how to simulate a poker game

i'm fairly new to matlab and am trying to simulate a poker game, so far i am able to go through the rounds but i am unsure how to code in the actions that each player can take (2 handed). Given that there is a large number of actions that can occur each round, for example:

• p1 checks, p2 checks
• p1 bets, p2 calls
• p1 checks, p2 bets, p1 calls
• and so on ...

i suspect that there could be a way of representing the actions in matrix form but i am unsure.

here is my code so far:

% define deck
DECK = [1:1:52];
deck = DECK( randperm(52)); % shuffles the deck 


if round == 1 % preflop
    holecard1 = deck(1);  % deal hole cards
    holecard2 = deck(2);
        
    prompt = "What action would you like to take "; % asks user to input action: check, bet, or fold. 
    action = input(prompt,"s")

elseif round == 2 % flop
    holecard1 = deck(1);  
    holecard2 = deck(2);
    flop1 = deck(3); % deal flop
    flop2 = deck(4);
    flop3 = deck(5); 

    prompt = "What action would you like to take "; 
    action = input(prompt,"s")

elseif round == 3 % turn
    holecard1 = deck(1);  
    holecard2 = deck(2);
    flop1 = deck(3); 
    flop2 = deck(4);
    flop3 = deck(5);
    turn = deck(6); % deal turn
    
    prompt = "What action would you like to take "; 
    action = input(prompt,"s")

elseif round == 4 % river
    holecard1 = deck(1);  
    holecard2 = deck(2);
    flop1 = deck(3); 
    flop2 = deck(4);
    flop3 = deck(5);
    turn = deck(6);
    river = deck(7); % deal river 

    prompt = "What action would you like to take "; 
    action = input(prompt,"s")

elseif round == 5
    disp('showdown!!!!')
end

Answer 1

[Manas]

Hello Philip Curran,

I understand that you want to write a MATLAB program that can simulate a poker game between two players. You were able to simulate the rounds, but you are facing an issue coming up with a logic that can represent all possible actions.

Since there are only a finite number of actions each player can take given a state, all the (state, action) pairs can be captured in the form of a state diagram. A MATLAB matrix can be used to define the state action pairs. An important thing to note here is that in poker, only the last state is relevant and not the entire history.

In the case of a poker game, we can consider the four basic moves:

• Raise / Bet
• Call
• Check
• Fold

Here is a sample list of (state, action) items when the first player “Raises/Bets”:

• (Raise, Raise) -> Prompt the first user to perform another action.
• (Raise, Call) -> Next Round.
• (Raise, Fold) -> End the game.
• (Raise, Check) is an invalid state.

Similarly, we can extend our matrix to other moves as well. The above example is provided to give you an idea on how the implementation could look like. Feel free to conceptualize the matrix according to your requirements.

Hope this helps!