How do you calculate the odds of poker hands? (please read details)?

Question

I know how to FIND the odds of certain poker hands, but I need to know how to CALCULATE these odds because I am creating a new card game that does not use a full deck of cards..... Any math freaks out there that can get me in the right direction?

Answer 1

Not playing with a full deck, heh?  Sounds like a lot of people around here.  :)

First, you'll need the total number of hands.  Follow the link below to learn how to calculate it, or you'll need to count them out for yourself.

Second, you'll need to determine which combinations will have value.  In theory, you could assign every possible hand a value, but that would be complicated.

Third, count up the possible ways those hand can be made.  This is probably easiest due physically with a deck of cards.  Keep an eye open for patterns to help reduce the time spent here.

Fourth, sort the list of combinations from easiest to make to hardest.  Easiest has the most possible combinations and should thus have the least value.  Hardest, fewest, most.

Fifth, to determine the odds per hand, divide the number of combinations that produce the hand by the total number of combinations in the game.

John Scarne's books are a good reference source for seeing how this is done.

Good luck with your game.

Answer 2

Odds of anything are calculated using probability.  Probability is an entire branch of mathematics that requires a lot of math knowledge.  For example check out this page for some ideas on calculating odds in poker:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker_proba...