One high card or draw five?

Some hands have nothing in them at all — no pair, no flush draw, no straight draw, nothing worth two cards. All that is left is one question: keep one card, or throw all five away?

If there is a jack, queen, king or ace in the hand, keep it. A high card on its own always beats a fresh five, because pairing it pays and everything else — flush, straight, trips — is still possible on the draw.

Example: J♠ 8♦ 5♣ 3♥ 2♦. Hold the J♠ by itself. That is worth about 0.49 coins for every coin bet, against 0.34 if you throw all five away.

With no jack or better anywhere in the hand, hold nothing and take five fresh cards. 9♠ 8♦ 5♣ 3♥ 2♦ is worth about 0.36 that way and only 0.33 if you hang on to the nine — a low card on its own can only pair up into a hand that pays zero.