Dear
Mark,
Why is it that every time I’m dealt one card
short of the royal flush, when I draw I never get
the card I need? Just yesterday I was dealt all but
the queen of spades, and sure enough, I got the lousy
three of hearts. It makes me believe the casino controls
who and when someone hits a jackpot. Why can’t
that queen of spades show up just once? Katherine
R.
What
do you expect, Katherine? The queen of spades represents
Athena, the Greek goddess of war. Pull out a deck
of cards and look at her closely. She’s the only
armed queen in the deck. Even Homer in the Illiad,
described her as a fierce battle goddess who continually
intervened on the side of the Greeks in the Trojan
War. Expect her to arbitrate on behalf of the casino
every time. Seriously,
Katherine, I could bore you to tears by trying to
explain how the pseudo-random number generator determines
the cards you will get, but instead, I’ll simply
describe the difficulties you’re up against
when fate blesses you with four of the five cards
needed for a royal flush.
Because there are 2,598,960 possible poker hands
using a 52-card deck, you’re going to feel
pretty good when your hand is one card shy of gaming
ecstasy. But although the big jackpot appears to
be only one card away, your chances are really only
one in 47 or just over two percent. Another way
to visualize its difficulty is taking a thousand
video poker players lucky enough to start with your
proposed hand. A ten of spades, jack of spades,
king of spades, ace of spades and a three of hearts.
Naturally, all in my controlled group will discard
the three of hearts, leaving only 21 mathematically
hitting the royal flush, then 150 flushes, 128 straights,
191 high pair hands and 510 who think, like you,
the big fix is on.
Sorry, Katherine, it’s just not as easy as
it seems, but keep trying. Someday Athena may look
favorably on you.
Oh, yes, a final thought. In case you want to know
what the remaining better halves of the kings represent?
The queen of diamonds is Rachel, wife of Jacob and
mother of the twelve sons who founded the twelve
tribes of Israel. The queen of clubs is an anagram
of Regina, signifying queen. The queen of hearts
is Judith of Bavaria, daughter-in-law of Charlemagne.
And of course, we’ve already met Athena.
Good online casinos
lists sites that may contain internet gambling related content and / or
online wagering. Sites that offer wagering declare that they are legally
licensed by the country in which their application server originates.Consult
your local authorities prior to registering with any online wagering service
.U.S. Citizens be advised: The use of information on this site in violation
of any federal,state or local laws is prohibited.
