NAME
Games::Cards::Poker - Pure Perl Poker functions
VERSION
This documentation refers to version 1.2.46QD4ax of Games::Cards::Poker, which was released on Sat Jun 26 13:04:36:59 2004.
SYNOPSIS
use Games::Cards::Poker;
# Deal Four (4) players hands && score them...
my $players = 4; # number of players to get hands dealt
my $hand_size = 5; # number of cards to deal to each player
my @hands = ();# player hand data
my @deck = Shuffle(Deck());
while($players--) {
push(@{$hands[$players]}, pop(@deck)) foreach(1..$hand_size);
printf("Player$players score:%4d hand:@{$hands[$players]}\n",
ScoreHand(@{$hands[$players]}));
}DESCRIPTION
Poker provides a few functions for creating decks of cards && manipulating them for simple Poker games or simulations.
2DO
- - mk CalcOdds() work more accurately && for more opponents && factor in stages beyond hole
- - maybe remove all %pdat ways data (since all can be determined easily)
- - better error checking
- - What else does Poker need?
USAGE
Deck()
Returns a new array of scalars with the abbreviated Poker names of cards (eg. 'As' for 'Ace of Spades', 'Td' for 'Ten of Diamonds', '2c' for 'Two of Clubs', etc.).
Use CardName() to expand abbreviated cards into their full names.
Shuffle(@cards)
Shuffles the passed in @cards array in one quick pass. Shuffle() returns a shuffled copy of the @cards array.
Shuffle() can also take an arrayref parameter instead of an explicit @cards array in which case, the passed in arrayref will be shuffled in place so the return value does not need to be reassigned.
SortCards(@cards)
Sorts the passed in @cards array. SortCards() returns a sorted copy of the @cards array.
SortCards() can also take an arrayref parameter instead of an explicit @cards array in which case, the passed in arrayref will be sorted in place so the return value does not need to be reassigned.
SortCards() works consistently on the return values of ShortHand() as well as abbreviated cards (eg. 'AAA', 'AAK'..'AKQs', 'AKQ'..'222').
ShortHand(@hand)
Returns a scalar string containing the abbreviated Poker description of @hand (eg. 'AKQJTs' for 'Royal Flush', 'QQ993' for 'Two Pair', etc.).
ShortHand() calls SortCards() on its parameter before doing the abbreviation to make sure that the return value is consistent.
ShortHand() can be called on fewer cards than a full @hand of 5 to obtain other useful abbreviations (eg. ShortHand(@hole) will return the abbreviated form of a player's two hole [pocket] cards or ShortHand(@flop) will abbreviate the three community cards which flop onto the board in Hold'Em).
ScoreHand(@hand)
This is a new version of SlowScoreHand(). Both do the opposite of HandScore() by accepting a ShortHand() string && returning the proper associated Poker score.
This version simply indexes the string as a key into a hash of corresponding score values so it is much faster && should be used for any normal hand scoring needs.
If you would prefer to use the slower computational version of scoring hands, you can call the UseSlow() function to make ScoreHand() actually call SlowScoreHand() instead of just indexing the answer score in a hash.
HandScore($score)
This function is the opposite of ScoreHand(). It takes an integer $score parameter && returns the corresponding ShortHand string.
HandScore() uses a fully enumerated table to just index the associated ShortHand so it should be quite fast. The table was generated by running SlowScoreHand() on every possible hand && sorting the resultant ShortHands by score.
ADVANCED USAGE
SlowScoreHand(@hand)
Returns an integer score (where lower is better) for the passed in Poker @hand. This means 0 (zero) is returned for a Royal Flush && the worst possible score is 7461 awarded to 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 unsuited.
If you want higher scores to mean higher hands, just subtract the return value from 7461.
All suits are considered to have equal value in this scoring function. It should be easy to use SlowScoreHand() as a first pass where ties can be resolved by another suit-comparison function if you want such behavior.
UseSlow([$slow])
UseSlow() is a function provided in case you'd prefer to actually employ the SlowScoreHand() function whenever you call ScoreHand().
UseSlow() takes an optional $slow value. If you don't provide $slow, UseSlow() will toggle the slow state.
UseSlow() always returns the current state of whether SlowScoreHand() is being used whenever ScoreHand() is called.
BestIndices(@cards)
BestIndices() takes 5 or more cards (normally 7) which can be split among separate arrays (like BestIndices(@hole, @board) for Hold'Em) && returns an array of the indices of the 5 cards (hand) which yield the best score.
