Hi guys, I'm inventing a game loosely based on omaha that uses 4-suited letters instead of cards.

Due to word draws being limited/unpredictable, I chose board structure 2 2 2, words effectively replace pairs, but 4oak letters trump most words, trips are weak but beat 4-letter words, flushes need to be words and straights are effectively the same as in omaha.

Calculating the odds of F,T&R for words is obviously an enourmous task, but flushes!words, trips and 4oak are easy, what I need help with is straights.

Assume it uses the following distribution of letters in a 640-letter deck: A40 B24 C24 D28 E48 F20 G16 H24 I36 J8 K16 L24 M20 N32 O36 P24 Q4 R28 S32 T40 U24 V24 W24 X12 Y20 Z12

I'm assuming it's a lot less likely to occur, so what would the effect be of needing 3 letters from your hand instead, would that be overkill? Which do you think would play better in the game, or be more likely to occur, 6-letter straights with 3 cards/5-letter straights with 2 cards? I currently have them ranked above 6-letter words but unsure how it will play. I think 6-card straights would be pretty interesting given how there's a high frequency of 6 letters inbetween Q and J, but may not be practical.

Hoping a greater wizard than I can save me some time on this.

I assume that the math is pretty straightforward here.

However, I am not following what you are saying.

Could you explain this new game? And please explain it "like I am a five year old" (no offense to five year olds).

Like, start with how the "deck" is constituted. Describe each person's "hand". Describe the play of the game. Is there a "board" in the sense of community cards as in NLHE or Omaha? Is there a "board" like in Scrabble?? Etc. Etc. Etc.

I am totally lost here.

Happily.

You get dealt 4 letters. The board is dealt: Flop 2 letter, Turn 2 letters, River 2 letters.

You can make straights using 2 letters from your hand and 3 from the board like in omaha. Flushes have to also be words, must be exactly 5letters long, and a word flush must use two letters from the hand like in omaha. 4 of a kind can be made using 1-3 letters from your hand and any from the board. Trips can be made from any combination from your hand and the board. Words can be made from any combination.

The rankings are as follows: Double word flush / 10 letter word / 4 of a kind / 9 letter word / word flush / 8-7 letter word / word straight / 6-5 letter word / trips / 4- letter word

Words of equal length, word flushes and trips are distinguished from each other by this letter-scoring system, the least commonly-used letters are the most valuable.

A,E,I,O,N,T - score: 1
S,R,D,L,H,C,W - score: 2
M,Y,B,G,P,F,U - score 4
X,Z,Q,J,K,V - score: 10

As far as bet-limits go, I'm thinking either pot-limit, or 2 fixed betsizes on flop and turn (which might be necessary given how it'll be impossible to actually know all the words you're drawing to), and no-limit on the river

Hands like RRSS or NNOO double-suited would still be pretty strong, as 6 of the available letters are on the boad, the pairs don't limit you so much when deep. Any of the score one letters paired and double-suited or with 3 of a suit should be valuable, and EEE or AAA even by themselves have good value. any rundownds a-i should be valuable, any Q or J by itself adds value to a hand depending on how many connected cards it has, as they are the activator cards for straights (like T and 5 in omaha but much more extreme).

Because 6 of the cards to make a word come from the board, being tripped isn't that much of a disadvantage (depending on the letter), they automatically have trips on the flop, which will be beating all but a flopped 5 or 6 letter word (which would be unlikely), and can hit 4 of a kind and be ahead of anything.

Straight draws, when they do come, will be powerful due to the 4 chances to hit.

Double-suited hands are the 3rd best suit for unpaired hands, 3 of a suit and 4 of a suit are higher, as there are more letters that can be used to make a word flush.

I have realized of course that this game would be difficult to really compete in, given how it's basically impossible to read a player's word draws, blockers are likely effectively useless and you would value your hands more in absolute terms. But I think it would be fun to play nonetheless.

Would both of these be straights or just the first?

EFGHI
YZABC

What is a "word?" An English word from a specific dictionary?

I imagine it might be pretty difficult just to quickly know what your best word is.

I think given there's no ace-type card that shares both ends, then that should be a no, A and Z can't be in a straight together

A word is a word, I suppose any of the most recognised dictionaries would suffice if one had to be chosen.

And yes, you're right, it will be incredibly difficult to know on a 2-letter flop or turn which words you can draw to, and effectively impossible to know what words an opponent is drawing to (well he x/c the WA and TE flop and turn, and x/r the LY river, so he must have "waterlily" or missed his "trawlers" draw and thinks he can bluff me off a chop with "water") This is part of what makes it fun though.

Sounds like it could be an interesting game. I think I would get rid of straights and 4 of a kind and just have it based on word length/score (perhaps with bonus points or multiplier for a "word flush" where all the letters in the word are the same suit). Though hard to say without playing the game.

The only drawback I can see is that it will probably come down to a competition of memorizing lots of obscure words (like Scrabble). But then again, this appeals to some people.