SMSM asked: This actually happened when I was in the service. After finishing a 2-day mission and waiting to be relieved, we did what we normally did..played poker! This time several officers wanted to join in–big mistake for us! So, ten sat down to play one game of 5-card stud (you keep the only 5 cards you get..no wild cards..no throw-aways..everyone bet after each card was dealt). We all felt that an ace-high-garbage-hand would have been worth hanging in with for a while and a high pair could have taken it all. The game lasted for a couple of hrs. At the end, all the money most of us had, watches, rings, personal backup weapons, future favors, you name it, … it was all in the pot. More than one player had 2 of-a-kind, 2 people had 3 of-a-kind, and the last two to show their cards (both officers) each had 4 of-a-kind. The first of them to lay-down had 4 -3’s. Of course, everyone thought he was the winner, but when the last one showed his hand of 4 -4’s…well, you may can imagine the reaction. (All the ones still in the game at the end laid their hands down in the order the cards were dealt, which made it pretty amazing that the last one to show his hand had the winning-hand anyway!) This was back in the Vietnam daz, so a long time has passed, but I had to ask this question ’cause I’ve never forgotton that game and never stopped wondering about how high the odds must have been for anyone to get 4 of-a-kind…especially 2 players! The deck was a new, normal 52-card deck which was shuffeled by all 10 players, and everyone agreed that the deck had been shuffeled plenty. Thanks guys!
Elsie
