You have a standard pack of 52 playing cards. You then shuffle them and begin to draw out cards until you have three of a kind. What is the most likely number of cards drawn when this happens?

You then shuffle another pack of 52 playing cards into the pile. What happens to the expected number of cards now? (i.e. does it double / halve / stay the same?)

(In reply to re(2): A non-poker solution (computer program not used) by Charlie)

Also, by the way, the cumulative prob of completing 3 aces does come out to 1 by the time you get to 52:
41 0.031692677 0.807202881
42 0.030289039 0.837491920
43 0.028623142 0.866115061
44 0.026683904 0.892798966
45 0.024460246 0.917259211
46 0.021941084 0.939200296
47 0.019115338 0.958315634
48 0.015971927 0.974287561
49 0.012499769 0.986787330
50 0.008687783 0.995475113
51 0.004524887 1.000000000

But how to do for 3 of any value card?

Posted by Charlie on 2003-11-20 22:48:04