PokerFaces: An Information-Rich Online Poker Environment

Poker is inherently reliant on social and psychological information, yet most online poker environments do not support the interactions that add these dimensions to the game. We explore how to transmit non-explicit social information in an online gaming environment.

We have built PokerFaces, a platform for online poker which allows players to transmit and observe behavioral information. With this information, players have a broader range of ways to understand and deceive their opponents.


Scott A. Golder, Sociable Media Group, MIT Media Laboratory
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  • The PokerFaces screen shows up to ten players seated in a circle. Each player is represented by a gray oval, which displays their name, cards, bankroll and other pertinent information. On the right of the screen lies the "community" cards and the pot.

    These three screenshots of PokerFaces represent the same moment in time from three players' perspectives (people are always shown at the bottom of their own screen):
    • Scott's View: Scott is outlined in orange to show everyone that it's his turn.
    • Fernanda's View: Fernanda is looking at her cards, which are shown in her oval. Notice that in Scott and Chris' views, they see all the suits where Fernanda's cards would be. All the other players can see that she's looking at her cards (but they can't see what they are!).
    • Chris' View: Chris is looking at Scott. He is outlined in green. Notice that Scott and Fernanda see this green outline and see a message that Chris is looking at Scott. This is one of the ways behavior is transparent in PokerFaces.
    • Other Views: Though they are not shown here, all can see that nickw is not paying attention, as his gray oval has gone dark. And userthree has folded his cards; they no longer appear in his oval.

    Scott's View
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    Fernanda's View
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    Chris' View
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