# How do you work out the running chance of drawing a pair from a deck of multiple decks of cards?

If I had a shoe of multiple decks of cards, what's the probability of drawing 2 cards of the same value(pair)? E.g 2 of Spades and 2 of Clubs from a deck/shoe of 208 cards(4 decks)

If I draw another 2 cards from the same deck of now 206 cards, what's the probability of getting a pair now?

I'm writing a computer program so if you could explain mathematical steps I'd appreciate it.

• what have you attempted so far to solve this on your own? – probabilityislogic Jan 25 at 0:45

Within any $$k$$ cards there are $$\binom{k}{2} = k(k-1)/2$$ pairs. Thus, in a "shoe" that has $$m$$ distinct cards with $$k_1$$ of one kind, $$k_2$$ of another, and so on, there are $$\binom{k_1}{2} + \binom{k_2}{2} + \cdots + \binom{k_m}{2}$$ pairs of like cards and there are $$\binom{k_1+k_2+\cdots+k_m}{2}$$ pairs of cards, like or unlike, altogether. When drawing two cards at random, each of these pairs has an equal chance. Therefore:

The chance of drawing a pair of like cards is $$\frac{\binom{k_1}{2} + \binom{k_2}{2} + \cdots + \binom{k_m}{2}}{\binom{k_1+k_2+\cdots+k_m}{2}}.$$

After drawing two cards--whether or not they are like--update the $$k_i$$ accordingly and repeat.

For example, in four decks of playing cards there are (presumably) $$m=13$$ distinct cards and $$16=k_1=k_2=\cdots=k_m$$ of each. At the outset, then, the chance of drawing a pair of like cards is

$$\frac{13\times\binom{16}{2}}{\binom{13\times 16}{2}} = \frac{1560}{21528} \approx 7.2464\%.$$

If the first two cards were a like pair, then one of the $$k_i$$ is reduced from $$16$$ to $$14$$ and the new chances on the next draw are

$$\frac{12\times\binom{16}{2} + \binom{14}{2}}{\binom{12\times 16\ +\ 14}{2}} = \frac{1531}{21115} \approx 7.2508\%.$$

Otherwise, if the first two cards were not a like pair, then two different $$k_i$$ are reduced from $$16$$ to $$15$$ and the new chances on the next draw are

$$\frac{11\times\binom{16}{2} + 2\times \binom{15}{2}}{\binom{11\times 16\ +\ 2\times 15}{2}} = \frac{1530}{21115} \approx 7.2460\%.$$

If you need to keep going with this calculation as cards are drawn, evidently you must keep track of all the $$k_i$$--there is no shortcut.

The algorithm is particularly simple, though, because when you draw a card from a group of $$k_i$$ like cards, $$\binom{k_i}{2}$$ decreases by $$k_i-1.$$

The following algorithm maintains a data structure containing (a) a vector of the $$k_i,$$ (b) the numerator and denominator of the fraction, and (c) the sum of the $$k_i$$ (let's call this $$n$$).

At the beginning you have to use the binomial formula above to compute the numerator $$a$$ and denominator $$b;$$ the fraction $$a/b$$ is the chance of drawing a pair.

Before drawing two cards the chance of a like pair is $$a/b.$$ Each time a card is drawn from group $$i,$$ decrease $$a$$ by $$k_i-1,$$ decrease $$b$$ by $$n-1,$$ decrease $$n$$ by $$1,$$ and finally decrease $$k_i$$ by $$1.$$

An R implementation is shown below to illustrate. Here is part of its output:

a = 1560 ; b = 21528 ; Chance of a pair is 0.07246  Drew 7 and 6
a = 1530 ; b = 21115 ; Chance of a pair is 0.07246  Drew 6 and 4
a = 1501 ; b = 20706 ; Chance of a pair is 0.07249  Drew 6 and 6 (pair)
a = 1476 ; b = 20301 ; Chance of a pair is 0.07271  Drew 3 and Q
a = 1446 ; b = 19900 ; Chance of a pair is 0.07266  Drew K and K (pair)
... (98 missing lines)
a = 0 ; b = 1 ; Chance of a pair is 0.00000 Drew 3 and 2


Here is code that carries out the algorithm and an example of its use.

deck <- rep(c("A", 2:10, c("J", "Q", "K")), 4)
shoe <- rep(deck, 4)
#
# Initialize the data structure X.
#
k <- table(shoe)
n <- sum(k)
a <- sum(k * (k-1) / 2)
b <- n * (n-1) / 2
X <- list(k=k, n=n, a=a, b=b)
#
# Here is how to update the data structure when a card i is drawn.
#
update <- function(i, X) {
i <- as.character(i)
X$$a <- X$$a - (X$$k[i]-1) X$$b <- X$$b - (X$$n-1)
X$$n <- X$$n - 1
X$$k[i] <- X$$k[i] - 1
return(X)
}
#
# Illustrate.
#
set.seed(17)
draws <- sample(shoe, 208)       # Shuffle the cards
for (j in 1:(length(draws)/2)) { # Draw two at a time
with(X, cat("a =", a, "; b =", b, "; Chance of a pair is", sprintf("%.5f", a/b)))

X <- update(draws[2*j-1], X)
X <- update(draws[2*j], X)

with(X, cat("\tDrew", draws[2*j-1], "and", draws[2*j],
ifelse(draws[2*j-1]==draws[2*j], "(pair)", ""), "\n"))
}