Deceptive Strength in PL Omaha There are never ending landmines in Omaha, and one of the biggest is the deceptive strength of hands. It's quite easy to be overwhelmed by the euphoric feelings you get when flopping a full house. Ok, well hopefully you don't feel euphoric. Effective Hand Strength (EHS) is a poker algorithm conceived by computer scientists Darse Billings, Denis Papp, Jonathan Schaeffer and Duane Szafron that has been published for the first time in a research paper (1998). 'Opponent Modeling in Poker' (PDF). AAAI-98 Proceedings. It has since then been considered as a reference in the realm of poker artificial intelligence and has been the basis.
Pot-Limit Omaha Starting Hands Chart by OmahaPlanet.com Starting hands in Pot-Limit Omaha are grouped by structure. With so many possible 4-card combinations it is actually the suits, closeness of the cards and pairs as well as the high card strength that makes the difference between a strong starting hand and a weak one. Texas Holdem, Omaha. Apart from this i am also. Working on Pot creation and Rake calculation. It would be helpful if anyone could contribute some logic.
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Hand Strength
forTexas Holdem, Omaha
working on Pot creation and Rake calculation
part. It would be helpful if anyone could contribute some logic or algorithms.- Optional 'thank-you' note:
Kapish M Joshi wrote:Can somebody suggest me a good algorithm to calculate Hand Strength
No, because it isn't really an algorithm: it's an ordered list; and 10 seconds on Google got me this. If I was doing this, I'd probably consider using an Enum to define it though.
Apart from this i am also working on Pot creation and Rake calculation part. It would be helpful if anyone could contribute some logic or algorithms.
Again, the 'Pot' isn't really an algorithm; it's a structure - basically a List with methods for providing totals - and I reckon it's probably closely related to the Players at the table.
As for Rake calculation, you'll have to explain the term before I can help. Not a gambler.
Winston
'Leadership is nature's way of removing morons from the productive flow' - Dogbert
Articles by Winston can be found here
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Appreciate your help. Thanks. Yeah, http://www.pokerlistings.com/poker-hand-ranking this is actually the pattern that should be considered while calculating strength of cards.
For E.g. Consider simplest logic, If I am playing Poker Hand and
I got 5 cards as - 2♥ 7♦ 4 ♣ A♠ A♥,
Next person got 5 cards as - 5♥ 2♦ Q ♣ K♠ J♥,
here every card has a weight say 2♥- 23, 7♦ - 67, 4 ♣ - 98, A♠ - 122, A♥ - 109 then we have to create total and then compare both hands. The one with more weight wins the hand.
This is not really as simple as even i thought because there are millions of combinations possible with a hand (5 cards taken from a deck).
I am trying to implement this using pattern recognition, but that too is very lengthy.
Pot - yeah Pot is winning total at the end of poker hand, its not algorithm but we need to write some logic to calculate pot because:
1. Poker game can have number of Hands
2. Each Hand will add to the value of pot
3. Bets of each player will contribute to pot
4. Pot distribution depends upon the percentage of amount contributed by particular player to total pot amount
5. There can be one or more than one pot winners
I am done with the logic creation part for this.
Rake - Its the amount deducted from player whenever he bets some amount on table. It is the pivot of gambling where revenue generation happens. Can't disclose about it in details.
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Winston Gutkowski wrote:
Kapish M Joshi wrote:Can somebody suggest me a good algorithm to calculate Hand Strength
No, because it isn't really an algorithm: it's an ordered list
I don't that's what he's going for...
In standard Texas Hold 'Em, everyone is dealt two cards face down. there is a round of betting. You have to decide if to bet, and how much to bet, based on the two card. So being dealt a suited A-K is clearly going to be better than a non-suited 10-9. And an unsuited 2-7 is the worst possible starting hand.
But even at that...your position at the table also has an impact. If you are in an early position, you need a stronger hand if you are going to bet, whereas if you are on the button, you can bet with weaker hand - depending on what everyone else does.
There are only two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors
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It can be done in any of several ways:
A fee to join the tournament
A percentage of each pot
A fee charged to the 'dealer' on each hand
Some online services charge a monthly fee (i.e. a subscription), but then play is 'free' beyond that
etc..
There are only two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors
- 1
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Kapish M Joshi wrote:here every card has a weight say 2♥- 23, 7♦ - 67, 4 ♣ - 98, A♠ - 122, A♥ - 109 then we have to create total and then compare both hands. The one with more weight wins the hand.
Doesn't sound right to me.
First: the problem is complicated by the fact that you're choosing the 'best 5 of 7' (actually: Player's 2, plus the best 3-of-5 from the flop, turn and river).
Second: Any 'weighting' will only apply to:
(a) The value of card involved in making up two similar winning hands.
