Author Topic: Suit Ranking Question in Certification  (Read 11435 times)

Stuart Murray

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Suit Ranking Question in Certification
« on: January 26, 2010, 01:48:09 AM »
Hi, A colleague of mine took and passed the TDA exam yesterday however failed the question regarding the ranking of suits in a deck of cards.

I have always trained all my staff to rank by colour - diamonds, clubs, hearts, spades, however the TDA recognises the Alphabetical ranking of suits, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades.

I was just seeking clarification as to the existence of this question and why alphabetical ranking is used, I appreciate fully that different geographical areas will differ in their use of either or system of ranking cards.

Any Input you can supply would be helpful.

Regards
Stuart

pokerfish

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Re: Suit Ranking Question in Certification
« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2010, 02:12:04 AM »
Historically the rankings always have been (low to high) clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. I don't know why, it is just how it always has been. I have never heard of the rankings being any other way and world wide this has been my experience.
Sorry I can't tell you why, I can only confirm that this is how it is accepted.
Jan
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chet

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Re: Suit Ranking Question in Certification
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2010, 08:42:40 AM »
The explanation that has always been given to me is that Poker uses the same ranking as Bridge (which also happens to be reverse alphabetical order), ie. High to Low or Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs. 

In Robert's Rules of Poker, Chap. 1, under "High Card for the Deal" it says, "...In the event of a tie, the highest suit takes precedence in the following order from highest to lowest:  spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs...."  There are a couple other references to this same order in other places in RRoP.

Hope this Helps!

Stuart Murray

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Re: Suit Ranking Question in Certification
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2010, 05:10:32 PM »
indeed I was always aware of the alphabetical ranking of suits but have never applied it, instead use the colour ranking, which seems to be used in UK casinos.  I found this on wikipedia:

No standard ranking of suits exists for all poker games. Even within a particular poker variant, the order of suits differs by location. (For example, the ranking most commonly used in the United States is not the one typically used in Italy.) Two common conventions are:
Alternating colors: diamonds (lowest), followed by clubs, hearts, and spades (highest). This ranking is also used in the Chinese card game Big Two or Choi Dai Di.
Alphabetical order: clubs (lowest), followed by diamonds, hearts, and spades (highest). This ranking is also used in the game of bridge.

Dave Lamb

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Re: Suit Ranking Question in Certification
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2010, 11:31:31 PM »
No standard ranking of suits exists for all poker games. Even within a particular poker variant, the order of suits differs by location. (For example, the ranking most commonly used in the United States is not the one typically used in Italy.) Two common conventions are:
Alternating colors: diamonds (lowest), followed by clubs, hearts, and spades (highest). This ranking is also used in the Chinese card game Big Two or Choi Dai Di.
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It was a rather unpleasant surprise to discover this lack of standard ranking in a live game in Malaysia. The money was in the pot in a poker game where the suits were used because local custom did not allow for a tie, I held the ace of diamonds, my opponent the ace of clubs. We eventually agreed to the forbidden "split pot" in this single instance.

The point is:
It is important to list the ranking of suits when writing/publishing international rules.

Nick C

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Re: Suit Ranking Question in Certification
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2010, 10:24:28 PM »
stuamurr,

 The ranking of cards by suit in the US just happens to be in reverse alphabetical order. I don't believe it was planned like that. I know that most of the TDA members are hold'em players and not quite as familiar with seven card stud. The "bring-in" in 7 card stud is the lowest "door card" (first up-card). this is the only forced bet in most poker rooms that still deal low limit stud. The easiest way to teach the rankings of suits is to tell the students (my student dealers) that they rank lowest to highest alphabetically, clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. Therefore the lowest ranking card in the deck is the 2 of clubs.
Nick C

NupZ_FTAG

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Re: Suit Ranking Question in Certification
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2010, 06:32:59 AM »
Hi all,
I am from Mauritius Island, in the Indian Ocean, south Hemisphere.. near the tropic of capricorn.. bla bla..  and yes, it is beautiful paradise like country surrounded by blue sea, white sand and wonderful sunny sky.. :P  ;D

Now back to the subject: Here we used to have an old social card game called 'Boka', slightly similar to poker with each player having getting 2 cards, one face up, the other face down + 3 additional face up cards one by one after betting rounds.

In that particular game, suit ranking was as follows: From high to low: Spades, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds.

But just very recently, I was surprised to learn that we were using something else on poker tournament tables here in Mauritius, i.e: from high to low: Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs.

And I was even happier to confirm same during my certification. ;-)

NupZ.
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madkiwi9

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Re: Suit Ranking Question in Certification
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2010, 04:53:18 AM »
Hi

Just came back from vegas and the 3 or 4 times i was involved and actually watched a chip race the order was spades, hearts, clubs and dimonds?!

I did also notice a number of inconsistancies away from the rules but will get onto those in another post!!!

Russell Miller
Southern Cross Poker

chet

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Re: Suit Ranking Question in Certification
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2010, 09:47:52 AM »
Madkiwi9:

In Vegas, just as in many other locations, there are card rooms that have house rules/policies/procedures that are different from those prescribed by the TDA.  That is why I consistently preach that players need to become familiar with those house rules, etc. 

As a player you can espouse the TDA rules all you want and you can be absolutely correct, but if the house has rules that differ, you are going to lose the argument.