I don’t understand the answer to this puzzler. Can someone explain it to me, typing slowly with small words.
https://www.cartalk.com/radio/puzzler/poker-hand-beats-royal-flush
I think whoever wrote this screwed up. I don’t know what point they were trying to make, but they failed.
It says on that page:
She says, “You go first.”
So I pick a royal flush.
Then she picks her five cards…
…and she beats me.
But in their explanation, they said:
And since she picked first, she controlled the outcome before you even had a chance.
But she didn’t pick first. So again, I don’t know what they were trying to say.
Also, if you hold four tens, you can’t make a straight flush by drawing one more card. This makes no sense at all.
And how could she pick four 10s? A royal flush is 10-J-Q-K-A. He’s holding one of the tens.
With a wet noodle? 
The reason it doesn’t make sense is because they messed up.
FROM THE SETUP,
(emphasis mine)
FROM THE ANSWER:
(again, emphasis mine)
I think what they really were getting at was making it kinda like a real hand. start with any hand you want, then “draw” to create a final hand. If the husband can get his royal flush before she picks her starting hand, she can’t get 4 10s (because he already has one). If she picks her hand first, she can pick 4 10s and… whatever. If he “draws” to a straight-flush, it can only be 9-high, and she can “draw” a royal flush. If he “draws” to 4 aces, she can draw to a straight-flush, which beats 4-of-a-kind.
I was thinking along the same lines. If it was a “pick one card at a time” sort of situation, you could absolutely outmaneuver someone. If they were trying to create a royal flush and started from the top down (ace, then king, then queen, etc.) then you could presumably grab all of the 10s one at a time and prevent that hand from completing, since by the time they grabbed the last card there would be nothing left. And then you’d have a 4 of a kind, they’d presumably have the start of a flush but couldn’t possibly make it a straight. The best they could do is grab another card of the same suit, and complete a flush, but your 4-of-a-kind would beat their flush.
That makes sense, I guess, though there are some holes in it. (Like, do you see what the other person is picking?) But that is not at all what was being described on that page. It’s almost like someone heard someone else describe it, and then days later tried to recreate what they were told, forgot most of it, and shrugged and filled in the gaps themselves.
Even then, though, this part also doesn’t make sense.
Even if you tried to be clever and pick what looks like a stronger hand—like four aces—you still couldn’t beat it.
Because a straight flush beats four of a kind.
But I thought the point was her four of a kind beating his attempt at a straight flush?! It’s even in the title of the story.
Glad to see I have reason to be confused
Those glaring errors in the text say “AI slop” to me.
She picked four tens.
We tricked you.
It wasn’t about picking the highest hand right away, and it wasn’t about going for a royal flush.
The real trick was in what happens after the draw.
By picking four tens, she set herself up so that no matter what you picked, she could always improve to a stronger hand.
Because with those four tens, she could draw one more card and make a ten-high straight flush.
And here’s the catch.
Even if you tried to be clever and pick what looks like a stronger hand—like four aces—you still couldn’t beat it.
Because a straight flush beats four of a kind.
And since she picked first, she controlled the outcome before you even had a chance.
So no matter what you did, she had a winning path.
That’s why four tens was the unbeatable choice.
Tricked you there.
The rest explains it better, but not very well.
Did you mean to quote something that wasn’t already quoted multiple times in this thread, including the OP? Because that doesn’t explain it any better than it did when anyone else quoted it.
I think that what has been left out is that there were two separate games. In the first, the husband picks a royal flush first, she picks another, and as the husband says, they tie.
Then she says, Let me draw first, and draws the four tens. She wins the second game, as described.
That makes no sense. He could pick a higher 4 of a kind or any other straight flush that doesn’t need a 10.
I agree with @EllisDee that this is likely AI slop that doesn’t actually make any sense.
The idea they were going for is that if you pull four 10s, the highest possible straight flush your opponent can manage is 5 through 9.
But another requirement seems to be that the person who starts with four 10s also needs to be able to make a straight flush somehow, which of course makes no sense.
The OP’s transcript is inaccurate.
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510208/car-talk
She tells him he can go first: he can pick any cards he likes, and then she’ll pick any of the remaining cards she likes, and then he can discard as he pleases and replace ‘em from the remaining cards, and she can do likewise. He says that he’ll of course pick a royal flush, and that the best she can do is also pick a royal flush for the tie, and that he won’t bother to replace any cards because that’s as good as it gets for either of them, and that she can at best do the same, and he sneers that it’s stupid because they’ll always tie…
…and then she says: okay, but what if I go first? And he figures it’ll make no difference and they’ll still tie; she’ll presumably assemble a royal flush, and he’ll presumably respond by doing the same, and she could then discard and draw but presumably wouldn’t bother, and then he could do the same.
And, with that setup, she instead goes first by putting four 10s in her hand.
Oh, I think, based on TOWP’s post, I get it!
I go first, and put four tens in my hand. You go second, and can’t make a royal flush (which needs a 10), so, next best thing, you put four aces in your hand.
That’s fine! I replace all my cards except the ace of diamonds, and add 9-J-Q-K diamonds, for a straight flush. You can’t get a straight flush that’s higher than that, because, again, I took all the tens. IMPORTANT: When I discarded, those cards must not be available to you.
The highest straight flush that doesn’t have a ten is 5-6-7-8-9; and any straight flush with a 10 will beat that. By taking all the tens, I’m gonna win.
Right. I think some of us didn’t realize they’re playing (a highly unorthodox version of) draw poker, and that after the initial (self) deal, they can discard some cards and draw replacements.
I remember when draw poker was pretty much the standard; showing up in movie like The Sting. I wonder if this Puzzler might be from that era, before Texas Hold 'Em exploded in popularity.
So you could pick 4 of any of the set of (10, J, Q, K) and it would play out the same way, correct?
I think, the way it is written, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to have realized that. I agree that this feels like AI slop.