5 Card Draw Strategy

Five card draw is one of the best games to play for profit (or fun) online – and fattening up your bankroll is as simple as planning out your strategy in advance and implementing it during the game to cash in big (and consistently). Because 5 card draw is one of the easiest games to learn, competition can be quite stiff when playing online. Stacking the chips in your favor may be as easy as following some of these tried-and-true 5 card draw strategies that even professional players lean on from time to time.

Bet to Your Advantage

To be effectively in 5 card draw is to become a better player. Betting is more than just the way that you place a wager on the poker game that you are playing – the way that you bet can become an important part of your 5 card draw strategy (or any poker game or game of chance, for that matter). How you bet can make the difference between winning and losing a hand, or even in pulling off an effective bluff. In most instances, the strength of your hand will determine your betting; if your hand is really strong and you believe that you have a good chance of winning, the first instinct that you will have is to drop a big bet. However, doing so will serve as a "give away" to the other players around the table that you have a strong hand; many of them will even fold to bigger bets.

You want their money; you want them to bet with you. So during the first betting round, it makes the most sense to disguise your confidence in your hand by betting smaller to fatten the pot; during the final betting round, bet aggressively to frighten off any possible competition. In these instances, if a bet is placed or a raise is made, go along with it. You might even appear reluctant to bet (online, this is accomplished by acting SLOWLY, so that other players believe that you might be considering folding). Also, if you don't have a really strong hand, but you want to bluff your way to a win, you can always bet aggressively in 5 card draw to scare away the stronger hands that might beat yours. This is sometimes referred to (aptly) as buying the pot.

What happens when you get caught bluffing? You can also use this to your advantage, especially with particularly memorable bluffs. Many players will assume you are bluffing when you have a strong hand because you've been caught bluffing previously; because of this, they won't hesitate to raise your bets – which means that when you have a strong hand (and they think you are bluffing), you can end up with a huge pot at the end of the game. For this reason, carry on with the same mannerisms and actions when you're bluffing as when you're playing with a truly strong hand – be consistent.

Avoid Trying to Exact "Revenge" for a Bad Beat

Many of the best players tend to fall victim to the dire consequences that follow when they experience a bad beat. Just as in real life, exacting "cyber" revenge at the online poker table can be foolhardy. Never were more foolish bets or long shots taken than when a player decides that he's going to bet over top of another player or die trying! Revengeful playing makes for sloppy decisions that can cost you chips. Play with your mind, not with your ego when playing 5 card draw.

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