Why I Use Draw Poker to Teach New Players How to Play Poker

People ask me the easiest way to learn how to play poker.  There is really no simple answer for most people, but everyone has to start somewhere.  When I teach someone how to play poker for the first time, I try and start them with something entirely different than Texas Hold’em.  When I start to teach poker, I teach new players Five Card Draw.

Draw poker is the best game to teach new players as they are forced to make a five card hand every time.

Why Draw?

For over 20 years, I have worked in the 4-H camping system and during that time, I have had to teach card games to many children.  At some point they want to learn to play poker, and I had to come up with a game that will help them learn the game quickly but still be interesting enough to hold other player’s attention.

Five Card Draw is the perfect game to teach a new poker player because they are forced to play the cards they are dealt and also forces them to think about what hands they are going after.  You can sit and teach someone that a straight beats a flush and two pair loses to three of a kind, but most people learn by doing.  Draw poker allows the players to learn and play at the same time.

Simple Rules of Draw Poker

Each player in a hand of draw poker receives five cards.  After a round of betting, players then draw cards.  In casino style draw, you can take up to five cards.  Many home games will allow you to take up to four if you hold an ace.  I use the ace rule when teaching this game. After the draw, another round of betting occurs and the player with the best hand wins the pot.

Beginner Games

When I teach draw poker to kids or new players, I focus less on betting and more on making your hands.  In fact, with the kids I may not even have betting rounds.  We deal the cards, they make their draws, and then the best hand wins.

My main reasoning behind this is simple and that is to teach them how to make their hands.  Obviously there is going to be a lot of times where a kid will have me help them make their hand and tell them which way to go, but that is the point of the game.  They are there to learn how to play, not how to play against the best in the world.  Also, I invoke a declare rule in the game.  If a player calls out their hand, that is what their hand is unless it is blatantly wrong.  If someone has four threes and calls it two pair, they have two pair.  If they have a flush but call it ace-high, they have ace-high.  I will correct them after the hand and explain why they are mistaken.  This helps reinforce concepts.

By the time a kid is done playing a couple sessions like this, most are fairly comfortable with figuring out how to make certain hands.  Some take longer, but in the end most learn how to play the game.

Learning the Basics

I am a firm believer of a new poker player learning the basics of poker before moving on to learning how to play for money.  I want that player comfortable in the knowledge of how to make hands, which hands are superior, and in some cases I will teach them a bit of basic strategy such as figuring out what a person is drawing to based on the number of cards drawn.

All of this is beyond elementary to many of you out there that play any form of poker, but it is necessary for new players to learn.  Many players make the mistake of trying to learn Texas Hold’em or some other game cold without having a basic understanding of hand rankings and other basic elements of the game.  They then spend all of their time worrying that they will screw up or worse still they just put the money in and hope they make something.

Next time you have someone that you’re looking to teach poker to, consider teaching them Draw instead of Hold’em.  Remember that the object is for them to learn the basics of the game and not to become a poker champion overnight.  Learning poker takes time, so don’t try and rush too much too soon.  Good luck at the tables.