Ah... I was going to make a donation to BYOND, but what better way to do it than through a contest!
Okay here it is... Not only must you give the right answer, but you must completely defend it with logic!
Question: Two men are playing Texas Hold'em and the board looks like the following:
9d Js Qh Td 8d
The following conversation took place:
1st man: "I have a pretty good hand"
2nd man: "I'm pretty sure I have a better hand than yours"
1st man: "How can you be sure?"
2nd man: "I know you don't have the 'nuts'*"
1st man: "True, but I also know you don't have the 'nuts'*"
2nd man: "Then I know that I have beaten you"
1st man: "I agree"
*If you have the 'nuts', then you know that your hole cards cannot be beaten.
What cards did the two men have? Explain why. I will judge on correctness, speed, and quality of explanation. Winner gets a 1 year membership to BYOND. Deadline is tomorrow morning... 9ish.
ID:4167
 Sep 27 2005, 7:08 am
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uh, i dont know where i got the word "mortal" from... heh... i must have been trippin... i'd just woken up. but yeah, i've never heard the term 'the nuts' before either... :P so am i right or what?!
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Well... you are the most correct so far ;). I wouldn't call it very correct, but you have one of the cards right... sort of.
BTW, the 'nuts' is a very important part of this problem. If no one else submits, then you're the winner! | |
Uh, uh, this sounds dirty.
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ackkkk its driving me crazy now! you gotta tell me! what can be more correct than my answer?
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I won't win but meh I don't care that much anyway =)
It looks like the 2nd man has the 2nd-best hand possible, and the 1st man has the card that would stop him from having the best hand. However I don't wanna put enough thought into the question to get further than that ^^ | |
Green Lime asked me to give you his answer:
The 2nd man says he knows that the first man doesn't have 'nuts'. Since the cards down display a straight. This means there is only 5 types of card configurations that can beat it alone. Flush, Full house, four of a kind, Straight flush, and royal flush. Basic logic tells us we can rule out Full house and four of a kind. Cause you cant get 2 and 3 of a kind. When no cards laying down are the same, and you have only 2 cards in your hand. Also you can't get 4 of a kind with no same cards and only 2 cards in your hand. This leaves a flush, straight flush, and royal flush. But Royal flush couldn't be it cause you have only two cards making it a Q straight flush as the heighest. Now back to the 'nuts'. 2nd man says he knows the 1st man doesn't have the 'nuts' (straight flush to the Q). But the 1st man says he knows the 2nd man doesn't have the nuts either. Before that the 2nd man says hes pretty sure he has a better hand than the 1st man. Cause he has a straight flush to the Jd. So the 1st man has the Qd. Which is how he knows the 2nd man doesn't have the 'nuts'. But because the 2nd man knows the 1st man knows that the 2nd man doesn't have the 'nuts'. It is clear to the 2nd man that the 1st man has the Qd. So no matter what the 1st man has besides the Qd. He will still loose to the straight flush. 2nd man (Jd,7d) 1st man (Qd,?) | |
The 1st Man's second card is probably the Ace of diamonds, because he starts off with "I have a pretty good hand", so he'd have a flush containing 8, 9, 10, Q, A of diamonds. I think that's the best hand he could have if he's holding the queen like Green Lime said. (Or if not, oh well. Lime has a better explaination anyway :P)
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Clue: If someone holds the Jd 7d, their hole cards cannot be beaten.
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so how is my answer wrong then?
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Tactics -- if man 2 has AQd, he can't know his opponents doesn't have J7d, which would beat him.
When man 2 says his opponent doesn't have the nuts, we know he has the Jd (to exclude both JQd and J7d). When man 1 counters with "you don't have the nuts either", he then must have the Qd (to exclude man 2 having JQd), and also the 7d (to exclude man 2 having J7d). Man 2 now knows that man 1 does not have the straight flush, so when he says he knows he won, he must have the Ad. Thus: Man 1: Qd 7d Man 2: Ad Jd | |
GUH. talk about close.
and that was in 26 minutes at 9:00 in the morning... i'm sad now. thanks dramstud. | |
ahhh that closeness bothers me. wow.
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the "mortal nuts," in this case, are the Jd and Qd (straight flush)
man 1 knows that man 2 does not have these cards because he has the Jd, and man 2 knows that he has won because he has Qd and Ad.
each man gave up their hands by saying that they knew the other didnt have the "Jd and Qd" couple, so at that point knew what each other had because of what they had in their hand. since a straight is already on the board, and there is no possibility of a full boat, a flush or straight flush are the only winners. man 2 knows that he has the highest flush because man 1 gave up that he had the Jd...
Man 2 wins with a diamond flush, ace high.
26 minutes.