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Hold'em poker is a popular casino poker game
where as many as 10 players can play at the same
time. Players play against each other while the
dealer merely deals the cards and handles the
money. Each player is given two cards face down;
the remaining cards are community cards that are
dealt face up in the middle of the table.
Players make their hands by creating the best
five-card combination of their own two cards and
the community cards. There are four rounds of
betting. For the poker simulation, Wilson's
Software Turbo Texas Hold'em was used.
Turbo Texas Hold'em is an elaborate program that
allows players to teach themselves the game. In
addition to basic playing instructions, the game
provides extensive statistics on how players
play as well as how the other characters play.
The opponents in this game are not random; they
have programmed profiles that react to the many
specific poker situations that they might
encounter. These profiles are designed to match
the types of players one might meet around an
average poker table — they have names that are
amusing and relevant.
The game comes with 40 pre-designed profiles.
Player profiles can vary from "tight" (folds
most hands) to "loose" (stays in most hands) to
"passive" (checks or calls, but rarely bets or
raises) to "aggressive" (often bets or raises).
Specific types of players such as "loose but
aggressive," or "tight but passive" can be
selected, and opponents can learn how to counter
their styles. Players can also create their own
characters. More to the point, players can set
up a line-up of characters and then run a
high-speed simulation to determine the long-term
outcome of various strategic moves.
In the context of poker, an operational
definition of skilled play means that players
adjust their play to their position in the hands
(i.e. Are they first or last to bet?); they
gauge the odds of making a particular hand
compared to the size of the pot (the "pot
odds"); they try and figure out their opponents
hands by "tells" and betting patterns, and
usually tend to play tight and aggressive, but
must occasionally vary their play by bluffing
(loose) or checking (passive) in order to avoid
giving away their strength (see Warren, 1996,
for details).
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