]>
A deck of cards naturally has the structure of a product set and thus can be modeled mathematically by
where the first coordinate represents the denomination or kind (ace, two through 10, jack, queen, king) and where the second coordinate represents the suit (clubs, diamond, hearts, spades). Sometimes we represent a card as a string rather than an ordered pair (for example ).
There are many different poker games, but we will be interested in standard draw poker, which consists of dealing 5 cards at random from the deck . The of the cards does not matter in draw poker, so we will record the outcome of our random experiment as the random set (hand)
where for each and for . Thus, the sample space consists of all possible poker hands:
Our basic modeling assumption (and the meaning of the term at random) is that all poker hands are equally likely. Thus, the random variable is uniformly distributed over the set of possible poker hands .
In statistical terms, a poker hand is a random sample of size 5 drawn without replacement and without regard to order from the population . For more on this topic, see the chapter on Finite Sampling Models.
There are nine different types of poker hands in terms of value. We will use the numbers 0 to 8 to denote the value of the hand, where 0 is the type of least value (actually no value) and 8 the type of most value. Thus, the hand value is a random variable taking values 0 through 8, and is defined as follows:
Run the poker experiment 10 times in single-step mode. For each outcome, note that the value of the random variable corresponds to the type of hand, as given above.
Computing the probability density function of is a good exercise in combinatorial probability. In the following exercises, you will need to use the two fundamental rules of combinatorics to count the number of poker hands of a given type: the multiplication rule and the addition rule. You will also need to remember some basic combinatorial structures, particularly combinations. We give some hints on constructing an algorithm for generating the poker hands of the given type.
Show that the number of different poker hands is
Show that .
Show that .
Show that .
Show that .
Show that .
Show that .
Show that .
Show that .
Show that .
Note that the density function of is decreasing; the more valuable the type of hand, the less likely the type of hand is to occur. Note also that no value and one pair account for more than 92% of all poker hands.
In the poker experiment, note the shape of the density graph. Note that some of the probabilities are so small that they are essentially invisible in the graph. Now run the poker hand 1000 times, updating every 10 runs. Note the apparent convergence of the relative frequency function to the density function.
In the poker experiment, set the update frequency to 100 and set the stop criterion to the value of given below. Note the number of poker hands required.
In the movie The Parent Trap (1998), both twins get straight flushes on the same poker deal. Find the probability of this event.
Classify in terms of level of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio. Is the expected value of meaningful?
A hand with a pair of aces and a pair of eights (and a fifth card of a different type) is called a dead man's hand. The name is in honor of Wild Bill Hickok, who held such a hand at the time of his murder in 1876. Find the probability of getting a dead man's hand.
In draw poker, each player is dealt a poker hand and there is an initial round of betting. Typically, each player then gets to discard up to 3 cards and is dealt that number of cards from the remaining deck.
Suppose that Fred's hand is Fred discards the and and draws two new cards, hoping to complete the straight. Note that Fred must get a 6 and either a 3 or an 8. Since he is missing a middle denomination (6), Fred is drawing to an inside straight. Find the probability that Fred is successful.