PokerKit: A Comprehensive Python Library for Fine-Grained Multi-Variant Poker Game Simulations

TL;DR

PokerKit is an open-source Python library that enables detailed simulation and evaluation of numerous poker variants, supporting AI development and online gaming with high reliability and customizable features.

Contribution

It introduces a flexible, multi-variant poker simulation library with a unified hand evaluation system, expanding capabilities beyond existing tools.

Findings

Supports extensive poker variants and custom game definitions

Achieves 99% code coverage with robust testing

Facilitates AI research and online poker applications

Abstract

PokerKit is an open-source Python library designed to overcome the restrictions of existing poker game simulation and hand evaluation tools, which typically support only a handful of poker variants and lack flexibility in game state control. In contrast, PokerKit significantly expands this scope by supporting an extensive array of poker variants and it provides a flexible architecture for users to define their custom games. This paper details the design and implementation of PokerKit, including its intuitive programmatic API, multi-variant game support, and a unified hand evaluation suite across different hand types. The flexibility of PokerKit allows for applications in diverse areas, such as poker AI development, tool creation, and online poker casino implementation. PokerKit's reliability has been established through static type checking, extensive doctests, and unit tests, achieving 99% code coverage. The introduction of PokerKit represents a significant contribution to the field of computer poker, fostering future research and advanced AI development for a wide variety of poker games. The source code is available at https://github.com/uoftcprg/pokerkit