Rear intake coolant bypass

here is a blurb from Fel-pro about head gasket holes and the designed path of the coolant in a V8 (Chevy Rat but similar) I often wondered why the big *** hole in the front of the head was completely blocked off by the head gasket...It is to route the water to the block, stopping it from going up into the head in the front, creating a dead head for the rear to front flow.

WHY FEL-PRO USES SMALLER HOLES OR BLOCKS OFF SOME HOLES
The holes in head gaskets meter the flow of coolant properly through the heads. In most engines, coolant flows from the water pump at the front of the engine block toward the rear, goes up into the head(s), to the thermostat and finally to the radiator once the thermostat opens before returning back to the water pump.

An improperly sized or placed hole can create a shortcut which prevents coolant from following the correct path through the engine. If the coolant takes a shortcut because a coolant hole is too large at the front of the engine, the rear cylinders can overheat. If the holes are properly placed, but too large, the coolant can pass through the engine too quickly and fail to absorb enough heat, also resulting in overheating.