Poker calculator design
This tool is not complete but would like to get feedback
Background:
A poker calculator is a common tool. Want to know your odds versus known hand or unknown hand. These are not trivial calculations. There is not an equation. You literally have to run the possible deals and tally up the results. If there are too many possible deals to run in a reasonable period of time then perform a Monte Carlo simulation where X number of random deals are run. Some tools have you select. This will calculate the number of deals required and just revert to Monte Carlo if it is more than 10 million and report that next to "deals" at the top. At the table in a hand you are not allowed to use a calculator.
Target user:
Mid to high end poker player. Low end players don't do odds / equity calculations. Target users will know all the terms. Hero villain are common terms in referring to players. Users will know what all the hands are. This is not a training tool.
Target platform:
PC (Windows), tablet, phone. Windows Store App (UWP).
Design considerations:
Mainly size. Lot of statistics to report. On full size screen typically the hole deck is presented and they click. On a phone you don't have room for a hole deck. Left mouse is up a card, right mouse it down, and the mouse wheel does up and down. The wheel is easiest. On a tablet / phone there is no right button but I think I can do wheel with left and right swipes. I don't like that seated / vacant buttons are that far from the cards buttons but moving those button to the top is a messy look. Click the title villain it will click the seated / vacant button. The Random columns are not essential - it will sense phone and drop those columns. The symbols for cards are not very readable - a club looks a lot like a spade and on some devices render poorly - ♠♣♥♦.
In know - too much precision. Just need to report 4.7%. In development I need it for checking the calculations.
Extensions:
- Rather than just put your opponent on a specific hand range them. For that will need to pop up another Windows and it will be reported where the 4 card buttons are. In poker there are standard term for ranges. TT+ is any pair 10 or higher. A5s+ is Ace with a same suit card 5 or higher. The point is there is enough room there to report a report a range but not enough room to select a range. There is a standard UI for selected a range that is just a 13 x 13 grid.
- Maybe add a third villain. A table can go up to 10 but this is a tool for specific match ups. I bet got raised, re-raised, and then it folded back to me and I am facing a pot sized bet. Range your two opponents (villains) and this tool will tell you if your are getting the correct odds to call a pot sized bet.
- Add flop and turn. The calculation actually gets easier as the number of possible remaing deals goes way down. And the decision process is different. This tool targets the pre flop action.