[Yoruichi-san]

One brisk day in March, Y-san was inside a gas station belonging to the PumpItUp chain, refueling on some much needed caffeine. The sound of the bell on the door drew her attention to a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses walking up to the counter. The man asked the gas station attendant, "Excuse me, sir, could you give me directions to I-70? I'm taking a trip with my son, and our car doesn't have GPS." The man gestured to the run-down, old car parked outside. A young boy sat looking at them from the window. Seeing he had their attention, the boy looked down at something in his hands. A moment later, he raised a hand holding some playing cards. They were, in order: KJJKA.

The man at the counter let out a laugh that Y-san thought was just a little too high-pitched. "Two pair, very good!" the man said, waving his hand dismissively. "Yeah, it's going to be a long trip so I gave him some cards and some dice to play with. Looks like he's taken an interest in poker." The gas station attention smiled and nodded and continued giving directions. Y-san's attention remained on the boy. The boy then held up: JJQAJ, then: Q6Q6JA, then: JJJKA. Then the boy pointed to his eyes and formed his mouth as if hissing.

Keeping the corner of his eye on the boy, the man shook his head and laughed again. "Seems like he likes his three-of-a-kind jacks. And one of those hands wasn't quite legal. I guess I still have some teaching to do." He shrugged in a nonchalant manner and turned to the attendant, thanked him, and walked out of the gas station.

As soon as the door swung closed behind him, Y-san spun around and ordered the attendant to call the police. The attendant, bewildered, asked her why. She replied in a confident, commanding tone, "That boy is definitely not that man's son." As the attendant obliged her instructions, Y-san smiled and mused, "That kid is way too smart to be the son of that guy..."

The car had driven off, but Y-san had memorized the license plate and gave the information to the police over the phone. Having that information, and knowing that the man was headed to I-70, the police managed to apprehend the criminal quickly. The man was a gambler with major debts who had kidnapped the son of a wealthy family in order to hold him for ransom. When the police asked Y-san how she knew, she smiled enigmatically and answered "Never underestimate the patterns a kid will notice when playing with toys."

[Guest]

I don't get it

[Guest]

I have absolutely no poker knowledge. Is that going to effect my ability to solve this?

[Guest]

I have absolutely no poker knowledge. Is that going to effect my ability to solve this?

same...

[Guest]

Based on the following.

When the police asked Y-san how she knew, she smiled enigmatically and answered "Never underestimate the patterns a kid will notice when playing with toys."

I think it has nothing to do with poker, more to do with either how the kid sees the cards? or a pattern from a kids game.

[Guest]

That you need to convert the patterns that the kid sees on the dice to the cards. and that will reveal the message.

[Yoruichi-san]

I have absolutely no poker knowledge. Is that going to effect my ability to solve this?

Nope, just the very basics about cards...;P

[Guest]

Was it the dice or cards he was holding up about the "6"

[Yoruichi-san]

Was it the dice or cards he was holding up about the "6"

Playing cards. Y-san's eyes aren't super-human enough to see the number on a die from 10-20 feet away...;P

[Guest]

Nope, just the very basics about cards...;P

Does it have to do anything with binary?

[Guest]

Nope, just the very basics about cards...;P

are the dice important?

[Yoruichi-san]

Does it have to do anything with binary?

Uh...no...I'm not really sure what that has to do with cards...

are the dice important?

Yes and no. That's all I can say. ;P

[Guest]

"Then the boy pointed to his eyes and formed his mouth as if hissing."

that would mean he is talking about, what?, snake eyes like on dice right? i not much into this stuff but it has started interesting me lately. i would really like to see this get solved...

its alright im a ninja

[Guest]

So far the only thing i can think of is the way Snake Eyes (a dice term referring to rolling a pair of 1's) in a few games makes you lose. Also, if you think outside the box, the snake could be the man who kidnapped the boy. Trying to figure out the card pattern now.

[Guest]

while reading the narration, i found the man suspicious at the very beginning. It is unnecessary for anyone to tell that he is traveling with his son while asking for directions. And if such information is offered without being asked, mmm.. then y-san made sure did she not... by clues the boy gave her... what are these... will think about it

[Yoruichi-san]

Alright, some good observations...here's another question you might want to ask yourself...;P

the illegal hand? Why did all the hands have 5 cards except the third one?

