Aloha,
I play Double Bonus Poker, and I'm having a hard time understanding
gaps (which are referenced in VP Strategy Master in several
instances when there are three cards to a straight flush).
First, I'm having a hard time discerning between one and two gaps.
In the following scenarios, when is there one gap and when are there
two gaps?
579 suited
578 suited
589 suited
Second, I'm having a hard time understanding why there is a
statistical difference between one and two gaps.
Aren't the odds of receiving the two cards needed to get a straight
exactly the same whether there are one or two gaps?
Can someone please enlighten me?
Mahalo!
How many gaps there are should be seen as how many cards the hand
doesn't have between the highest card in the draw and the lowest card
in the draw. If the hand is 579, it's missing 2 cards (a 6 and an 8),
so there are 2 gaps. 578 only has 1 gap (a 7). The way you've
phrased your question may be a stumbling block for you. Asking about
the "odds of receiving the two cards needed to get a straight" implies
that there's only 1 way to make a straight in every case. I believe
the man who is responsible for inventing the word "scare" as it
applies to video poker also emphasized that "ways" is a better way to
look at straight draws than "gaps," since a hand such as 432 has no
gaps but only has as many ways to hit a straight as most hands with 1
gap do. I've always looked at such hands in terms of "gaps" rather
than "ways," but that requires the necessary adjustment of assuming
that the draw is at least 5-high and at least 10-low, so that a hand
such as AKJ, which has 1 gap, should be treated as if it's AKT, which
has 2.