4OAK Fantasy Football

Welcome to 4OfAKind Fantasy Football, the game that blends your favorite NFL players’ statistics with the popular pastime of poker.

The object of the game is simple: Choose a combination of players that will give you the best 5-card hand under high-card poker rules.

Here’s how it works:

The card values of Ace high through 2 low are assigned to different positions: quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end and kicker. Team defenses are used as well.

Suits for each card value are assigned according to a player’s weekly performance. For example, if a quarterback throws for 250 yards, a player would earn an Ace for quarterback passing yardage, and that card would be a club, which is designated as the second-best suit for this game.

Here’s how the cards are assigned:

Aces – QB passing yardage

• Negative to 120 yards – Heart
• 121 yards to 240 yards – Diamond
• 241 yards to 360 yards – Club
• 361 yards and more – Spade

Kings – RB rushing yardage

• Negative to 49 yards – Heart
• 50 yards to 99 yards – Diamond
• 100 yards to 149 yards – Club
• 150 yards and more – Spade

Queens – WR receiving yardage

• Negative to 49 yards – Heart
• 50 yards to 99 yards – Diamond
• 100 yards to 149 yards – Club
• 150 yards and more – Spade

Jacks – Kicker points

• Zero to 2 – Heart (kicker does not have to attempt a kick, but he must be the team’s primary placekicker to qualify)
• 3 to 7 – Diamond
• 8 to 12 – Club
• 13 and more – Spade

10 – Tight end receiving yardage

• Negative to 29 yards – Heart
• 30 yards to 69 yards – Diamond
• 70 yards to 99 yards – Club
• 100 yards and more – Spade

9 – Team defense, points allowed

• 36 and more – Heart
• 18 to 35 – Diamond
• 4 to 17 – Club
• Zero to 3 – Spade

8 – Quarterback TD passes

• Zero – Heart
• 1 to 2 – Diamond
• 3 to 4 – Club
• 5 and more – Spade

7 – Running back TDs, rushing and receiving

• Zero – Heart
• 1 – Diamond
• 2 – Club
• 3 and more – Spade

6 – Quarterback, interceptions thrown

• 4 and more – Heart
• 2 to 3 – Diamond
• 1 – Club
• Zero – Spade

5 – Running back, receiving yardage

• Negative to 19 – Heart
• 20 to 34 – Diamond
• 35 to 49 – Club
• 50 and more – Spade

4 – Defense, total sacks

• Zero – Heart
• 1 to 2 – Diamond
• 3 to 4 – Club
• 5 and more – Spade

3 – Quarterback, rushing yardage

• Negative to zero – Heart
• 1 to 19 – Diamond
• 20 to 39 – Club
• 40 and more – Spade

2 – Special teams, kickoff and punt return yardage

• Negative to 40 – Heart
• 41 to 120 – Diamond
• 121 to 220 – Club
• 221 and more – Spade

Each participant may select four players for each position and four teams. Those selections are then used for all of the categories. For example, if a participant chooses Tom Brady as a QB, his stats are used for each of the QB cards: passing yardage, TD passes, interceptions thrown and rushing yardage.

A quarterback must attempt 10 passes to qualify, and a running back must have a combination of 5 rushing attempt and pass receptions to qualify. A tight end does not have to catch a pass to qualify, but he must play in the game to earn a card. A kicker does not have to attempt a kick, but he must be on the team’s active roster, and he must be the team’s primary placekicker.

Duplicate cards and suits are counted only once (with the exception of tiebreakers). If three of a participant’s quarterbacks throw for 241-360 yards, only one Ace of Clubs is counted.

Standard high-card poker rules apply. Straights, flushes, straight flushes and royal flushes are not counted; the odds of getting those hands are simply too high.

Hands are ranked from highest to lowest:

• Four of a kind;
• Full house (three of one value, two of another);
• Three of a kind;
• Two pairs;
• One pair;
• High card.

The prize amounts will depend on the number of participants. (These amounts will be specified before the regular season starts.) As registration takes place, participants may choose to compete against each other within their own groups.

If participants tie, the additional cards in their hand will break the tie. If the tie cannot be broken because of identical rosters, the prize will be split.

• I’d like more information. I want to see a sample matchup and how it is scored.
• I’d like to go ahead and submit an early registration. I can always come back and review the scoring later.