Heartless Poker

Abstract:  The probabilities, and hence the rankings, of the standard poker hands are well-known. But what happens to the rankings in a game where a deck is used without a suit (heartless poker, for example), or with an extra suit, or extra face cards? Does it ever happen that two or more hands are equally likely?

In this talk we examine these and other questions, and show how probability, some analysis, and even some number theory can be applied.