BestHand(@best, @cards)
BestHand() takes the return value of BestIndices() as the first parameter (which is an array of the best indices) && then the same other parameters (@cards) or (@hole, @board) to give you a copy of just the best cards. The return value of this function can be passed to ScoreHand() to get the score of the best hand.
BestHand() can optionally take just the @cards like BestIndices() && it will automagically call BestIndices() first to obtain @best. It will then return copies of those indexed cards from the @cards.
HandName($score)
HandName() takes a HandScore() parameter (eg. 0, 2000, 7000) && returns the name of the corresponding hand scoring category it falls under (eg. 'Royal Flush', 'Three-of-a-Kind', 'High Card').
HandName() can optionally accept an arrayref to a hand, the @hand itself, or a ShortHand instead of the $score parameter to find out the HandName of any of those.
NameCard($name)
NameCard() does the opposite of CardName() by taking an expanded full $name (eg. 'Queen of Diamonds', 'Jack of Hearts', 'Ten of Clubs') && returning the abbreviated card (eg. 'Qd', 'Jh', 'Tc').
CardName($card)
CardName() takes an abbreviated $card (eg. 'As', 'Kh', '2c') && returns the expanded full name of the card ('Ace of Spades', 'King of Hearts', 'Two of Clubs').
B64Card($b64c)
B64Card() does the opposite of CardB64() by taking a base-64 card ($b64c) representation (eg. 'K', 'N', 'T') && returning the abbreviated card (eg. 'Qd', 'Jh', 'Tc').
CardB64($card)
CardB64() takes an abbreviated $card (eg. 'As', 'Kh', '2c') && returns the single character (only letters) base-64 representation of the card ('A', 'F', 'z');
Please see the "NOTES" section below for the complete B64 <-> Card conversion table.
B64Hand($b64h)
B64Hand() does the opposite of HandB64() by taking a string containing several concatenated base-64 card abbreviations && converting it into a list of the cards.
HandB64(@hand)
HandB64() takes a list of cards which make up a @hand (or a reference to such an array) && returns a base-64 abbreviation string.
DecCard($decc)
DecCard() does the opposite of CardDec() by taking a decimal card ($decc) representation (eg. '0', '3', '51') && returning the abbreviated card (eg. 'As', 'Ac', '2c').
CardDec($card)
CardDec() takes an abbreviated $card (eg. 'As', 'Kh', '2c') && returns the single character (only letters) base-64 representation of the card ('0', '15', '51');
DecHand($dech)
DecHand() does the opposite of HandDec() by taking a string containing several concatenated decimal card abbreviations && converting it into a list of the cards.
HandDec(@hand)
HandDec() takes a list of cards which make up a @hand (or a reference to such an array) && returns an array of decimal abbreviations.
RemoveCard($card, @cards)
Returns a copy of @cards with abbreviated $card (eg. 'Td') removed.
RemoveCard() can also take an arrayref parameter instead of an explicit @cards array in which case, the passed in arrayref will be updated in place so the return value does not need to be reassigned.
WorstHand(@cards)
Returns the ShortHand description of the worst hand possible using @cards. This means that if there are fewer than 5 @cards, it returns simply the worst hand containing all of them however if there are 5 or more cards, it returns the same result as the abbreviated best hand (ie. ShortHand(BestHand(BestIndices(@cards), @cards)) )since that is also the worst hand you are guaranteed to at least have out of your @cards.
WorstHand() can also accept an arrayref or ShortHand parameter in place of a list of cards.
WorstHand() is useful for calculating odds when you have a chance to improve your hand by future cards but you want to know the minimum hand or score you are guaranteed of.
CountWays($bad_score_limit [,$good_score_limit])
CountWays() helps calculate odds by summing the ways to get a range of abbreviated card sets (normally just ShortHands) between the $bad_score_limit (which starts from 7461, the bad 'High Card' end of hands) to the optional $good_score_limit (which starts from 0, the good 'Royal Flush' end of hands).
CalcOdds($hole_index)
CalcOdds() takes the index of a hole abbreviation (eg. %zloh = Zloh; CalcOdds($zloh{'AA'})) from a Hold'Em game && returns the percent that will win against all possibilities.
CalcOdds() is only an approximation for heads up situations for now but it will hopefully be improved later as I study the statistics further.
PDat() && Other Poker Data Accessors
PDat() is my global Poker Data structure which contains all of the data used to populate each of the smaller structures below. These can all be accessed with the :data export tag with:
use Games::Cards::Poker qw(:data);RPrV() - Simple accessor to my Rank Progression Value hash where ranks are keys && their indices in RPrg() are values.
