What are the odds of getting all spades in a game of spades?

Answered by Phillip Nicastro

The odds of getting all spades in a game of spades can be calculated by considering the total number of possible combinations of cards in a deck and the number of combinations that result in all spades.

In a standard deck of 52 playing cards, there are 13 spades. To determine the probability of getting all spades in a game of spades, we need to consider the number of ways we can arrange those 13 spades in a specific order.

The total number of possible combinations of cards in a deck can be calculated using the formula for combinations, which is nCr = n! / (r!(n-r)!), where n is the total number of items and r is the number of items chosen at a time.

In this case, we have 52 cards in the deck and we want to choose 13 spades. Therefore, the total number of combinations of 13 spades from a deck of 52 cards can be calculated as:

52C13 = 52! / (13!(52-13)!) = 52! / (13!39!) = (52 * 51 * 50 * … * 40) / (13 * 12 * 11 * … * 2 * 1)

To calculate this value, we would need to multiply 52 by 51, then multiply the result by 50, and so on until we reach 40. Similarly, we would need to multiply 13 by 12, then multiply the result by 11, and so on until we reach 2, and finally divide the two results.

This calculation would give us the total number of possible combinations of 13 spades from a deck of 52 cards. However, we only want to consider the specific order of the spades, where all 13 spades are in a specific order.

Since we want to consider the specific order, we need to calculate the number of ways we can arrange those 13 spades in that specific order. This can be done using the formula for permutations, which is nPr = n! / (n-r)!, where n is the total number of items and r is the number of items chosen at a time.

In this case, we have 13 spades and we want to arrange them in a specific order. Therefore, the number of ways we can arrange 13 spades in a specific order can be calculated as:

13P13 = 13! / (13-13)! = 13! / 0! = 13!

To calculate this value, we would simply multiply 13 by 12, then multiply the result by 11, and so on until we reach 1.

Now, to calculate the probability of getting all spades in a game of spades, we need to divide the number of ways we can arrange 13 spades in a specific order by the total number of possible combinations of 13 spades from a deck of 52 cards.

Therefore, the probability can be calculated as:

13! / (13!39!) / (52 * 51 * 50 * … * 40)

Calculating this probability gives us the odds of getting all spades in a game of spades. However, it is important to note that these odds are extremely low.

The odds of getting all 13 spades in the correct order are 1 in 3,954,242,643,910,000,000,000. This means that for every 3,954,242,643,910,000,000,000 games of spades played, only one game would result in all spades in the correct order.

To put this into perspective, winning the lottery often has better odds than getting all spades in a game of spades. This highlights just how unlikely it is to have all 13 spades in one deal.

The odds of getting all spades in a game of spades are incredibly low, with a probability of 1 in 3,954,242,643,910,000,000,000. It requires an exceptional amount of luck to achieve this feat, making it rarer than winning the lottery.