primrose
Visionary
Bronze Level
Someone in my casino posed this to me and I found it a nice thing to think about. You need to know the rules of Omaha (specifically that you must use exactly 2 of your 4 cards for the 5-card hand) but you don't need to be good at the game to solve this. Note that it's not easy, so you might need some time.
Puzzle: You're holding
. What boards give you the nuts (i.e., the guaranteed strongest possible hands -- no split pots)?
There are three solutions. Well, three groups of solutions, some of them allow you to switch some cards around to get essentially the same solution but a slightly different board. But the three groups are very different from each other.
Solution 1 (the easiest):
Solution 2 (harder):
Solution 3 (hardest):
Puzzle: You're holding
. What boards give you the nuts (i.e., the guaranteed strongest possible hands -- no split pots)?There are three solutions. Well, three groups of solutions, some of them allow you to switch some cards around to get essentially the same solution but a slightly different board. But the three groups are very different from each other.
Solution 1 (the easiest):
QUADS: Board is + any two cards that don't allow for stronger quads or a straight flush. An example is but there are probably thousands of other combinations. These are all the first group.
+ any two cards that don't allow for stronger quads or a straight flush. An example is but there are probably thousands of other combinations. These are all the first group.Solution 2 (harder):
FLUSH: Board is exactly , giving you the unique 9-high flush. This one doesn't have any variation, only this exact board guarantees you the nuts.
, giving you the unique 9-high flush. This one doesn't have any variation, only this exact board guarantees you the nuts.Solution 3 (hardest):
FULL HOUSE: Board is , giving you the 2-2-3-3-3 full house. This solution is unique as well.
, giving you the 2-2-3-3-3 full house. This solution is unique as well.
