Played by a maximum of 8 players, 5 card draw is a poker game where each player is dealt 5 cards face down.

Before the cards are dealt the two players to the left of the dealer button (a small D in a circle identifies the current dealer position) must make forced bets, called blinds. The first person left of the dealer pays the small blind, the next person pays the big blind, which is double the small blind. (These are the table limits) The minimum bet in a hand is the amount of the big blind.

Once all the players have their cards there is the first of 2 betting rounds and players have the 3 options: fold their hand, call the big blind (bet equal to the big blind) or raise (bet a higher amount).

After all players have acted, the players who stay in the hand have a chance to change or improve their hand by discarding up to 5 of their cards and getting the same number of new cards back. They also of course have the option to keep all their cards in their hand.

There is then a second round of betting followed by a showdown, at the showdown the player with the best hand takes down the pot.

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).

For more Five Card Draw information, see Wikipedia.