Module 2 · Lesson 11 of 39 · Free
Speed round: rank it
Aim for five seconds a hand: ten hands in under 50 seconds. Speed comes less from looking fast than from looking in a fixed order: the suits, then the ranks, then the runs, so that you never miss a flush or a full house hiding among seven cards.
The hand
You hold K♣ K♦ and the board is K♥ 7♣ 7♦ 9♣ 2♣: seven cards to read before the clock runs.
Predict first
What is your best five?
- A flush in clubs
- A full house, kings full of sevens
- Three of a kind, kings
Show the answer
Answer: A full house, kings full of sevens
You have three kings, K♣ K♦ K♥, and a pair of sevens, 7♣ 7♦: K K K 7 7 is a full house. The clubs are K♣ 7♣ 9♣ 2♣, only four, so there is no flush, and a full house would beat one anyway.
Working it out
Read the spot in three passes. Suits: four clubs, one short of a flush. Ranks: three kings and two sevens, a full house. Runs: K 9 7 2 has no five ranks in a row, and a straight would lose to the full house anyway. The order saves time: when the first pass finds five cards of one suit, only a straight flush could beat that flush, because the cards left over are too few for four of a kind or a full house. Seven cards hold 7 × 6 ÷ 2 = 21 different fives, one for each pair of cards left out, and three passes find the best one without trying them all.
In the speed round below you get ten hands of seven cards and tap the rank of each best five. The clock runs only while a hand waits for your answer, and each wrong answer adds 5 seconds: 44 seconds with one mistake scores 44 + 5 × 1 = 49 seconds. Your best round is kept on this device. At the table, read the board first: what it allows, as in the lesson on the nuts, tells you what to look for in your own two cards.
Formula
Score = seconds + 5 × wrong answers: 44 + 5 × 1 = 49. Target: 10 hands × 5 seconds = 50
Check your understanding
You hold 9♣ 8♣ and the board is T♦ 7♣ 6♠ 3♣ 2♣. What is your best five?
- A straight, ten high
- A flush, nine high
- A straight flush
Show the answer
Answer: A flush, nine high
Five clubs, 9♣ 8♣ 7♣ 3♣ 2♣, make a flush, and T 9 8 7 6 makes a straight. A flush beats a straight, and the five clubs are not in a row, so there is no straight flush.
You hold 7♠ 7♦ and the board is K♣ K♥ 4♦ 4♠ A♣. What is your best five?
- K♣ K♥ 7♠ 7♦ 4♦ 4♠: three pairs
- K♣ K♥ 7♠ 7♦ A♣: kings and sevens with the ace
- K♣ K♥ 4♦ 4♠ A♣: the board's two pair
Show the answer
Answer: K♣ K♥ 7♠ 7♦ A♣: kings and sevens with the ace
There is no hand called three pairs: a hand is five cards. Keep the two highest pairs, kings and sevens, and the highest card left, the A♣: K K 7 7 A beats the board's own K K 4 4 A.
In the speed round you answer the ten hands in 38 seconds and get two wrong. What is your score, in seconds?
Show the answer
Answer: 48
Each wrong answer adds 5 seconds: 38 + 5 × 2 = 48 seconds.