Exploring the Search Space of Texas Hold’em

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Stebbing, Kevin^{1; 2}

Affiliations: London / UK

Note: [1] Betfair Research, Betfair, Hammersmith Embankment, Winslow Rd, London W6 9HP, UK. Email: Kevin.Stebbing@Betfair.com

Note: [2] Thanks to Alan Patterson and John Keane whose help made this paper possible.

Abstract: The domain space of Texas Hold’Em Poker is intractably large, however, there are many isomorphic situations. This paper considers the unique situations which can occur with respect to the playing cards dealt. The resulting reduction in the search space is calculated to be over 97%. An exhaustive enumeration algorithm is presented which achieves a 38 times speed increase. A sample of final hand distributions are presented and an abstraction scheme is discussed.

DOI: 10.3233/ICG-2009-32202

Journal: ICGA Journal, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 67-76, 2009