How to Select Best Starting Hands in 5-Card Draw Poker

5-card draw is the basic form of poker that most people learn when learning to play poker for the first time. Because it's a game that many people know, many people make mistakes and it begins with selecting a starting hand. By not playing too many hands and picking starting hands with potential, you can put yourself in the driver's seat at any 5-card draw poker table.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Go into the pot with a face card pair or anything higher. Unless someone betting before you is betting very aggressively, a high pair is a good start in 5-card draw poker.

2. Enter the pot with weaker hands if you are in the big blind or one of the last people to bet. Watch what the other players do. If the pot is small and several people have folded, you can go in with a pair of tens or smaller pair and try to improve your hand on the draw.

3. Fold hands that contain only high cards or worse. You may be tempted to play to a flush or a straight draw if you have four cards of one suit or four cards in a row. The chances of you making the flush or straight on a draw, however, are very slim, especially if you're playing at a table with four or more other players.

4. Stay in the hand after the draw if you improved on your pair or have more than just one pair. As always, keep an eye on the other players and get out of the pot if it's going too high and all you have is a pair or a low three-of-a-kind.

Tips & Warnings

• Be wary of a player who does not take any cards on the draw. He may be bluffing, but he may also have a straight at minimum.