Learning 5 card draw

I am a newbie at this forum, and in the poker also.
I am searching for the books that can help me understand very basic strategies (al that I know are the rules of the games).

Now, I have ordered few books that will serve as starting point for learning holde’m and stud version of poker.

However only live game I can find around (I am not in the USA) where I could practice is 5 card draw.

I would be very grateful if one of the forum participants could recommend me a book or online source, where I could find more info about playing 5 cars draw.

Thank you in advance,

Regards,
ZEX

[Quicksilvre]

The only book I can think of that teaches five-card draw is Super System 1.

[BadPenguin]

"Winning Poker Systems" by Norman Zadeh is very good, though you'll have to find a used copy I think. Only part of the book covers draw but that section is, IMO, excellent. Malmuth's "Winning Concepts in Draw and Lowball" is good too - a little more conceptual and less mathematical than Zadeh.

The articles by Michael Wiesenberg on www.cardplayer.com are very good as well.

[donkeyradish]

My top 3 tips for 5 card draw

- avoid investing in 2 low pair, too often another hand will improve to beat it

- avoid going for flushes or straights most of the time The pot odds rarely justify it

- if someone raises ahead of you, don't play with QQ or worse

Your profit comes from players who ignore such advice

[Tilt]

[ QUOTE ]
My top 3 tips for 5 card draw

- avoid investing in 2 low pair, too often another hand will improve to beat it

- avoid going for flushes or straights most of the time The pot odds rarely justify it

- if someone raises ahead of you, don't play with QQ or worse

Your profit comes from players who ignore such advice

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats all good advice. I would add that you should with few exceptions always open for a raise if you are going to play a hand. And I think you should sometimes play a draw with a raise and a post draw bluff if you are playing the same opponents for an extended period of time.

Also I advocate only ever changing 1, 3, or 0 cards to hide your hand. Lemmesplain:

If you have trips and change 2, you gain a bit of equity oddswise, but not enough to tip your hand IMO. You will get 2 pair to pay you off far more often than you will draw quads.

You should stand pat with 2 pair sometimes, sometimes change 1 - again you lose out on the chance to fill up when you stand, but if you can show down 2 pair after standing pat you will get paid much better when you get dealt a monster.

In a blind war with a high card I would draw 3 to leave them wondering if you have at least a pair or better. If you change 4 and whiff they will play back at you with 9 high.

The only time I draw 2 is with a miracle draw from the BB.

I think alot of the limit HE concepts apply to 5 card draw. So you can still benefit from reading Sklansky-Malmuth.

[Biggle10]

[ QUOTE ]
My top 3 tips for 5 card draw

- avoid investing in 2 low pair, too often another hand will improve to beat it

- avoid going for flushes or straights most of the time The pot odds rarely justify it

- if someone raises ahead of you, don't play with QQ or worse

Your profit comes from players who ignore such advice

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you clarify 'investing' with 2pair? Do you not play them? Do you just limp in and try to showdown cheap? Do you fold if its raised in front of you?

[Notorious G.O.B.]

5 handed or less, you can open with any two pair in any position. You'll have to check yourself once you get to be six, seven or eight handed.

[donkeyradish]

To play with 2 low pair I want to feel I can likely get heads-up against 1 player only. I would raise if so, otherwise I just toss them. As to whether I'd ever re-raise someone elses raise to get heads-up, it depends (Here is where I think skill really kicks in with draw, getting a read on a player)

I'm not claiming this is optimal play it just works for me. I've never felt bad about folding 3344 and someone else's unimproved JJ winning.

Thank to all of you for your help.
I really appreciate it.

Best Regards,
ZEX

[SoCalPat]

[ QUOTE ]
avoid investing in 2 low pair, too often another hand will improve to beat it

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're talking about before drawing or in a loose game, I think this is horrible advice in a five-handed game. I've seen numbers -- they're not at my disposal as I type this -- but by "too often" I think you're radically overestimating the rate with which that occurs.

Your hand will be best at this point way more than 50 percent of the time. It's a crime to give the BB a free play, as well as fold a hand that has a fair shot of winning unimproved.

Hands that are better than yours will either reraise (trips), or draw 1 (a better two pair). It's much easier to play post-draw when that's the case. Your problems obviously arise when someone draws three and comes out betting, but here's the catch: If they're calling raises with shorts and improve to 2 pair, they'll fear you have a bigger two pair and won't bet out.

If they improve to trips, they'll likely bet out more frequently than if they improved to two pair, but if its small trips, they have to fear bigger trips because, again, you only drew one. Same holds for those that improve to a bigger two pair.

How you play2 pair after the draw in 5-card is the most critical decision in the game. If you loathe being in such situations because you don't play them well, I suppose there's an excuse for folding pre-draw. Other than that, I can't see not open raising with these kinds of hands 100 percent of the time.