Draw Poker is the basic game from which many new poker games have been created. To play, you need a standard 52-card pack of playing cards and 2 to 7 players. The game can be broken down into three stages:

• Stage 1: The Deal
• Stage 2: The Draw
• Stage 3: The Showdown

A dealer is chosen by cutting cards, and the players put a small amount of money (the ante) into the middle of the table to create a pot. The dealer shuffles, then the player to their right cuts the pack. The dealer then deals (in clockwise rotation) a card at a time to each of the players until they have five each.

The player on the dealer's left has two betting options: Open or Check. They may either open the betting by placing money into the pot, or they may pass that choice to the next player (going clockwise) by saying, "Check". That player then has the same option. If no player opens, then all the cards are thrown in and the dealer shuffles and deals again, with a further ante added to the pot.

When a player opens the betting by putting money into the pot, the next player has three choices:

• See
  Put the same amount as the previous bet into the pot and say, "See". This may also be termed 'Call'.
• Raise
  To Raise the bet, you must first match the current bet and then put in the additional amount that you would like to increase it by, saying, "Raise".
• Fold
  When you Fold, you drop out of the current hand and lose the possibility of winning the pot. Place your cards with the discards and say, "Fold". This is also known as 'passing'.

This betting round continues until all the players who want to carry on playing have placed an equal amount into the pot. There can be several raises during the round, which may reduce the number of players. If only one is left then they win the hand and the pot. If more than one player is left then the games move on to the draw round.

The draw round is designed to enable the remaining players to improve their hand. Starting from the left of the dealer, each player discards up to five cards, which are then replaced with new ones by the dealer. These new cards make up the final playing hand along with the original ones that were retained. If a player chooses not to replace any cards, it is known as 'staying'.

When each player has completed the draw, a new betting round begins, starting with the player who opened in the first round. If that player has folded, then the next active player opens.

If more than one person remains after the final round of betting then they must show their hands to see who wins. The player who last increased the betting shows their cards first and if the caller of their bet wants to fold without showing their cards, they are allowed to do so.

The ranking of winning hands can be seen here.

A frequently played variation of Draw Poker requires that a player must have a minimum ranking of a pair of Jacks to make the first bet before the draw. This is known as Jacks-or-Better Draw Poker. The player who opens the bidding must show their hand to all players after the hand is completed, regardless of what happened to it during the play.