A self-initiated project to re-design the user interface of online poker to reduce cognitive load and make it easier to play. I consider this my best work.
Context
Poker, particularly a variant called “Texas Hold’em” is a popular game of skill and chance that is played around the world. Pokers use their money or chips to express confidence that they have the best poker “hand” – a set of 5 cards formed from a choice of 5 upward facing “community cards” and 2 private “hole cards”. A player wins the “pot” of chips by staying in the round and having the best hand at the end, or by scaring the other players out of the hand with heavy betting.
While many players still play in casinos it has become a popular game to play online. Poker tournaments such as the famous “World Series of Poker” are televised.
Problem
I used to love watching poker on the TV but often found the ‘action’ difficult to follow. Even with the commentators and on-screen graphics I still found it was difficult to:
- Get a sense of who had most chips
- Appreciate how big a pot was in relation to the players’ chip stacks
- It was sometimes difficult to follow who had the best poker hand as the cards are dealt
Online poker uses “skeuomorphic” design so that the play closely resembles a table in a casino that many players are familiar with. This means that it inherits the problems above plus:
- The design is not familiar to people who have never played live poker so has no transition benefit
- The design restricts the number of potential players by putting off people who have negative associations with gambling and casinos
Solution
I designed a revolutionary new user interface for online poker which:
- Makes it easy to read chip stack and pot values at a glance
- Makes it easy to read the “shape” of a poker hand as it develops
- Presents the information in a simple and appealing “flat” design
- Is appealing to a wider demographic
The visual representation works as online poker (advertising supported free league or real money), poker terminal / automated table, home games using electronic devices, tournaments, and televised poker.
Implementation
I literally learned to code in order to build a working prototype of this idea. I found an open source javascript poker game and, over the course of a year, grafted a new front-end onto it.
I have to keep control of who sees this idea. If you are interested in taking a look and having a play please contact me for the password.
Outcomes
I’ve put a lot of energy into this idea. I’ve had meetings with tv production execs, software development houses, and people in the poker industry. Despite some saying things like “I’ll never be able to imagine playing poker the traditional way again”, and “This is the most innovative thing I’ve seen at the (ICE 2025) show”, I have yet to find a suitable partner for this project.