Working notes on the odds behind card and table games
Entries filed under card games, newest first.
A hand rank chart is really a frequency table read backwards: the rarer the five-card combination, the higher it sits. Once that is clear the order stops being a list to learn and becomes something you can reconstruct at the table from counting alone.
Filed under: Card games, Odds and probability — permalink
Two pair beats one pair for one reason only, and it is a counting reason rather than a traditional one. Working the arithmetic once is quicker than trusting the chart.
Filed under: Card games, Odds and probability — permalink
Basic strategy is a lookup table produced by exhausting every dealer outcome, not a feel for the shoe. It answers one narrow question, and it answers it completely.
Filed under: Card games, Table games — permalink
Baccarat offers three bets, and the commission on one of them exists precisely because it wins slightly too often to be paid at even money.
Filed under: Card games, Table games — permalink