Pocket pair odds

Tboner7 · #1 03-23-2005, 12:10 AM

I was wondering what are the odds of getting a pocket pair? Not any pair specifically, just any pair. The reason I'm asking is I got about a million today and was just wondering how common it is.

Zetack · #2 03-23-2005, 12:55 AM

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I was wondering what are the odds of getting a pocket pair? Not any pair specifically, just any pair. The reason I'm asking is I got about a million today and was just wondering how common it is.

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Some math guy may correct me but I think its in the general vicinity of 17-1 against. So if you play a couple of hundred hands you'll see a few.

larrondo · #3 03-23-2005, 02:03 AM

It's 16-1 against getting a pocket pair, or one time in 17.

Andy B · #4 03-23-2005, 02:33 AM

Some simple math:

Take your first card off the deck--doesn't matter it is. There are 51 cards left in the deck, three of which will give you a pair. So the chance of getting dealt a pair is 1 in 17, or 16:1 against.

As for the odds of getting a specific pair, say Aces, the chance of your first card being an Ace is 4 out of 52, or 1 out of 13. Given that your first card is an Ace, again, three cards out of 51 will give you a second Ace. 3/51 reduces to 1/17. So the chance of being dealt Aces on any given hand is 1/13*1/17 = 1/221, or 220:1 against.

Tboner7 · #5 03-23-2005, 02:14 PM

Thats what I was thinking but wasn't sure if I was doing it right. Thanks for the replies.