Yesterday I took my first exam in sixteen years (that assumes you discount my California State drivers test), anyway it actually felt pretty good. Sixteen years is a very long time to go without testing yourself and its good to know at least a few of my brain cells are still firing with some degree of synchronicity. I think I pretty much "aced" the exam, which I believe is the correct American terminology. However I would have to confess by the standards of any exam I've taken before it would have to be among the easiest (right up there with the California drivers test) I've taken in my life.

Anyway, that's all beside the point. What I really wanted to tell you was while revising for the exam I learned something interesting. If you take a deck of cards, shuffle it and then deal it, then the chances are much greater than 99% that no one has ever delt out that sequence of cards before, ever. The reason is that 52 cards gives you 52x51x50x49x48x.... i.e. 52! or 52 factorial unique combinations which is greater than 8x10⁶⁷.

Thats a pretty huge number. In fact such a huge number that every person on earth could deal out a hand of cards every second since man has walked this planet and even since the earth has existed and will exist and there would still be no duplication.

The one assumption is that you can shuffle perfectly, which you probably can't (unless like some you've just been to Vegas and had time to take some lessons).