Omaha Poker Hand Rankings
(b) The remaining cards of two identical winning hands.
I am trying to implement this using pattern recognition, but that too is very lengthy.
And possibly over-engineering. You only have 9 possible hands (10 if you count 'High Card', but personally I'd say that that's the absence of any other kind of hand) that fall into 3 categories:1. Flushes - 5 cards of the same suit.
2. Straights - 5 cards in value sequence.
3. Multiples - 2, 3, or 4 cards of the same value (including full houses).
so I'd make those your first checks.
I'd also do them in the order above because in 'vanilla' form, that's the order they're ranked. And unless you're playing from a multi-deck shoe (unusual, from what a gather), it also eliminates the most possibilities:
Are those same 5 cards (or a particular set, if there's more than one combination to choose from) ALSO a straight?
With a multi-deck shoe, it's a bit trickier, but still relatively straightforward. The main difference is that if you find a flush; the 7 cards could ALSO contain 4 of a kind or a full house.
HIH
Winston
'Leadership is nature's way of removing morons from the productive flow' - Dogbert
Articles by Winston can be found here
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fred rosenberger wrote:I don't that's what he's going for...
Oh, OK. I was thinking of weighting in terms of final evaluation. Seems to me that weighting (especially by card) probably isn't the way to go for evaluating a hand (or, more accurately, a 'situation'), since there are so many other variables - including the 'weight' that you might put on any previous bet placed, particularly if the game involves 'blinds'.
Winston
'Leadership is nature's way of removing morons from the productive flow' - Dogbert
Articles by Winston can be found here
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What Are The Best Hands In Omaha Poker
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Kapish M Joshi wrote:Thanks Winston...The knowledge you shared was really helpful.
No probs. Too much late night TV. I've never actually played
working on Pot creation and Rake calculation
part. It would be helpful if anyone could contribute some logic or algorithms.- Optional 'thank-you' note:
Kapish M Joshi wrote:Can somebody suggest me a good algorithm to calculate Hand Strength
No, because it isn't really an algorithm: it's an ordered list; and 10 seconds on Google got me this. If I was doing this, I'd probably consider using an Enum to define it though.
Apart from this i am also working on Pot creation and Rake calculation part. It would be helpful if anyone could contribute some logic or algorithms.
Again, the 'Pot' isn't really an algorithm; it's a structure - basically a List with methods for providing totals - and I reckon it's probably closely related to the Players at the table.
As for Rake calculation, you'll have to explain the term before I can help. Not a gambler.
Winston
'Leadership is nature's way of removing morons from the productive flow' - Dogbert
Articles by Winston can be found here
- Optional 'thank-you' note:
Appreciate your help. Thanks. Yeah, http://www.pokerlistings.com/poker-hand-ranking this is actually the pattern that should be considered while calculating strength of cards.
For E.g. Consider simplest logic, If I am playing Poker Hand and
I got 5 cards as - 2♥ 7♦ 4 ♣ A♠ A♥,
Next person got 5 cards as - 5♥ 2♦ Q ♣ K♠ J♥,
here every card has a weight say 2♥- 23, 7♦ - 67, 4 ♣ - 98, A♠ - 122, A♥ - 109 then we have to create total and then compare both hands. The one with more weight wins the hand.
This is not really as simple as even i thought because there are millions of combinations possible with a hand (5 cards taken from a deck).
I am trying to implement this using pattern recognition, but that too is very lengthy.
Pot - yeah Pot is winning total at the end of poker hand, its not algorithm but we need to write some logic to calculate pot because:
1. Poker game can have number of Hands
2. Each Hand will add to the value of pot
3. Bets of each player will contribute to pot
4. Pot distribution depends upon the percentage of amount contributed by particular player to total pot amount
5. There can be one or more than one pot winners
I am done with the logic creation part for this.
Rake - Its the amount deducted from player whenever he bets some amount on table. It is the pivot of gambling where revenue generation happens. Can't disclose about it in details.
- Optional 'thank-you' note:
Winston Gutkowski wrote:
Kapish M Joshi wrote:Can somebody suggest me a good algorithm to calculate Hand Strength
No, because it isn't really an algorithm: it's an ordered list
I don't that's what he's going for...
In standard Texas Hold 'Em, everyone is dealt two cards face down. there is a round of betting. You have to decide if to bet, and how much to bet, based on the two card. So being dealt a suited A-K is clearly going to be better than a non-suited 10-9. And an unsuited 2-7 is the worst possible starting hand.
But even at that...your position at the table also has an impact. If you are in an early position, you need a stronger hand if you are going to bet, whereas if you are on the button, you can bet with weaker hand - depending on what everyone else does.
