Number Of Distinct Poker Hands

Sanderson M. Smith

  1. In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em.
  2. The number of distinct 5-card poker hands that are possible from 7 cards is 4,824. Perhaps surprisingly, this is less than the number of 5-card poker hands from 5 cards because some 5-card hands are impossible with 7 cards (e.g. Derivation of frequencies of 7-card poker hands Edit.
  3. One chooses the highest ranked 5-card poker hand among the 6 cards and values the hand based on the 5-card hand. The types of 5-card poker hands in decreasing rank are straight flush 4-of-a-kind full house flush straight 3-of-a-kind two pairs a pair high card The total number of 6-card poker hands is.

Number Of Distinct Poker Hands Deposit needs to be wagered Number Of Distinct Poker Hands at least once. Min first dep of £20 required. For every £10 deposited on Number Of Distinct Poker Hands first deposit, 10 Cash Spins will be awarded. No wagering on Cash Spins winnings. Working out hand combinations in poker is simple: Unpaired hands: Multiply the number of available cards. AK on an AT2 flop = 3 x 4 = 12 AK combinations). Paired hands: Find the number of available cards. Take 1 away from that number, multiply those two numbers together and divide by 2.

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POKER PROBABILITIES (FIVECARD HANDS)

In many forms of poker, one is dealt 5 cards from astandard deck of 52 cards. The number of different 5 -card pokerhands is

52C5 = 2,598,960
Distinct

A wonderful exercise involves having students verify probabilitiesthat appear in books relating to gambling. For instance, inProbabilities in Everyday Life, by John D. McGervey, one findsmany interesting tables containing probabilities for poker and othergames of chance.

This article and the tables below assume the reader is familiarwith the names for various poker hands. In the NUMBER OF WAYS columnof TABLE 2 are the numbers as they appear on page 132 in McGervey'sbook. I have done computations to verify McGervey's figures. Thiscould be an excellent exercise for students who are studyingprobability.

There are 13 denominations (A,K,Q,J,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2) in thedeck. One can think of J as 11, Q as 12, and K as 13. Since an acecan be 'high' or 'low', it can be thought of as 14 or 1. With this inmind, there are 10 five-card sequences of consecutive dominations.These are displayed in TABLE 1.

TABLE 1
A K Q J 10
K Q J 10 9
Q J 10 9 8
J 10 9 8 7
10 9 8 7 6
9 8 7 65
8 7 6 54
7 6 5 4 3
6 5 4 3 2
5 4 3 2 A

The following table displays computations to verify McGervey'snumbers. There are, of course , many other possible poker handcombinations. Those in the table are specifically listed inMcGervey's book. The computations I have indicated in the table doyield values that are in agreement with those that appear in thebook.

Number of distinct poker hands symbols
TABLE 2

Number Of Distinct Poker Hands Symbols

HAND

N = NUMBER OF WAYS listed by McGervey

Computations and comments
Probability of HAND
N/(2,598,960)
and approximate odds.

Straight flush

40

There are four suits (spades, hearts, diamond, clubs). Using TABLE 1,4(10) = 40.

0.000015
1 in 64,974

Four of a kind

624

(13C1)(48C1) = 624.

Choose 1 of 13 denominations to get four cards and combine with 1 card from the remaining 48.

0.00024
1 in 4,165

Full house

3,744

(13C1)(4C3)(12C1)(4C2) = 3,744.

Choose 1 denominaiton, pick 3 of 4 from it, choose a second denomination, pick 2 of 4 from it.

0.00144
1 in 694

Flush

5,108

(4C1)(13C5) = 5,148.

Choose 1 suit, then choose 5 of the 13 cards in the suit. This figure includes all flushes. McGervey's figure does not include straight flushes (listed above). Note that 5,148 - 40 = 5,108.

0.001965
1 in 509

Straight

10,200

(4C1)5(10) = 45(10) = 10,240

Using TABLE 1, there are 10 possible sequences. Each denomination card can be 1 of 4 in the denomination. This figure includes all straights. McGervey's figure does not include straight flushes (listed above). Note that 10,240 - 40 = 10,200.

0.00392
1 in 255

Three of a kind

54,912

(13C1)(4C3)(48C2) = 58,656.

Choose 1 of 13 denominations, pick 3 of the four cards from it, then combine with 2 of the remaining 48 cards. This figure includes all full houses. McGervey's figure does not include full houses (listed above). Note that 54,912 - 3,744 = 54,912.

0.0211
1 in 47

Exactly one pair, with the pair being aces.

84,480

(4C2)(48C1)(44C1)(40C1)/3! = 84,480.

Choose 2 of the four aces, pick 1 card from remaining 48 (and remove from consider other cards in that denomination), choose 1 card from remaining 44 (and remove other cards from that denomination), then chose 1 card from the remaining 40. The division by 3! = 6 is necessary to remove duplication in the choice of the last 3 cards. For instance, the process would allow for KQJ, but also KJQ, QKJ, QJK, JQK, and JKQ. These are the same sets of three cards, just chosen in a different order.

0.0325
1 in 31

Two pairs, with the pairs being 3's and 2's.

1,584

McGervey's figure excludes a full house with 3's and 2's.

(4C2)(4C1)(44C1) = 1,584.

Choose 2 of the 4 threes, 2 of the 4 twos, and one card from the 44 cards that are not 2's or 3's.

0.000609
1 in 1,641

Number Of Distinct Poker Hands

'I must complain the cards are ill shuffled 'til Ihave a good hand.'

-Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects

Number Of Distinct Poker Hands

Number Of Distinct Poker Hands Held

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