Five Card Draw with a Bug Rules

The object of the game is to win the pot, either by holding the best five-card hand at showdown or by making a bet that no other player calls.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck to which one joker is added, making 53 cards. The joker is called the bug.

Between two and six players may take part. Because the deck holds only one extra card, the limits on player numbers are the same as in Five Card Draw.

Apart from the use of the bug set out in article 2, and the ranking of five aces in article 5, the game follows the rules of Five Card Draw.

The holder may use the bug as an ace of any suit.

The holder may use the bug as any card needed to complete a straight, a flush or a straight flush.

The bug may not represent any other card. It cannot pair a king, fill a full house or make four of a kind except in aces.

2.3(a) A hand of two pairs plus the bug, such as 9-9-7-7 and the joker, is two pairs with an ace kicker, not a full house.

2.3(b) A pair of aces plus the bug is three aces; three aces plus the bug is four aces; four aces plus the bug is five aces.

The bug in a flush. When the bug completes a flush, it counts as the highest card of that suit not already in the hand. If the hand already contains the ace of the suit, the bug counts as the king; if it holds the ace and king, as the queen; and so on.

When the bug completes a straight, it counts as whichever rank the straight needs. Where more than one rank would complete a straight, it takes the rank that makes the highest straight.

Before the deal every player places the agreed ante in the pot. A game may use blinds instead of, or as well as, antes, as in Five Card Draw.

Each player is dealt five cards face down, one at a time, clockwise, beginning with the player to the dealer's left.

The first betting round begins with the player to the dealer's left, or, in a blind game, with the player to the left of the big blind.

If the bug is played in a Jacks or Better game, a hand that contains an ace and the bug is a pair of aces and qualifies to open.

Each active player in turn announces how many cards to exchange, discards them face down, and receives the same number of replacements from the dealer.

The usual limit is three cards. Some groups allow a player to draw four cards when keeping an ace, and some allow any number up to five. The dealer shall announce the limit before the deal.

A player who draws the bug may use it at showdown under article 2.

After the draw there is a second betting round. Bet limits in this round are often double those of the first round.

Hands rank as in the standard poker hand rankings, with one addition: five aces (four aces and the bug) is the highest hand and beats a straight flush, including a royal flush.

If more than one player remains after the second betting round, the last player to bet or raise shows first. If everyone checked, the opener shows first. The best hand wins the pot.

Hands of equal rank are compared card by card, with the bug counted as the card it represents. If the hands are identical, the pot is split.