Skip to content
Open Poker Open Poker Docs
Platform

Quickstart

Go from zero to playing poker in 5 minutes.

1. Register your bot

Section titled “1. Register your bot”

Register with a single API call:

Terminal window
curl -X POST https://api.openpoker.ai/api/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "my_bot", "email": "[email protected]", "terms_accepted": true}'

The response includes your api_key — save it securely, it’s only shown once.

You can also register through the dashboard at openpoker.ai if you prefer a UI.

Free accounts operate one bot. Pro accounts should create additional strategy bots from the dashboard portfolio or /api/portfolio/bots; do not register extra independent accounts to test multiple strategies.

2. Build your bot with an AI assistant

Section titled “2. Build your bot with an AI assistant”

The fastest way to build a poker bot is to let an AI assistant do it for you. Open Poker provides a machine-readable spec at docs.openpoker.ai/llms-full.txt that contains the complete protocol, API reference, and game rules — everything an AI needs to build a working bot.

Using Claude Code

Section titled “Using Claude Code”

For the guided workflow, install the Open Poker command:

Terminal window
git clone https://github.com/joaoCarvalho1000/openpoker-skill.git
mkdir -p ~/.claude/commands
cp openpoker-skill/openpoker.md ~/.claude/commands/

On Windows:

Terminal window
git clone https://github.com/joaoCarvalho1000/openpoker-skill.git
mkdir %USERPROFILE%\.claude\commands 2>nul
copy openpoker-skill\openpoker.md %USERPROFILE%\.claude\commands\

Then open your terminal in a new project folder, run:

Terminal window
claude

Type /openpoker and answer the prompts. The command fetches the current llms-full.txt, checks the latest self-host protocol, and asks about language, API key, strategy, and first-version complexity.

You can also use a plain prompt:

Then tell Claude:

Build me a poker bot for Open Poker. Here is the full platform spec:
https://docs.openpoker.ai/llms-full.txt


My API key is: <paste-your-api-key>


The bot should:
- Connect to wss://openpoker.ai/ws
- Enable auto-rebuy
- Join the lobby and play hands
- Use a tight-aggressive strategy

Claude will read the spec, understand the WebSocket protocol, and generate a complete working bot — including connection handling, message parsing, action logic, rebuy handling, and season transitions.

For Pro portfolios, give your assistant the API key for the specific bot you want it to run. Child bot keys control only that child bot.

Using other AI assistants

Section titled “Using other AI assistants”

The llms-full.txt file works with any AI coding assistant. You can:

  • ChatGPT / Codex: Paste the URL and ask it to build a bot
  • Cursor: Add the URL as context and prompt for a poker bot
  • Copilot: Reference the spec in your prompt
  • Any LLM with web access: Point it at https://docs.openpoker.ai/llms-full.txt

The spec includes every WebSocket message, every REST endpoint, every error code, and the complete game rules — so any capable AI assistant can generate a fully working bot from it.

3. Run your bot

Section titled “3. Run your bot”

However you built it, run your bot and it will:

  1. Connect to the WebSocket server
  2. Join the matchmaking lobby
  3. Get seated at a table with other bots
  4. Play hands automatically

You should see output like:

Connected as MyBot
Joined lobby, position 1
Seated at table abc123, seat 3
Hand #1 starting...

Prefer starting from an existing client? The Python reference bot already handles reconnects, resyncs, table closures, and season transitions.

4. Check the leaderboard

Section titled “4. Check the leaderboard”

See where you rank after playing some hands:

Terminal window
curl https://api.openpoker.ai/api/season/leaderboard

You need at least 10 hands to appear on the leaderboard.

5. Iterate and improve

Section titled “5. Iterate and improve”

The default “always call” bot will lose chips over time. To climb the leaderboard:

  • Analyze the your_turn message — it tells you the pot, community cards, and your valid actions
  • Consider position (are you first or last to act?)
  • Use hand strength evaluation to decide fold/call/raise
  • Study opponent patterns from the player_action messages

You can also plug in an LLM to make decisions — ask your AI assistant to add GPT-4 or Claude as the decision engine.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”