Five card draw strategy

I have written this article to share my own experiences from the five card draw tables at the 24hpoker poker room. I am far from an expert of the game, I play it mostly because it is fun so read what I write here with a critical eye.

How is the game played? In five card draw all players are dealt 5 cards, then they bet and drop some cards and take as many new as they dropped. After that there is a last betting round. It is a quicker game than Texas hold'em since the hands doesn't take so long time to play.

To the pont..

I usually play at the €0.25/0.5 pot limit tables at 24hpoker and is from that experience I came up with this article. Personally I think the opposition is fairly easy, and it is not only me who thinks so I have read posts of other people who thinks so in poker forums. Most players at the draw tables at this limit are afraid to bet or raise unless they have a monster hand and they seldom bluff. Of course there are exceptions but in general I think it's like that.

My strategy is fairly simple. I'll only join the action if I get pair of jacks or better unless I' in the blinds. If you follow that simple rule you are already a good part on the way to being a winning player there. Look for the tables with the highest flop percentage by the way as it often is easier to win there. If someone raises I usually trust him in that he has good cards, as I said they bluff pretty seldom at this level. After a while you get a feeling for the characters around the tables and know who is more likely to bluff.

I usually bet before the draw (card exchange) if I have cards that are above average, pair of aces or better. It is easier to get people to call before the draw than after because after the draw people can see pretty easily if their cards suck or not. Before the draw most people just gets in the action because they hope to be lucky and that's why it is important to get some money in the pot at tat time. After the draw I usually only makes a pretty small bet (Min bet or 1/5 of the pot) if I feel that I the other players are weak and that I probably have the strongest hand. Then I can usually get called and get a little more money in the pot, if I make a larger bet it usually ends up with everyone folding. But it depends a little on the situation too one has to get a little feeling for it.

Bluffing

I don't bluff so often at those tables. Sure I do it sometimes when it feels right and sometimes when I just want to show that I am not always only playing with good cards. If you notice that the opponent is a weak player but probably has slightly better cards than yourself it might be a good idea to bluff. I don't recommend new players to try and bluff more than one player at the same time, that s more difficult. That said, bluffing is an important part of the game but at the lower levels one doesn't have to do it so much to be a winner. If you get the feeling for when to bluff you can make significantly more ,money though.

© Emil Svensson