There are only two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors
- Optional 'thank-you' note:
It can be done in any of several ways:
A fee to join the tournament
A percentage of each pot
A fee charged to the 'dealer' on each hand
Some online services charge a monthly fee (i.e. a subscription), but then play is 'free' beyond that
etc..
There are only two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors
- 1
- Optional 'thank-you' note:
Kapish M Joshi wrote:here every card has a weight say 2♥- 23, 7♦ - 67, 4 ♣ - 98, A♠ - 122, A♥ - 109 then we have to create total and then compare both hands. The one with more weight wins the hand.
Doesn't sound right to me.
First: the problem is complicated by the fact that you're choosing the 'best 5 of 7' (actually: Player's 2, plus the best 3-of-5 from the flop, turn and river).
Second: Any 'weighting' will only apply to:
(a) The value of card involved in making up two similar winning hands.
Omaha Poker Hand Rankings
(b) The remaining cards of two identical winning hands.
I am trying to implement this using pattern recognition, but that too is very lengthy.
And possibly over-engineering. You only have 9 possible hands (10 if you count 'High Card', but personally I'd say that that's the absence of any other kind of hand) that fall into 3 categories:1. Flushes - 5 cards of the same suit.
2. Straights - 5 cards in value sequence.
3. Multiples - 2, 3, or 4 cards of the same value (including full houses).
so I'd make those your first checks.
I'd also do them in the order above because in 'vanilla' form, that's the order they're ranked. And unless you're playing from a multi-deck shoe (unusual, from what a gather), it also eliminates the most possibilities:
Are those same 5 cards (or a particular set, if there's more than one combination to choose from) ALSO a straight?
With a multi-deck shoe, it's a bit trickier, but still relatively straightforward. The main difference is that if you find a flush; the 7 cards could ALSO contain 4 of a kind or a full house.
HIH
Winston
'Leadership is nature's way of removing morons from the productive flow' - Dogbert
Articles by Winston can be found here
- Optional 'thank-you' note:
fred rosenberger wrote:I don't that's what he's going for...
Oh, OK. I was thinking of weighting in terms of final evaluation. Seems to me that weighting (especially by card) probably isn't the way to go for evaluating a hand (or, more accurately, a 'situation'), since there are so many other variables - including the 'weight' that you might put on any previous bet placed, particularly if the game involves 'blinds'.
Winston
'Leadership is nature's way of removing morons from the productive flow' - Dogbert
Articles by Winston can be found here
- Optional 'thank-you' note:
What Are The Best Hands In Omaha Poker
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Kapish M Joshi wrote:Thanks Winston...The knowledge you shared was really helpful.
No probs. Too much late night TV. I've never actually played the game.
Winston
'Leadership is nature's way of removing morons from the productive flow' - Dogbert
Articles by Winston can be found here
- 1
- Optional 'thank-you' note:
If you're developing a poker playing artificial intelligence or if you're just curious you may want to look into starting hand strength from a strategic standpoint. As was pointed out, in texas holdem an ace and a king is a better starting hand than a two and a seven. One way to determine this is by running both hands through an equity simulator, which is a program that runs hundreds of thousands of different possible boards out that allows you to get a pretty accurate estimate as to which hand wins more often. Then you can run each hand against each other possible hand, determine an average equity and then rank the hands accordingly. There are two great free programs out there that do this already:
PokerStove
ProPokerTools
Its still however, ultimately a matter of strategy that determines what the best hands are and not programming since there are different betting streets and different player psychologies.
TwoPlusTwo is a great strategy site that also has a programming forum.
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ANyway have you looked at bill chen formula, that is very easy to convert into an algorithm. Il also try and find the site i used, it was a points scale basically, which would tell me whether i should raise or fold..etc..etc.. not sire if that what your lookign for.
