Why Poker?

As a game of incomplete information and uncertainty, poker is a prime application of the game theory concepts and decision making skills essential to trading. While traders make risk decisions based on the limited information they get from the markets, poker players make decisions based on hidden information as well, taking into account factors such as expected value and probability distributions.

Furthermore, poker is a widely known game that has become a cultural phenomenon in recent years and it is extremely popular on college campuses. This keeps the game accessible to bright minds with the requisite skills to succeed as traders.

What form of poker will it be?

We are keeping the game and tournament structure secret. You will hear all about it during the challenge unveiling on January 7, 2013.

Wait, I thought this was a programming competition? What language is it in?

It is! To build a working pokerbot only requires both critical thinking ability and an eagerness to learn. However, an understanding of machine learning, algorithms and data mining can go a long way towards creating an advanced pokerbot. The competition will be in C, Python, and Java, but we are currently exploring allowing more languages. Stay tuned for updates.

Machine Learning? Algorithms? Gulp. So exactly how much coding experience is necessary?

We are welcoming students with all levels of programming experience. Nevertheless, some previous coding experience would certainly be helpful. Although not necessary, we recommend you have at least one team member with some programming experience.

Teams you say? How many members can make up a team?

Teams may be composed of 1 - 4 players.

And how about course credit?

We will have various reference players for you to challenge during the competition. If you defeat all of our reference players, you will receive credit. If you are unable to do so, you must write a strategy report. More on this later, just beat the reference players!

Is it too late to join?

No! Be sure to register for 6.S912 as a listener or for 6 units of P/F credit. Email us to be added to the Stellar site.

How do I register?

Since IAP pre-registration has ended, you will need to submit an add/drop form.

Sounds challenging! How much time will it take to make a pokerbot?

Creating a working pokerbot takes no time at all. However, beating our reference players will not be a simple task. You should view this as taking a class. To be competitive in the tournaments will require even more time. Nobody said it would be easy, but we will try our best to help along the way.