Question

Consider dealing a hand of 8 cards from a well shuffled standard deck of playing cards. The expected value of the number of face cards in the hand is (Q

Answer 1

2 face cards

Explanation:

By definition, there are 12 face cards (Kings, queens, and jacks) and 36 numbered cards (2's through 10's) in a standard deck of 52 cards. Aces are not considered face cards (no face on the card).

The ratio of face cards in a full deck is (12/52) or slightly over 23%.

The likelihood of a face card in a hand of 8 cards is:

(8 cards)*(12 face cards/52 cards) = 1.85 cards. We need to round to the nearest whole card, so the expected number of face cards in a hand of 8 is 2 cards.