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import itertools def best_hand(hand): 'From a 7-card hand, return the best 5 card hand.' return max(itertools.combinations(hand, 5), key=hand_rank) def hand_rank(hand): 'Return a value indicating the ranking of a hand.' ranks = card_ranks(hand) if straight(ranks) and flush(hand): return (8, max(ranks)) elif kind(4, ranks):#four of a kind return (7, kind(4, ranks), kind(1, ranks)) elif kind(3, ranks) and kind(2, ranks):#full house return (6, kind(3, ranks), kind(2, ranks)) elif flush(hand):#all cards of same suit return (5, ranks) elif straight(ranks):#cards in sequence return (4, max(ranks)) elif kind(3, ranks):#3 cards of same rank return (3, kind(3, ranks), ranks) elif two_pair(ranks):#2 pairs of same rank return (2, two_pair(ranks), ranks) elif kind(2, ranks):#1 pair of same rank return (1, kind(2, ranks), ranks) else:#Nothing (High Card) return (0, ranks) def card_ranks(hand): 'Return a list of the ranks, sorted with higher first.' ranks = ['--23456789TJQKA'.index(r) for r, s in hand] ranks.sort(reverse=True) #to handle the (A-5) straight case return [5, 4, 3, 2, 1] if (ranks [14, 5, 4, 3, 2]) else ranks def flush(hand): 'Return True if all the cards have the same suit.' suits = [s for r, s in hand] return len(set(suits)) 1 def straight(ranks): ''Return True if the ordered ranks form a 5-card straight.'' return (max(ranks) - min(ranks) 4) and len(set(ranks)) 5 def kind(n, ranks): ''Return the first rank that this hand has exactly n-of-a-kind of. Return None if there is no n-of-a-kind in the hand.'' for r in ranks: if ranks.count(r) n: return r return None def two_pair(ranks): ''If there are two pair here, return the two ranks of the two pairs, else None.'' pair = kind(2, ranks) lowpair = kind(2, list(reversed(ranks))) if pair and lowpair != pair: return (pair, lowpair) else: return None def test_best_hand(): # S = Spade # D = Diamond # C = Club # H = Heart assert (sorted(best_hand('6C 7C 8C 9C TC 5C JS'.split())) ['6C', '7C', '8C', '9C', 'TC']) assert (sorted(best_hand('TD TC TH 7C 7D 8C 8S'.split())) ['8C', '8S', 'TC', 'TD', 'TH']) assert (sorted(best_hand('JD TC TH 7C 7D 7S 7H'.split())) ['7C', '7D', '7H', '7S', 'JD']) return 'test_best_hand passes' print test_best_hand()
Most Commonly Asked Poker Questions
Not sure what beats a full house or what a straight can beat? Here are the answers to the most commonly-asked poker questions this side of the Strip.
Does a flush beat a full house?
No. A full house beats a flush in the standard poker hand rankings. The odds against making a full house in a game of Texas Hold'em are about 36-to-1, while the odds against making a flush are 32-to-1. The full house is a more rare hand and beats a flush.
Does a flush beat a straight?
Yes. Using the standard poker hand rankings, a flush beats a straight, regardless of the strength of the straight. The odds against making a straight in Texas Hold'em are about 21-to-1, making it a more common hand than a flush (32-to-1 odds against).
Does a straight beat a full house?
No. The odds against making a full house in Texas Hold'em are about 36-to-1, while the odds against making a straight are about 21-to-1. Both are strong five-card hands, but a full house occurs less often than a straight. A full house beats a straight in the poker hand rankings.
Does three of a kind beat two pair?
Yes. Both three of a kind and two pair can make a lot of money in poker, but three of a kind is the best hand when it goes head to head with two pair. The odds against making three of a kind in Texas Hold'em is about 20-to-1, while the odds against making two pair is about 3-to-1.
Does three of a kind beat a straight?
No. The odds of making both of these hands are very close in a game of Texas Hold'em. The odds against making a straight are 20.6-to-1, while the odds against making three of a kind are 19.7-to-1. The straight comes about slightly less often, making it the winner against three of a kind in the poker hand rankings.
Does a flush beat three of a kind?
Omaha Hands Poker
Yes. The battle of strong hands between a flush and three of a kind sees the flush as the stronger hand. The odds against making a flush in Texas Hold'em are about 32-to-1, with odds against making three of a kind at around 20-to-1.
Does a straight beat two pair?
Yes. The poker hand rankings dictate that a straight is a stronger hand than two pair. The straight occurs with about 21-to-1 odds against in Texas Hold'em, while the odds against making two pair stand at about 3-to-1.
Does four of a kind beat a full house?
Yes. Both four of a kind and a full house are among the strongest poker hands, but four of a kind is a much rarer holding. Texas Hold'em odds against making four of a kind are 594-to-1, while you have about 36-to-1 odds against making a full house.
Hand Strength Poker Omaha
Does three of a kind beat a flush?
No. When the flush and three of a kind go head to head, the flush comes out as the best according to the poker hand rankings. The odds against making three of a kind sit around 20-to-1, with the odds against hitting a flush at 32-to-1.
Does a full house beat a straight in poker?
Omaha Poker Hand Strength Exercises
Yes. The full house comes in less often than a straight. In Texas Hold'em, the odds against drawing a full house are around 36-to-1, while the odds against making a straight are around 21-to-1.
Does a straight flush beat four of a kind?
Omaha Poker Hand Strength Drills
Yes. Four of a kind is an exceedingly rare hand in poker, but the straight flush is an even more elusive five-card hand. The odds against making a straight flush in Texas Hold'em is about 3,590-to-1, much rarer than four of a kind (594-to-1 odds against)
