Robert's Rules of Poker - Draw High

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The following section concerns the rules for playing Draw High, commonly known as Five Card Draw.

There are two betting rounds, one before the draw and one after the draw. The game is played with a button and an ante. Players in turn may check, open for the minimum, or open with a raise. After the first betting round the players have the opportunity to draw new cards to replace the ones they discard. Action after the draw starts with the opener, or next player proceeding clockwise if the opener has folded. The betting limit after the draw is twice the amount of the betting limit before the draw. Some draw high games allow a player to open on anything; others require the opener to have a pair of jacks or better.

RULES OF DRAW HIGH

1.     A maximum of a bet and four raises is permitted in multihanded pots. [See “Section 16 – Explanations,” discussion #6, for more information on this rule.]

2.     Check-raise is permitted both before and after the draw.

3.     Any card that is exposed by the dealer before the draw must be kept.

4.     Five cards constitute a playing hand. Less than five cards for a player (other than the button) before action has been taken is a misdeal. If action has been taken, a player with fewer than five cards may draw the number of cards necessary to complete a five-card hand. The button may receive the fifth card even if action has taken place. More or fewer than five cards after the draw constitutes a fouled hand.

5.     A player may draw up to four consecutive cards. If a player wishes to draw five new cards, four are dealt right away, and the fifth card after everyone else has drawn cards. If the last player wishes to draw five new cards, four are dealt right away, and a card is burned before the player receives a fifth card. [See “Section 16 – Explanations,” discussion #9, for more information about this rule.]

6.     You may change the number of cards you wish to draw, provided:

(a) No cards have been dealt off the deck in response to your request (including the burncard).

(b) No player has acted, in either the betting or indicating the number of cards to be drawn, based on the number of cards you have requested.

7.     If you are asked how many cards you drew by another active player, you are obligated to respond until there has been action after the draw, and the dealer is also obligated to respond. Once there is any action after the draw, you are no longer obliged to respond and the dealer cannot respond.

8.     On the draw, an exposed card cannot be taken. The draw is completed to each player in order, and then the exposed card is replaced.

9.     Rapping the table in turn constitutes either a pass or the declaration of a pat hand that does not want to draw any cards, depending on the situation. A player who indicates a pat hand by rapping the table, not knowing the pot has been raised, may still play his or her hand.

10.   You may not change your seat between hands when there are multiple antes or forfeited money in the pot.

11.   You have the right to pay the ante (whether single or multiple) at any time and receive a hand, unless there is any additional money in the pot that has been forfeited during a hand in which you were not involved.

12.   If the pot has been declared open by an all-in player playing for just the antes, all callers must come in for the full opening bet.

13.   If you have only a full ante and no other chips on the table, you may play for just the antes. If no one opens and there is another ante, you may still play for that part of the antes that you have matched, without putting in any more money.

JACKS-OR-BETTER

1.     A pair of jacks or better is required to open the pot. If no player opens the pot, the button moves forward and each player must ante again, unless the limit of antes has been reached for that particular game. (Most games allow three consecutive deals before anteing stops.)

2.     If the opener should show false openers before the draw, any other active player has the opportunity to declare the pot opened. However, any player who originally passed openers is not eligible to declare the pot open. The false opener has a dead hand and the opening bet stays in the pot. Any other bet placed in the pot by the opener may be withdrawn, provided the action before the draw is not completed. If no other player declares the pot open, all bets are returned except the opener's first bet. The first bet and antes will remain in the pot, and all players who were involved in that hand are entitled to play the next hand after anteing again.

3.     Any player who has legally declared the pot opened must prove openers in order to win the pot.

4.     In all cases, the pot will play (even if the opener shows or declares a fouled hand) if there has been a raise, two or more players call the opening bet, or all action is completed before the draw.

5.     Even if you are all in for just the ante (or part of the ante), you may declare the pot open if you have openers. If you are all in and falsely declare the pot open, you will lose the ante money and may not continue to play on any subsequent deals until a winner is determined. Even if you buy in again, you must wait until the pot has been legally opened and someone else has won it before you can resume playing.

6.     Once action has been completed before the draw, the opener may not withdraw any bets, whether or not the hand contains openers.

7.     An opener may be allowed to retrieve a discarded hand to prove openers, at management's discretion.

8.     Any player may request that the opener retain the opening hand and show it after the winner of the pot has been determined.

9.     You may split openers, but you must declare that you are splitting and place all discards under a chip to be exposed by the dealer after the completion of the hand. If you declare that you are splitting openers, but it is determined that you could not possibly have had openers when your final hand is compared with your discards, you will lose the pot.

10.   You are not splitting openers if you retain openers. If you begin with the ace, joker, king, queen of spades, and the ten of clubs, you are not splitting if you throw the ten of clubs away. You are breaking a straight to draw to a royal flush, and in doing so, you have retained openers (ace-joker for two aces).

11.   After the draw, if you call the opener's bet and cannot beat openers, you will not get your bet back. (You have received information about opener's hand that is not free.)

THE JOKER

1.    The players will be alerted as to whether the joker is in use.

2.    The joker may be used only as an ace, or to complete a straight, flush, or straight flush. (Thus it is not a completely wild card.)

3.    If the joker is used to make a flush, it will be the highest card of the flush not present in the hand.

4.    Five aces is the best possible hand (four aces and joker).