APPENDIX 1: The standard deck. The standard (US) deck of playing cards contains 4 suits-Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs- each of which contains 13 cards, ranging in value from the Ace (1) to 10, plus the court cards (or 'face cards') of the Jack, Queen, and King. In Poker, the Ace may count as the lowest value (1) or the highest, above the King. Cards are usually indicated by a short string consisting of the rank then the suit, with the rank being indicated by one of: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q. K, and the suit by S, H, D C. Thus 6D denotes the 6 of Diamonds, KS the King of Spades, etc. APPENDIX 2: The value of the hands. Poker hands consist of 5 cards, dealt from a well-shuffled deck. These are combinations, not permutations; the order the cards are dealt is not significant. The usual rules allow ties to be broken readily; if two hands are truly tied, count it as half a win. They're rare, but they do happen. The rank of the hands, from lowest to highest: • No pair (high card): The hand does not qualify for any of the other ranks listed. Ties are broken by looking at the highest-ranking card in the hand. If the highest cards are tied, look at the second-highest, and so on. • One pair: Two cards are of the same rank; the other 3 cards have different ranks. Ties broken by comparing values of the pair. If two hands have one pair at the same rank, compare the highest of the remaining 3 cards, as for no pair. Two pair: Two cards with the same rank; two cards with the same rank different from the first pair; and an unrelated card. Break ties by comparing the higher pair; then the lower pair; then the unrelated card. • Three of a kind: Three cards of the same rank, and two unrelated cards. Ties broken by comparing the values of the 3 of a kind. (It's not possible for 2 hands to each have 3 cards of the same rank.) Straight: 5 cards forming an unbroken sequence; not all cards are the same suit. The Ace can count as high (A-K-Q-J-10) or low (5-4-3-2-A). It is not possible to go 'around the corner,' i.e.