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Re: Chase the royal or keep the flush?
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 3:56 pm
by Tedlark
Gronbog wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2020 11:45 am
Jstark wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2020 11:52 pm
As i said, for contests or tournaments, sometimes you have to throw basic strategy out the window. In normal play, it's a bankroll killer. Don't believe me. Go play blackjack and always hit 17 vs 10. Basic strategy is to stand, but in a tournament setting, hitting might sometimes be the correct play.
So very true! Tournament play is sometimes about engineering a particular outcome and needing to do it
now.
I once correctly and successfully doubled on hard 19 on the final hand of a blackjack tournament round. For those who don't play blackjack, you can double your bet after seeing the first 2 cards of a hand, but in exchange you have to take exactly one additional card. You would never hit or double a hard 19 during regular play, but in that situation it was only way I could advance to the next round.
I can post the details but only if there is any interest.
Hmm, you said something about "back to the original post" or words to that effect?
Re: Chase the royal or keep the flush?
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 4:44 pm
by tech58
Still interested.
Re: Chase the royal or keep the flush?
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 8:03 pm
by Gronbog
Ok. I'll try to keep it brief. It is somewhat relevant to the topic of the thread because it's another example of how having a different goal than in normal play can change your strategy.
Situation: Last hand of a tournament round. The player with the most chips advances to the next round. Everyone else is eliminated. I was one of two players remaining. Minimum bet was $25. Maximum bet was $500.
I had $1450 in chips and my opponent had $2000. I had to bet first and I bet $500. My opponent bet $25. At this point I already knew that, no matter what cards I got, i was going to have to double or split. Why? Because even if I was to win my bet for $500 and my opponent was to lose his $25, he would still advance with $1975 over my $1950.
I was dealt a ten and a nine for 19. He had two tens for a total of 20. The dealer showed a ten. Basic strategy says to stand but if I don't double then he advances. I doubled and was dealt a 2 for a total of 21. He stood on his 20 but I was not out of the woods yet. If the dealer gets 21, then I push and he still advances. The dealer flipped over a 9 for 19. He won $25 and I won $1000 to advance $2450 to $2025.
Re: Chase the royal or keep the flush?
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:40 pm
by Vman96
Nice double gronbog!
Re: Chase the royal or keep the flush?
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 6:55 am
by onemoretry
Well thought out! Significantly, you likely had a lot less time than it took to explain why you did what you did, to actually figure out how to make the play.
Re: Chase the royal or keep the flush?
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 6:56 am
by tech58
Thanks G,great story. No matter the game, LUCKY is still better than GOOD.
Re: Chase the royal or keep the flush?
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 9:24 am
by TripleTriple
Sounds a lot like what "2" did in Austin Powers. Then my favorite part:
Austin: I'll stand...(with a 2 and 3)
Dealer: Sir, you have five...
Austin: I too, like to live dangerously.
Re: Chase the royal or keep the flush?
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 9:46 am
by FAA
These no money involved threads really deflate my expectations from their titles. Please.
Re: Chase the royal or keep the flush?
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 5:09 pm
by davidearl
New2vp wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2020 7:03 pm
"Taking something to a power" is shorthand for repeatedly multiplying a number by itself.
(46/47) x (46/47) = (46 x 46) / (47 x 47) = 2116/2209 = 0.9579 (approximately)
You can also write the above as (46/47)^2. The upside down "v" is called a caret (above the 6 on your keyboard) and is one way to show that you are taking the thing to the left "to a power." In the case that I showed, I am multiplying two numbers together with both of them being 46/47.
Similarly, (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) = (46 x 46 x 46) / (47 x 47 x 47) = 97,336/103,823 = 0.9375 (approximately). And, you guessed it, this can be written as (46/47)^3, because we are now multiplying 3 numbers together, with all 3 of them being 46/47.
In Gronbog's case he was multiplying 100 numbers with all of them being 46/47.
He could have written:
(46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x
(46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x
(46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x
(46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) x (46/47) = 0.1164 (approximately)
Since I'm sure you would not like to count these, it is a whole lot easier to read and understand if it is written as (46/47)^100.
You may have looked at the above and rather than counting the numbers, you might have counted them on one row and multiplied by the number of rows. And of course we all might remember when we learned to multiply, it was so that we didn't have to add the same number over and over again.
Exponentiation (another word for "taking something to a power") allows us not to have to multiply a number over and over again just like multiplication allows us a shortcut to addition.
On many calculators, the way you take something to a power is look for the key that has a small "x" with a smaller "y" above and to the right of the "x". If you do not have such a button, you might have to look for a different calculator. If the calculator is an app on your computer or phone, you can sometimes look for settings and switch it from "Standard" to "Scientific" and then you can find the button.
To use your calculator for this problem, you can enter 46 / 47 = ^ 100 =. Please note, I can't show the symbols in this forum that you have on your calculator. So for "/", you may have a division sign. And for "^" you may have the "x with the smaller y to the right and above the x."
If you have the calculator that's on a Apple phone, you just turn the phone sideways, and the calculator turns into a scientific calculator.
Re: Chase the royal or keep the flush?
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 6:55 pm
by FAA
Really? That’s nifty if true.