oddball game

Hello everyone, this is my first post after many enjoyable months of reading.

I apologize if this is inappropriate for this forum, and I will move it to home poker if you'd prefer, but I think it is an interesting concept and would appreciate your thoughts.

I have been toying with a variation on five-card draw in home games, and I'd like some help tweaking it. It is regular draw with an extra round of betting on the end. After action closes after the draw, the players are offered an additional card (in normal action order), which they may keep without discarding any. That is, they may hold six cards and make their best five-card hand.

The catch is that to get the card, the player must put 1/2 the pot value into the pot. This is not a bet, and does not have to be called. Later players, if the pot is enlarged, must pay half the new pot size to get another card. If nobody takes the optional card, then there is no additional round of betting, and the hands are shown down.

I got the idea as a way to punish overly-speculative players who pursue draws to the bitter end, and might be "charged" even more to chase them. Having devised this rule, I saw other possibilities for strategy on the end: If I have a made hand (say a boat or big flush) that I figure is better than 2-1 favorite, I can take an un-needed card to make it more expensive for another player to chase, and force him to play with a hand that is less than he would like it to be, even if he would otherwise try to improve.

I arrived at the 1/2-pot amount arbitrarily, and I wonder if there is another fractional amount that would make the decision on the end more difficult?

Are there situations where taking that extra card at such a huge cost would be a wise play with a drawing hand? I can think of one, maybe. If I have a one-pair busted draw to a high straight flush, for example, and the post-draw play is check-check-check against opponents who drew three, then my outs to make my hand, plus the outs to make a second pair or trips might give me enough to take that card.

Knowing that extra card is available, I might even check a sure winner to induce such a move in an opponent who might fold to a bet on the end otherwise.

I'll admit I haven't done any math on this, but it seems that there may be more to this novelty than I first thought.

What do you think?

[mscags]

It sounds like a fun game. I might have to try it sometime [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[randomstumbl]

I'd say this is probably the best forum for this post.

If you make players pay more than half the pot to take a card, they'll do it less often. If you make it cheaper, they'll do it more often. I think you just have to see what works out best. My guess is that making it a little cheaper (1/3 or 1/4 of the pot) will make the game more interesting.

The most interesting result of this rule is that the first player to act is compensated for his horrible position by being able to add a card for less. I doubt it's enough to compensate for acting first, but it certainly adds some value to early position.

I don't play a lot of draw poker for high, but I'll definitly try to throw this into the mix at the next dealer's choice game I find myself in.