John’s Jottings

This “poker hand analyzer”:http://www.twodimes.net/poker/ [link via Up For Poker] is very useful for understanding the odds of a particular hand winning in certain situations.

Here is a contrived example that is fairly illustrative of why Texas Hold’em is such an interesting game.

Consider a “two handed showdown”:http://www.twodimes.net/poker/?g=h&b=&d=&h=7d+2h%0D%0AAs+Kh between 7d and 2c (the worst starting hand you can have) and As Kh (”Big Slick” - it’s got a name it must be good).

cards     win   %win      lose  %lose       tie   %tie        EV
2c 7d  561312  32.78   1143573  66.79      7419   0.43     0.330
As Kh 1143573  66.79    561312  32.78      7419   0.43     0.670

Even with crap the 72 player has a decent chance heads-u “Throw a measly 2d on the board”:http://www.twodimes.net/poker/?g=h&b=2d+3c+9s&d=&h=7d+2c%0D%0AAs+Kh%0D%0A and suddenly he’s a big favorite.

cards     win   %win      lose  %lose       tie   %tie        EV
2c 7d     746  75.35       244  24.65         0   0.00     0.754
As Kh     244  24.65       746  75.35         0   0.00     0.246

Of course Big Slick is one of those hands that usually needs some improvement to win. That’s the great thing about Hold’em - any two cards can win. Great, of course, except when you hold Bullets heads-up against 72 and “this”:http://www.twodimes.net/poker/?g=h&b=3c+8d+9s+2h+2s&d=&h=7d+2c%0D%0AAs+Ah%0D%0A happens.

cards     win   %win      lose  %lose       tie   %tie        EV
2c 7d       1 100.00         0   0.00         0   0.00     1.000
As Ah       0   0.00         1 100.00         0   0.00     0.000

Let that be a lesson to you - don’t slow-play Bullets.

I’m going to be playing in a tournament at Canterbury this Thursday, with any luck I’ll be able to improve on my first showing in the event which “was a respectable 22nd”:http://www.johnsjottings.com/archives/2003/07/17/first_tournament.html out of 144 entrants.

Note to self - get some gifs for card suits and write a macro to display them easily in a post.