General Rules & Sequence of Action for 5 Card Draw: Each player is dealt five cards face down.
First betting round
Each player may discard and draw from 0 to 5 cards
Final betting round
Showdown
Betting Structure for 5 Card Draw: There are two possible betting rounds in a complete game of 5 Card Draw. Each bet and raise during the first round of betting is set at the lower limit of the stakes structure. For example in a $4/$8 game, all bets and raises are $4 for the first round.
After the first betting round each player may discard and draw from zero to five cards.
Each bet and raise during the final round of betting is set at the higher limit of the stakes structure. For example in a $4/$8 game, all bets and raises are $8 for the last round.
The maximum allowable number of bets per player during any particular betting round is four. This would consist of (1) a bet, (2) a raise, (3) a re-raise, and (4) a cap. The term cap is used to describe the 3rd raise in a round since betting is then capped and can not be raised anymore. Once the pot is capped, players will have only the option of calling or folding.
Button & Blinds: As with Texas Hold'em and Omaha games, a flat disk is used at the 5 Card Draw table, called the dealer-button to indicate the theoretical dealer of each hand.
After each hand has completed the button moves clockwise to the next active player. This player will be considered to be playing "the button" for that hand. The player to the left of the button is first to receive a card and is required to post a small blind. The small blind is equal to half the lower limit bet rounded down to the nearest dollar. The player to the left of the small blind is required to post the big blind, equal to the lower limit bet.
Both blinds are considered live bets, therefore have the option of checking, calling, raising or folding when the betting action returns to their position. After the flop and each subsequent betting round, the first active player left of the button is first to act.
When a player first sits at an active table they'll be required to post the equivalent of the big blind, an important feature of online poker. All players have the option of sitting out and waiting for the actual big blind before starting to play. Fairness is ensured to all players with these rules. By preventing players from constantly entering games in late position and leaving before they're required to post, these rules stop potential abuse of the online environment.
Insufficient Cards: In the event insufficient cards remain to complete the hand, the mucked and discarded cards are shuffled and used to complete the hand. Our software is programmed so that, on those rare occasions when not enough cards remain in the deck to complete the deal, a player will not get his own discards back—but he may receive another player's discards.
For example, in a full game with eight players, 40 cards are dealt, leaving 12 undealt cards in the deck. Two of the eight players fold their hands. The first player to act draws five cards, leaving seven undealt cards in the deck. The second player draws four cards, leaving only three undealt cards in the deck. The third player wants to draw four cards. He receives the remaining three cards in the deck.
At this point, the cards folded by the two players in the initial round (10 cards) and the cards discarded by the first and second players (nine cards) are shuffled, and the third player receives one more card from the reshuffled deck. None of the four cards that the third active player discarded are reshuffled, so there is no chance that those discards will reappear in the same hand. Eighteen cards now remain in this deck to be dealt to other players requiring cards, who, similarly, will not get back any of their own discards.
