First off, if you are playing Limit or No-Limit Hold em' and your two personal cards are a 10 & a 5-and of course there will be a flop-which will total five common cards if the hand is played to completion. Out of these two in your hand and the five in the flop, then, WHAT STRAIGHT IS IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO MAKE ?
I sometimes make you wait until next week for the answer, but one of my good friends told me that he hates to wait for the answers. So to my friend Hollis and the rest of you folks who desire an instant or quick answer, or results-I will just this one time break my long standing practice of making you email me with your answers, but this way it is impossible for me to award you prizes for your answers. The answer will be at the bottom of this column-read on.
Now here is another question for you folks. If I have received for my two personal cards in Limit or No Limit Hold em-American Airlines. (Ac: As)! Now I know that you do not cheat-so I will give you a little of my magic powers. You may select the best pair that you wish to select for your two personal cards. What pair would you select? Assume that there will be no more betting, and that we are both all-in and that it will be a show-down race between you and me. I will bar the other two (Ah; Ad), which would be a tie except for a flush. I will give a little hint: the answer is NOT two K's.
Now here are the answers-You cannot make a nine high straight. The reason for this is that if you hold the 5 only, it would be possible to make a ninehigh straight, but as you hold also the 10, your hand would have to be a 10-high straight, and it is therefore impossible when holding both the 10 & 5 as your personal cards to make a nine-high straight.
Now the other answer: The best two cards you may select to defeat my two black Aces are the 6h & 6d. The reason for this is-If you choose a big pair from K,Q,J,10,9, and if you are lucky and make a set, I could make a straight using one of your cards, and you would snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. In order for you to defeat my Ac & As, you must make a set or better. It is just as easy mathematically to catch a 6 as it is a K,Q,J,10 or 9. So with a pair of 6's, if you are lucky enough to catch one, it will not help me make a straight. It is a safe set for you-I can never use a 6, unless it is black and I catch three other blacks of the same suit.
But the reason that I choose for you a pair of red 6's is that if you run off-four hearts or four diamonds- you will defeat my two black aces and if you make a little straight using 10 as your top card, you will defeat or tie my two aces.
Yes, there are other small considerations, but they are minor and can be disregarded for this fun question. If you are a math-buff or a masscult you may e-mail me with the fine points-such as if you make a straight with a 6 on board by catching both a set of 6's and making a straight-which would be a tie-but you would still not lose the hand, which makes a pair of red 6's, still the best hand to hold against my two black aces.
Until next time, remember to Stay Lucky!
