Friday, June 17

The Best Poker and Blackjack Hand

Okay, so you are playing cards in some weird environment where the hand you play in the poker game must be the same hand you play in the blackjack game.  In other words, the same five cards in your hand (I know, sometimes blackjack hands are more or fewer than five cards) must be used for both the poker and blackjack hands.



So, what is the best possible 5 card hand for both poker and blackjack?



I have surmised that it is the four 5s and an ace:  21 in blackjack and a four of a kind, ace high for poker.



You cannot beat that hand.  Can you?



10 comments:

dylan said...

Well if you had 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 all of the same suit you would have a Straight Flush which would beat the heck out of your 4 of a kind. It's only 20 in Blackjack. But it can't be beat in poker by any hand that would also beat it in blackjack.

Dennis said...

I think 4 aces and a 7 would beat that.. What do i win?

Dennis said...

Actually.. Now that i think of it, that hand wouldnt work for Blackjack.. I think the hand you picked is the best for both..

dylan said...

4 aces and a seven would work in Blackjack and it's pretty good in poker. Beats the heck out of Rob's hand in poker and ties it in Blackjack. But my hand still beats both in Poker and is the second best hand in Blackjack. So I think I win.

Rob said...

Yeah, I'd rather have Dylan's straight-flush/20.

Rob said...

Or, maybe not. One has to look at the odds, the chances of being beaten.
21 beating 20 in blackjack is a much more common occurance than straight-flush beating 4 of a kind in poker.
I think I'll have to change my opinion and go with AAAA7. It's the sure victory in blackjack and a very high-percentage victory in poker.

lennie said...

dennis has the best hand. if he has all the aces, you can't beat him in blackjack because nobody else can have "blackjack." and his poker hand, as dylan has pointed out, is quite formidable - like, third best poker hand as opposed to dylan's second best possible poker hand. rob's and dylan's hands can be beat in either game, dennis can only be beaten in poker.

lennie said...

oh, k ... rob beat me to it. correct.

Dennis said...

I wasnt sure if the 4 aces and a seven would work in Blackjack, as i thought once you choose whether an ace is 1 or 11, then all aces become that, therefore if you had more than one ace, they would all be worth 1,[or you would bust] making my Blackjack hand worth only 11. But if one ace can be worth 11, and the rest worth 1, then i think the hand i picked is best.

dylan said...

Hmmm I guess I'm more of a poker player. My poker hand can not be beaten in poker by any hand that would not bust in Blackjack. However my Blackjack hand is beatable. I lose to 21. The agreed on best hand of AAAA7 certainly is the better hand at Blackjack but gets beaten by a variety of hands in poker that still qualify in Blackjack (my straight flush, A,2,3,4,5 straight flush, AAAA8, AAAA9, AAAA10, AAAAJ, AAAAK). Now since poker is by far the game with more money at stake and a much better game than Blackjack I remain confident that my choice is still better. :P