RPrg() - Simple accessor to my Rank Progression array: 'A'..'2'
SPrg() - Simple accessor to my Suit Progression array: 's'..'c'
RNam() - Simple accessor to my Rank Name array: 'Ace'..'Two'
SPrg() - Simple accessor to my Suit Name array: 'Spades'..'Clubs'
Namz() - Simple accessor to my Hand Name hash where keys are score thresholds && values are full names of hand categories.
Zman() - The reverse of Namz() where values && keys switch.
Hndz() - Simple accessor to my ShortHands array in score order.
Zdnh() - The reverse of Hndz() as a hash where ShortHands key their score value.
Holz() - Simple accessor to my ShortHands array of possible holes.
Zloh() - The reverse of Holz() as a hash where ShortHands key their index value.
Flpz() - Simple accessor to my ShortHands array of possible flops.
Zplf() - The reverse of Flpz() as a hash where ShortHands key their index value.
EXPORT TAGS
Games::Cards::Poker normally only exports a few key Poker functions (Deck Shuffle SortCards ShortHand ScoreHand HandScore) into your local namespace when you:
use Games::Cards::Poker;You can specify additional export tags such as:
use Games::Cards::Poker qw(:all);for when you want to utilize more than just the above default functions.
:all
Exports everything!
Shuffle Deck SortCards ShortHand HandName SlowScoreHand UseSlow
BestIndices CardB64 B64Hand CardDec DecHand ScoreHand CardName
BestHand B64Card HandB64 DecCard HandDec HandScore NameCard
WorstHand RemoveCard CountWays CalcOdds
RPrg RNam Namz Hndz Holz Flpz RPrV SPrg SNam Zman Zdnh Zloh Zplf PDat:best
This tag just exports functions for finding the best hand out of some list of more than 5 cards.
BestIndices BestHand:slow
This tag just exports my old slower hand scoring function (which uses combinatorics && sequence summation to score any Poker hand) && another function to specify if you prefer to use the slower scoring all the time.
SlowScoreHand UseSlow:name
This tag exports functions which convert between verbose names for cards && hands.
CardName NameCard HandName:b64
This tag exports functions which convert between base-64 representations of cards && hands.
CardB64 B64Card HandB64 B64Hand:dec
This tag exports functions which convert between decimal representations of cards && hands.
CardDec DecCard HandDec DecHand:odds
This tag exports functions which should be useful in calculating odds.
WorstHand RemoveCard CountWays CalcOdds:data
This tag exports all internal data sets in case direct access to them is beneficial.
RPrg RNam Namz Hndz Holz Flpz RPrV SPrg SNam Zman Zdnh Zloh Zplf PDatWHY?
Games::Poker::* wouldn't compile correctly for me since it had some weird broken .xs dependencies I couldn't figure out so I thought it shouldn't take too long to write my own Poker module purely in Perl. =) It was certainly a fun problem... much trickier than I first imagined but I think I have solved the problem elegantly once && for all.
NOTES
Suits are: s,h,d,c (Spade,Heart,Diamond,Club) like bridge (alphabetical). Although they are sorted && appear in this order, suits are ignored for scoring by default (but can be optionally reordered && scored later)
B64 notes: Cards map perfectly into A..Z,a..z (indx += 10) for one letter rep
Suits:
B64 Cards: A.As E.Ks I.Qs M.Js Q.Ts U.9s Y.8s c.7s g.6s k.5s o.4s s.3s w.2s 0
B.Ah F.Kh J.Qh N.Jh R.Th V.9h Z.8h d.7h h.6h l.5h p.4h t.3h x.2h 1
C.Ad G.Kd K.Qd O.Jd S.Td W.9d a.8d e.7d i.6d m.5d q.4d u.3d y.2d 2
D.Ac H.Kc L.Qc P.Jc T.Tc X.9c b.8c f.7c j.6c n.5c r.4c v.3c z.2c 3
Ranks: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C
B64 Cards: A.As B.Ah C.Ad D.Ac Ranks: 0
E.Ks F.Kh G.Kd H.Kc 1
I.Qs J.Qh K.Qd L.Qc 2
M.Js N.Jh O.Jd P.Jc 3
Q.Ts R.Th S.Td T.Tc 4
U.9s V.9h W.9d X.9c 5
Y.8s Z.8h a.8d b.8c 6
c.7s d.7h e.7d f.7c 7
g.6s h.6h i.6d j.6c 8
k.5s l.5h m.5d n.5c 9
o.4s p.4h q.4d r.4c A
s.3s t.3h u.3d v.3c B
w.2s x.2h y.2d z.2c C
0.Jokr -1
Suits: 0 1 2 3Error checking is minimal.
