Play begins and each player is dealt 5 cards,
one by one, all face down. The remaining deck is put aside,
a chip or other marker is placed on it. The first betting round
takes place; the player sitting to the dealer's left begins
the bet. The draw phase begins if more than one player remains
after this round.
Now begins the discard round. As a player,
you can decide how many cards you wish to "discard",
this can be as little as none or as many as 3 in most games.
The dealer now gives each player a card, equivalent to the
amount of cards he discarded. Now a second round of betting
begins and when this is finished, there is a showdown where
the best 5 card hand takes the pot.
Some different rules are
A common rule in some places is that a player
can not replace more than 3 cards, unless he draws 4 cards
while keeping an ace (or wild card)
A rule that is practiced by many casinos is that a player is not allowed to draw 5 consecutive cards from the deck.