Does this use real RNG to determine hands or is it pre-determined for a challenge?

[Rich Mahogany]

Granted I've only been playing for about 5 hours, but the amount of times I almost have straights right from the start of a new round seems intentional. Just started a new round now. 3 - 4 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 10 - J - Q - K. I've been in this situation like 20 times already, almost two opportunities for straights. But I know even if I use all 4 of my discards, those straights aren't going to get completed lol.

[malogoss]

Live by the straight, die by the straight.

[Goblin]

Everything is predetermined per seed, but not per challenge or anything. So if you replay the seed you get the same stuff.
You're just getting "really lucky" I guess. Or almost lucky, rather.

[Rich Mahogany]

Originally posted by malogoss:

Live by the straight, die by the straight.

The other thing I constantly get is 3 pairs lol.

[Rich Mahogany]

Originally posted by Goblin:

Everything is predetermined per seed, but not per challenge or anything. So if you replay the seed you get the same stuff.
You're just getting "really lucky" I guess. Or almost lucky, rather.

Exactly. ALMOST luck lol. It's like the challenge is "what are the smartest cards to get rid of in order to try and get the flush that we're obviously tempting you with."

[beatles42o]

i had a lot written up, but i realized its as simple as this.

if youve ever played poker, both real life or virtually.

that deck, is split up. its 52 cards divided by 3-4 sometimes two? guess you could duo poker, but it doesnt work right.

so. your odds of getting a straight are 3/4/5 times more likely to get cards. its yourr 52 cards, not the tables 52 cards.

[DG]

Straights have quite a big payoff so if you can get them to work they should score fine. Essentially if you have a 6-7-8-9 in hand there are 4x5 and 4x10 in the deck to complete it, compared to 9 cards to find the fifth card of a flush (in a starter deck). Turning two pair into a full house has only 4 cards to draw from but you still have the two pair if you fail.

The real problem is that straights might completely fail to draw so you need big hand size. You need to be prepared to use a hands as a discard to draw the straight. Tarots have to be used slightly differently when creating a straight deck.

[malogoss]

If one of the reasons for bringing up "almost complete straights" like this is that you wish they were easier to play, some decks increase straight viability by a lot. Even before finding any joker that can also help.

So keep unlocking decks if you have yet to unlock one of those I'm thinking of. And no, I'm not thinking Red deck. I don't consider that +1 discard makes a world of difference with straights. Sure it helps, but there are better options out there.

[A bear]

Clearly you are referring to the erratic deck. The one true deck for straights.

[malogoss]

Originally posted by A bear:

Clearly you are referring to the erratic deck. The one true deck for straights.

The one true deck for anything

[Goblin]

Originally posted by A bear:

Clearly you are referring to the erratic deck. The one true deck for straights.

Pretty sure Mal meant Abandoned Deck, since it comes pre-thinned so it's more likely you get numbered rank straights. Sure, you could get the ideal Erratic Deck with 10 each of AKQJ10, plus two of two of those ranks, but those odds aren't likely and I'm not even sure which one would actually have better odds assuming you play perfectly.

[Moray Eel]

Why use the erratic deck for straights when you can use it for 4/5 of a kind

[malogoss]

Originally posted by malogoss:

Originally posted by A bear:

Clearly you are referring to the erratic deck. The one true deck for straights.

The one true deck for anything

Sorry for quoting myself, but I really think the post I replied to was a joke/sarcasm, so I answered with a joke. I can't be 100% sure I replied to a joke, all I'm sure of is that I was joking.

It's true that some erratic decks could turn out to be slightly better than average for straight builds, and some worse, but that's not what I had in mind. I was thinking Abandoned deck and Painted deck.

If you don't mind failing a few times, even straight flush can be forced with Abandoned. There's something satisfying about making SF work.

[We're Rich]

i've been playing poker for over a decade and been a casino dealer for a long time you are just underestimating how common it is to be 1 card off of something and the odds of actually getting that one card from a draw. having 4 cards to a straight is extremely common when it is all random cards, but if you are looking for one or two specific cards to make that straight your odds decrease drastically.

[We're Rich]

i've been playing poker for over a decade and been a casino dealer for a long time you are just underestimating how common it is to be 1 card off of something and the odds of actually getting that one card from a draw. having 4 cards to a straight is extremely common when it is all random cards, but if you are looking for one or two specific cards to make that straight your odds decrease drastically.
Like imagine the possibilities before seeing any cards this should help you visualize it
A234
2345
3456
4567
...
10 JQK
so you have 10 combinations of straights with 4 suits and the hand requires 5 cards in a row 10 * 4^5 = 10,240 different combinations of straights exist with a single deck of cards that is a small number compared to combinations like pair/2 pair etc.
If you were curious the odds of hitting a straight out of 7 cards straight up is 1/77 i learned this from playing holdem.
The beautiful thing about balatro is you can find combinations and tune your deck of cards in a way where you are more likely to make a straight then not in fact some jokers even let you cheat straights making them easier to get than even 2 pair or 3oak.

[SwaggyBadger]

confirmation bias goes nuts in this thread