FIU PokerBots 2025 🃏

Lesson 2 - Probability Fundamentals

Setup and Installation

Install Dependencies: Install the required Python packages using the requirements.txt file. bash pip install -r requirements.txt

Running the Bots

To locally run a game between the bots, you can use the test engine script. The game engine is named test_engine.py and you have a basic example player in a folder like player1_ABC, you can run a match like this:

python3 test_engine.py

Official Tournament Configuration

Please be aware that the final tournament will use the following game configuration:

• NUM_ROUNDS = 1000
• STARTING_STACK = 400 (resets back to 400 each game round)
• BIG_BLIND = 2
• SMALL_BLIND = 1
• STARTING_GAME_CLOCK = 10000.0 seconds (per bot for the entire match)

Ensure your bot is optimized and tested to perform well under these specific parameters, especially managing its decision time within the allocated STARTING_GAME_CLOCK over 1000 rounds.

Experimentation and Configuration

This pokerbot, player2_monte_carlo/player.py, offers parameters you can tweak for experimentation. When experimenting, always keep the official tournament configuration and especially the STARTING_GAME_CLOCK in mind.

Monte Carlo Iterations (MONTE_CARLO_ITERS)

The number of simulations the Monte Carlo bot runs to determine hand strength significantly impacts its performance and, crucially, its decision time.

• Location: Inside player2_monte_carlo/player.py, find the variable MONTE_CARLO_ITERS.
• Experiment: Try changing this value (e.g., 100, 1000, 5000).
• Time Management: Observe how changes affect the bot's thinking time per move. A higher iteration count can lead to stronger decisions but consumes more of your game_clock. It is vital to find a balance where your bot makes good decisions without exhausting its total allotted time over the 1000 rounds of the tournament.

Game Time Management (game_clock)

• Tracking Time: Your bot's remaining time is available via game_state.game_clock within its methods. The initial total game time for the tournament is 10000.0 seconds.
• Critical Consideration: When increasing MONTE_CARLO_ITERS, each decision will take longer. Your bot must manage its time effectively to avoid exhausting its game_clock before all 1000 rounds are complete. Running out of time will result in a loss.
• Strategy: Consider implementing dynamic adjustments to MONTE_CARLO_ITERS based on remaining time or average time per round, or thoroughly test a fixed iteration count to ensure it completes within the time limit.

Feel free to explore these settings and other aspects of the bot's logic to understand their impact and potentially improve its performance for the tournament!