Challenge 4: The Gilbreath shuffle
Can you identify the pattern in the series of cards below?
A Gilbreath Shuffle is performed on these cards.
Answer the following questions about the final condition of cards!
- What can be the top 2 cards?
- Can the 11th and 12th card be a king and queen?
- Can the 15th and 16th Card be both Kings?
- What can be a possible sequence of top 3 cards?
What students worked out6
Student 4
every third card is a face card and every other card is numbered one
Student 4
The top two cards will be either a face and a number or two numbers
Student 4
the eleventh and twelfth card cannot be a king and a queen because you can’t have two face cards in a set of three
Student 4
the fifteenth and sixteenth cards can both be kings because the fifth set of three cards ends in a fifteen and the next set of three starts in sixteen
Student 4
a possible sequence of the top three cards can be a king, two of diamonds and a 5 of clubs
Student 6
Every third card is a face card