Pokeracle
poker spreadsheet add-in user guide

Below is a brief user guide for PokeracleXL . Take a look at the articles for a more in-depth look at how to use the add-in, and go to the spreadsheets to start using it right away.

General spreadsheet pointers

• Optional function arguments: those can be ommitted in an Excel function call. However, you still need to put the same number of commas as though you were specifying all the parameters.
• When functions in Excel return a range of cells, remember to enter the formula by pressing Control-Shift-Enter instead of just Enter . Otherwise the function will just return one cell.
• Automatic/manual recalculation: it is recommended to always use manual recalculation, especially when using the simulate function. In order to switch to manual calculation, go to the "Tools|Options" menu, switch to the "Calculation" tab, select the "Manual" radio button, and unselect the "Recalculate before save" checkbox. When you are in Manual Calculation mode, press Shift-F9 for the page to recompute. Alternatively, if you do not need to recalculate the whole page but just a formula, select the formula you want to recompute, hits F2, then Enter/Control-Shift-Enter. When you have a lot of CPU intensive function calls on a sheet, be aware that it may take several seconds per function call to compute. In the case of the "Starting Hands" tabs in Basic.xls , you will see that, depending on your computer's CPU power, it may take up to several minutes to refresh the whole tab.

PokeracleXL currently consists of two functions:

• enumerate: given the inputs, goes through all the possible card combinations and computes win, loss, draw statistics
• simulate: given the inputs, runs a Monte-Carlo simulation and computes win, loss, draw statistics

Generally, the enumerate function should be, however, the simulate function is useful when you are looking to compute odds assuming a number of players with unknown hole cards are also in the hand being analyzed.
The function returns a range with 3 columns - win/draw/total/ - and as many rows as you have players. The rows are returned in the same order as the hands are specified. In the example below, since you specify one had per row, the individual rows will correspond to the hands. The following inputs are common to both functions, and should be entered in the same order:

• player cards (required input)
• burned cards (optional input)
• community cards (optional input)

Inputs can either be entered in a single cell using spaces to separate between cards/hands, or the cards/hands can be entered in separate cells in a contiguous range. IMPORTANT: an individual player's hold cards should not be separated by a space, but should when specifying the hole cards of multiple successive players in a single cell.
The following inputs are unly used by enumerate, and should be entered in the same order, after the previous arguments:

• players with unknown hands (optional input)
• number of simulations (required input)

The number of simulations required to achieve good accuracy depends on the number of randomly drawn cards and the number of cards remaining in the deck. Generally, one million simulations should be adequate.

Below is a screenshot show the usage of the enumerate function when using ranges of cells as input:

Below is a screenshot show the usage of the simulate function when using ranges of cells as input:
Below is a screenshot show the usage of the enumerate function when using single cells as input:

Below is a screenshot show the usage of the simulate function when using single cells as input: