Developing the hand entails taking a maximum of three cards out of your hand and laying them face down on the table. These cards are called your "discards". The dealer then replaces the discards ith new cards that are also delt face down. You pick these cards up and use them, along with the existing cards in your hand, to make your best hand according to the rules of "Determining a Winning Hand". If the players agree ahead of time, you may discard up to four cards if you are holding an Ace in your original hand. If that Ace is going to be one of your discards then you must shpw it to the other players when you discard it.

Betting usually begins by each player placing an agreed upon amount into the pot before dealing begins. This bet is called the Ante.

Then a player opens by placing the first bet. The rules of who opens vary depending upon the game. In traditional five card draw, the player seated to the immediate left of the dealer has the first option of opening. If that player passes or checks (declines to open), the the right to open passes to the next player. If all players pass then a new ante is made, the cards are reshuffled and a new hand is dealt. This process consinites until someone opens.

If you are playing a variant called "Jacks or Better" then the first player who is holding a pair of jacks or higher is the only person who is allowed to open. If no one can open then it is treated the same as if everyone had passed.

The player who opens does so by placing a bet. Each player after him or her must either match that bet (see the bet). They can also raise the bet after they match it. Once everyone has had the opportunity to bet or check, each player drops their discards and new cards are dealt to replace them.

This starts a new round of betting. The player who opened has the right to place the first bet. Everyone after them can match, raise, check or fold. The betting continues until every player but one has folded, or the final round of betting is reached and the round moves to the showdown. The winning player collects the pot and a new round begins.