The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-20
DRAW POKER PRINCIPLES.
CARDS ARE IMPORTANT. U 0IhHH
ELEMENTS OUTRANK THEN.
No Man Can Play Poker BY MathemAucA'..
c%ulation Alone. nor Can He Comprenenu"
without . knowledge Of the hatnemA"-
cal Principles Apparent Contrao'c''o"'

HIHly De set DOWN IA u
pie OF the game of poker that 1t cannot u pi",oo
brilliantly by any man who confines NJ op.'",
ions within the strict limits oil ina'helna-."
laws. 1t IL unquestionably true tha' u -
act mathematical chance in favor OF or asahs.
The winning OF any given hand may DC su
out la any given deal. and II would De pos,
sible, II the player holding that hahu 'o'u
himself fix tho exact amount to be s'aked On
IT, for him TO play "A strictly ma'he'h"'"
game II II were practicable to place sA
players AT the table, each one OF "hoh' NM"
the PERCENTAGE of chances OF each name ne
should hold, and If each one should bet OF
refuse 10 bet in exact accordance with mat
percnntou. the pnme might be reduced 10
IA mathematical basis, and would in MAJ case
he robbed Of most Of its charm WINE II ""uiu
stll have all the excitement OF an Intricate
calculation in astronomy.
In other words. there is a fixed limit to IN"
perturbation even of nrty-two number. COM
pllcatod as it is by the lourlold duplication
of values among the units. 1t would be eli
tirely feasible to prepare a table in which each
possible hand from a royal flush down to a
seven high of mixed suits would appear in
rotation, thus making the relative value OF
each apparent to the eye. The value of such
a table would be considerable to the begin
nrr. since he could determine at a glance how
high I'd among the possibilities each hand
stood. No one ever did or ever will prepare
such a table. however, since the players first
lesson is TO learn the comparative value OF
nil baras ona m. sao,ance ia sinple enough to
be mastered without the aid OF diagrams.
Supposlng this table TO be prepared. how
.ver il hacomes n simnle though n tedious
npara,t,n a.. cnloulnta tho chances of pHpl one
Of the other five players holding a hand of
canal or superior value. A separate calcr-
,u"u S"s'm ,,'au ,ho trar ,s rvolysd
ialoh before ana a'ter 'he ara" Is lhN"i'eo
in each case. each one varying according TO
In. draw. hut all being cslc,llabla from the
snn,a ,ann -, ,,a ,n,o nr,roinles =, norn,-
tatlon. The mathematical chances OF each
hand can therefore be- reCkoned TO a fraction,
and - !, wero wor,h whi,. 10 raa,ce the oome
"iu !, !. VIZ "oiw 'nasio ~
tons of n ickel-in-tha-slot machine. il might
IA don.
rnr two rooson. ,ovsvsr :, ui, never be
done. The first Of these reasons IL that the
oato,lo,ion u.orld ~. oI,ros, ircrsd,h,v ted,ous
,nul w. .oanI, - ~ oh,.inod u.o,,d ho of
trivial value. and the second is that the more
,,rror,,n, olarnor,s =, rho ,or,o so comn,et civ
important eieme"'S OF le sHnie soromip"r,en
overshadow the mathematical quality oi II
that such a calculation is prac tICally excluded
T., na~or,hoIass nooossi,, Gov a polor
q .."' h nanL
player 10 have as a beginning OF his knowi-
edge Of the game A clear conception of the
freouencv with which different hands may he
ie'""t' VIZ "H." ' ~
expected. The best way. practically TO OBJ
tain this conception is by long continued play
orI olaso hr 'rbo ,o,or uho sbouId
WV ''o7T V''o "' p'"'V -
begin with a mathematical calculation OF the
probabilities would be 80 Confounded and
confused hv the constant contradictions Of
''n'u9'u y "a" 'o'"""' W
actual play that he would not only be at a loss
10 know how To govern his betting, but he would
oI,,os, inovi,ohlv loco sigbt os ,ba rsal nrona-
NV 'n'''"o' '''o y, "V ~" '''
biltles OF the sltung In which ne might De
To illustrate. IL il by no means an uncom-
r,on ,Li,g Gov III. sor,. nor,, q, civ IN NAV
hi'i nuns ''i NV oaie p"'s VI "N w p"'
together AZ poker for a dozen slttlngs without
having four of n kind hold once i'm the entire
- ..u.,
ser'es Aha' on me o'her manu-, ! NOV uI"''NI
for four Of "A kind to be held twenty-five or
thirty times in another dozen sittines Of the
- 80
Sam" party lhey Wisht pay 'ose'her !"
a year and not have a single straight flush,
o,d IL, ,ha following non,b +, mich, worry prob-
80 an
abiy ne seen nan a dozen tunes All inns Is
by no means a contradiction of the principles
80 nor,,rto,ion or tho doc,rirs NJ chances
" -
but II shows that apparent contradictions are
so frequent that a strict application Of those
PRINCIPLES is incompatible with sound play.
IL /. easy 10 Quarrel with the word luck, "
and il is easy TO demonstrate on paper that in
the course OF n hundred million deals, for ex-
annie ms, 90 many Straight Pushes will annear.
;Irst 20 n,any four. and So many flIls' bushes
strairhts, &c. The theory may be sound enough