[Guest]

Well, I do not see how they could stand for words, at least not a direct correlation from card to letter. There is no word I can think of that begins with the same three letters.

Great Idea with the snake eyes. Not sure what to do with it though. Knowing y-san this is going to be more difficult than it looks and probably involve some math.

I am almost positive it has nothing to do with poker hands though.

The hands in order...

(KJJKA)

(JJQAJ)

(Q6Q6JA)

(JJJKA)

then he alluded to Snake Eyes (11?)

The sixes are bothering me, too.

Edited March 16, 2009 by IDoNotExist

[Yoruichi-san]

The sixes are bothering me, too.

Oh? Is the glass half-empty or half-full? ;P

[Guest]

Oh? Is the glass half-empty or half-full? ;P

You mean instead of asking why the third one six, shoud we ask why the others 5?

[Yoruichi-san]

You mean instead of asking why the third one six, shoud we ask why the others 5?

Actually, I was referring to the number 6's amidst all the letters...;P

[Guest]

Every hand he has shown has been legit and contained no number cards exept the "6". Both the fact that there are 6 cards and that this hand contains two 6' should bring Y-sans attension towards this hand and more importantly, the number 6. And the hissing, like snake eyes, is also significant, it makes the combination 11. His likes his jacks to: 11. Put together and with a little rearranging and flipping around: "911". A smart kid wouldn't use nines because of the obvious risk of getting caught and instead gives away numerous hints in a more subtle way.

Am I right?

[Guest]

How much of each card was visible when they were revealed?

[Guest]

The kid shows 9 Jacks in total followed by the snake eyes for double ones giving the 911 call. The kid was also kidnapped or "Jacked" (a stretch on slang) from his family. He also shows an "illegal" poker hand to also hint something is wrong.

[Guest]

The kid shows 9 Jacks in total followed by the snake eyes for double ones giving the 911 call. The kid was also kidnapped or "Jacked" (a stretch on slang) from his family. He also shows an "illegal" poker hand to also hint something is wrong.

I dont think that this is everything. Ysan was able to interpret alot of information from those hands, and unless she is assuming ALOT of information, I think that there is more to interpret. She somehow knew that the son was not the fathers and that he was holding the kid for ransom

Ransom has six letters. Could that somehow be translated to the six carded hand?

[Yoruichi-san]

Am I right?

Every hand he has shown has been legit and contained no number cards exept the "6". Both the fact that there are 6 cards and that this hand contains two 6' should bring Y-sans attension towards this hand and more importantly, the number 6. And the hissing, like snake eyes, is also significant, it makes the combination 11. His likes his jacks to: 11. Put together and with a little rearranging and flipping around: "911". A smart kid wouldn't use nines because of the obvious risk of getting caught and instead gives away numerous hints in a more subtle way.

Lol...well, at Redrum University we say "if it seems simple, then you're probably missing the hidden code." ;P

But seriously, no...all four hands were part of the message. The fact that the 3rd hand had 6 cards and 2 numbers instead of face cards says something...

I dont think that this is everything. Ysan was able to interpret alot of information from those hands, and unless she is assuming ALOT of information, I think that there is more to interpret. She somehow knew that the son was not the fathers and that he was holding the kid for ransom

Ransom has six letters. Could that somehow be translated to the six carded hand?

Well, the ransom thing was told to her later by police. But the kid definitely indicated that he was in trouble.

As I hinted at earlier...perhaps the numbers are suppose to be there...perhaps the glass is half-full instead of half-empty...;P

[Guest]

As I hinted at earlier...perhaps the numbers are suppose to be there...perhaps the glass is half-full instead of half-empty...;P

So basically, all we really need to know is....

(K,J,J,K,A)

(J,J,Q,A,J)

(Q,6,Q,6,J,A)

(J,J,J,K,A)

Snake Eyes (1,1?)

From this, Y-san interprets that the kid is not the man’s son, is in trouble, and is very intelligent. She also mentions that there is a pattern.

Can we solve the problem using only this info?

EDIT: just typing this out to see what it looks like. KJJKAJJQAJQ6Q6JAJJJKA

Edited March 17, 2009 by IDoNotExist