discard some of their cards replacing them by new ones from the deck.

Normally, players can exchange all their cards, but with more than 5 players at the table, there may not be enough cards in the deck if all players exchange all their cards. In such case the dealer may define a limit for the number of cards that can be exchanged. So, with 7 players at the table, such limit should be 3 cards per player and with 8 players, 2 cards per player. With 6 players the limit is not required, because it is barely possible that all players will exchange 4 or 5 cards.

When all players exchange their cards, the second, and the final betting round takes place, followed by showdown, where the player with the highest poker hand wins the game.

Acey Deucey

Acey Deusy is one of 5 card draw versions, which follows all the rules of the basic game, but twos and aces are wild. A player who has either a two or an ace in his hand can assign any value to this card. Most poker games played wild cards have only one wild card at a time. Acey Deucey has two, therefore big hands are more common in this game, and the actual value of each hand is lower than in other games.

Stedman's

Stedman's is very similar to Acey Deucey. It also follows all the basic rules of 5 card draw and has two wild cards, but these cards are fives and tens instead of twos and aces. More modern names for Stedman's poker are Woolco and Waltmart's

Heinz 57

Heinz 57 is another game of the same type, but this time wild cards are fives and sevens.

Pregnant Threes

Pregnant Threes is even a more wild game than the previous three. It has THREE wild cards: threes, sixes and nines. All the rest of the rules correspond to the basic 5 card draw game. However, with three wild cards, the game tactics become completely different, and only really big hands are not worth folding.

Spit in the Ocean

Spin in the ocean is different from other 5 card draw variants because it uses a community card. The game follows in accordance with basic 5 card draw rules, but only four cards are dealt to every player, and one card is dealt face-up to the middle of the table and serves as the fifth card of all players. Spit in the Ocean can also be played with five face card hands and the sixth community card. In this case, the players must either discard one of their cards at the showdown or not use the community card in order to combine a five-card final hand.

Wild Widow

Wild Widow has the same rules as Spit in the Ocean, but all cards that match the community card are wild. The community card itself normally is not wild to avoid the situation when all players will have a wild card in their hand, but if the players decide so, it can be defined as wild as well.

Stormy Weather

Stormy weather is another 5 card draw version that involves community cards. In these game three community cards are dealt face-down in the beginning of the game and are flipped over one by one after three betting rounds. In Stormy Weather players are dealt four personal cards and must use all four with only one of the community cards to form the final 5 card hand.