Synopsis: “Double Draw” is a variant of 5-card draw where after the second round of bidding, each remaining player may discard and take up to two additional cards, then bid again.

Everyone who wants to play first pays to the pot an agreed-upon ante (typically one or two of the lowest-valued chips). The dealer shuffles and deals each player 5 cards, face down.

First betting round – Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, bidding proceeds clockwise. Prior to any bet being placed, initial players can “check”, meaning they are not folding but they are not betting. Each player can call, raise, or fold. Once everyone has checked, matched the high bet, or folded, move on to the first draw round.

First draw round – Starting with the first remaining player to the left of the dealer, players can discard up to three cards, and the dealer will deal them replacement cards.

Second betting round – Each remaining player can call, raise, or fold, as in the first round.

Second draw round – Starting with the first remaining player to the left of the dealer, players can discard up to two cards, and the dealer will deal them replacement cards. Should the dealer run out of cards, shuffle all but the current player’s discards into a new deck and deal from that.

Final betting round – Each remaining player can call, raise, or fold, as in the first two rounds. If only one player remains, they win the pot and should not show their hand. If more than one player remains, the last to raise shows their hand, then all others do. The best poker hand wins:

  1. Royal flush
  2. Straight flush
  3. Four of a kind
  4. Full house
  5. Flush
  6. Straight
  7. Three of a kind
  8. Two pair
  9. One pair
  10. High card

Notes: I independently invented this, only to find out that having multiple draws is an established variant (though not one I had encountered). I prefer Double Draw to having wild cards, because I like how winning poker hands look without the wilds. The winning hands are obviously somewhat better than in standard 5-card draw.

Photo credit: Poker chips and cards by ColourMC.