I hope you find Games::Cards::Poker useful. Please feel free to e-mail me any suggestions or coding tips or notes of appreciation ("app-ree-see-ay-shun"). Thank you. TTFN.
CHANGES
Revision history for Perl extension Games::Cards::Poker:
- - 1.2.46QD4ax Sat Jun 26 13:04:36:59 2004
-
* added Dec functions
- - 1.2.4610lBw Tue Jun 1 00:47:11:58 2004
-
* removed benchmrk.pl since it's not worth including in pkg
* fixed some out-of-date POD && rearranged USAGE
- - 1.2.45UGmiC Sun May 30 16:48:44:12 2004
-
* upped minor version number since CPAN doesn't recognize my PTVR
* split test.pl into t/*.t && added those + bin/pokr to MANIFEST
* added separate EXPORT_TAGS && added ADVANCED USAGE POD
* added RemoveCard(), WorstHand(), CountWays(), && CalcOdds()
* added %pdat as common structure for all my Poker Data && Counts
* added B64Hand && HandB64 functions
* added simple accessors to internal data
* added possible hole && flop data
* made CardName take either of just rank or suit
* made new b64 card conversion functions: CardB64() && B64Card()
* changed b64 maps to use letters
- - 1.0.44P0KER Sun Apr 25 00:20:14:27 2004
-
* made CardName() to return 'Ace of Spades' or 'Two of Clubs' for 'As'or'A' or '2c'or'z' && NameCard() to do inverse
* made HandName() to return 'Royal Flush' or 'High Card' for ScoreHand() or ShortHand() or @hand or \@hand && NameHand()
* rewrote SortCards() to accept any length ShortHand() params
* s/valu/rank/g s/scor/score/g s/bord/board/g
- - 1.0.44LCEw8 Wed Apr 21 12:14:58:08 2004
-
* s/HoldEm//g; on advice from Joe since Best*() are useful for more than just Hold'Em (like 7-card stud)
* fixed minor typos in POD
- - 1.0.44KFNKP Tue Apr 20 15:23:20:25 2004
-
* wrote UseSlow() so that benchmrk.pl would still work without Best() && in case anyone would rather have ScoreHand() call SlowScoreHand() every time instead.
* since my old Best() was actually slower than BestHoldEmIndices() =O I removed Best().
* since old Scor() was so much faster than old ScoreHand(), I renamed them to ScoreHand() && SlowScoreHand() respectively since computational version is unnecessary now.
* wrote benchmrk.pl to test BestHoldEmIndices() + ScoreHand() against Best() + Scor(). Best()+Scor() only took 60% as long to run.
* added SortCards() call on ShortHand() param just in case
- - 1.0.44ILBKV Sun Apr 18 21:11:20:31 2004
-
* wrote Scor() with gen'd enumerated hash of ShortHand => Score
* wrote HandScore() to just lookup index of a ShortHand from a score
* squashed 4 scoring bugs in one pair section
* used Algorithm::ChooseSubsets for new BestHoldEmIndices (on Jan's recommendation)
* renamed enumerated BestHoldEmIndices() as Best()
* gave ScoreHand() optional arrayref param like others
* gave ScoreHand() optional ShortHand() string param
* updated 2do && tidied up documentation a bit
- - 1.0.44H2DUS Sat Apr 17 02:13:30:28 2004
-
* added BestHoldEmIndices() && BestHoldEmHand() for Tim && Jan
* commented unnecessary Games::Cards inheritance since I haven't written any compatability / object interface yet
- - 1.0.44F2Q8F Thu Apr 15 02:26:08:15 2004
-
* original version
INSTALL
Please run:
`perl -MCPAN -e "install Games::Cards::Poker"`or uncompress the package and run the standard:
`perl Makefile.PL; make; make test; make install`LICENSE
Most source code should be Free! Code I have lawful authority over is and shall be! Copyright: (c) 2004, Pip Stuart. All rights reserved. Copyleft : I license this software under the GNU General Public License (version 2). Please consult the Free Software Foundation (http://www.fsf.org) for important information about your freedom.
AUTHOR
Pip Stuart <Pip@CPAN.Org>