Puzzle #9: The Best Full House
You are playing a simple poker game with one deck of cards. Everyone is dealt five cards, and whoever is dealt the best five-card poker hand wins. Lady Luck has promised to deal you a full house of your choice. Which full house should you choose to maximize your chances of winning? Standard rules apply: there are no wild cards, aces can be high or low for straights (10, J, Q, K, A and A, 2, 3, 4, 5 are both valid), but straights cannot “wrap around” (Q, K, A, 2, 3 is not valid). Check here if you need a refresher on poker hand rankings.
I suspect most readers will have a knee-jerk answer for the best full house. Determining why the obvious solution fails will be a key step in solving the puzzle. Or am I just bluffing?
Find the solution at the bottom of this page.
