Playing 5 Card Games

There are many types of poker games available for online and offline play. This article will focus on the most common 5 card poker games which are 5 card draw and 5 card stud poker. For the beginning poker player, a basic knowledge of poker rules and terms is required to develop into a seasoned gamer. Poker, in general, is a card game of skill and luck in which players obtain the best hand of cards to win. Most poker games require a hand to be made up of either seven or five cards. A good hand can be made up of either all cards of the same suit, all cards in order sequentially, or multiple sets of cards with the same rank. A “hand” in poker is the cards that each player is dealt. A suit is one of these four: spade, club, diamond, or heart. “Rank” is the number of the card and can be: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, or Ace.

5 Card draw poker can be played by as few as three and as many as seven players. It is widely popular because of the speed and competitive nature of the game. Five cards are dealt to players, face down. Players can select 1-3 cards to exchange per bet or players can keep the cards they are initially dealt. This continues in a second round and so on until a player “folds,” or gives up. Players may show their cards and the player with the best hand wins.

5 Card stud poker is different in that, initially, players are dealt one card face up and one card face down. The player with the lowest ranking face card must begin the betting. Subsequent cards are dealt face up until the player with the player with the highest ranking face card beginning the bet. The player with the best hand wins.

5 Card Low/5 Card High.

Most poker games can be played “low” or “high.” This refers to the ranking of the cards in each player’s hand. In 5 card low, aces usually count as the number “1.” The best hand a player can get is the lowest in rank: 5, 4, 3, 2, ace. Playing 5 card high requires a player to obtain subsequent high cards to win with the highest ranking set being: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10. Because 5 card games of poker make it more difficult to get a good hand (since fewer cards make up each hand), a good tip is to attempt to collect suits or sets rather than straight hands unless specifically playing low or high.