Overview

Connection Information

The websocket server listens at wss://praetorpoker.com/gameserver

HMAC Authentication

The game server uses HMACs (hash-based message authentication code) to authenticate messages sent by players.
A brief explanation: HMACs are created by concatenating a key string and a message string and then running the concatenated string through a hash function. The game server uses the SHA-256 hash function.
For all messages sent by a bot to the server, The HMAC key string will be the <secret string> chosen by the user during the initial registration process. The HMAC message string depends on what kind of message the bot is sending to the game server:

message_type	HMAC message component
check_in	<match_id> (as a string)
input_action	<action>

For more information on HMAC see the HMAC Wikipedia page.
The Python starter bot has a simple HMAC implementation method that can be copied.

Card Messages

Messages that contain card values (hole cards, flop, turn, river) are designated as "card string" type and use the following scheme:
Each card is represented by a 2-character string. The first character is the card's rank and the secnond character is the card's suit. The rank character is either a number or a capital letter. The suit character is a lowercase letter. If multiple cards are included in a single card string, the cards are separated by an underscore character.

Card string examples:

The Ace of Hearts is represented as "Ah"
Hole cards containing the Three of Spades and the Ten of Clubs is represented as "3s_Tc"

Messages sent from player to game server

Check-in

This is the first message sent by a bot once it connects to the websocket server.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "check_in" for check-in messages
player_id	int
match_id	int
signature	string	HMAC signature created according to the HMAC signature protocol

Input action

This message is sent each time a bot intends to make an action. In case of an invalid input action, the game engine will attempt to reassign the action according to the game rules. If the action cannot be reassigned it will be designated as a fold, so it is recommended to implement some action validation in the bot.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "input_action" for input_action messages
player_id	int
match_id	int
action	string	Action that the player is taking. See Action table for details
signature	string	HMAC signature created according to the HMAC signature protocol

Messages sent from game server to player

Check-in confirmation

Sent privately to a participant to indicate successful check-in.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "checkin_confirmation" for checkin confirmation messages
player_id	int
match_id	int

Check-in Error

Sent privately to a participant to indicate an unsuccessful check-in attempt. Most commonly occurs if the match_id is incorrect in the bot's initial checkin message or if the bot continues to send check-in messages after it has already successfully checked in.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "checkin_error" for checkin error messages
player_id	int
match_id	int
error_type	string	Cause of the unsuccessful checkin attempt

Initial match state

Broadcast to all participants at the beginning of a match after everyone has checked in.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "initial_game_state" for initial game state messages
starting_stack	int	Amount of chips each player starts the match with
blind_amounts
---- small	int	Small blind size
---- big	int	Big blind size
player_names
---- player_1	string	Player 1 public username
---- player_2	string	Player 2 public username

New hand

Sent privately to each participant at the beginning of each hand. The message is identical across participants except for the hole_cards field.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "new_hand" for new hand mesages
blinds
---- big	string	Player posting big blind
---- small	string	Player posting small blind
current_stage	string (constant)	Current hand stage. Value is always "preflop" in the new_hand message
hole_cards	string	String representation of hole cards

Next to act

Sent privately to the participant who is next to act.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "next_to_act" for next-to-act messages
player_id	int
match_id	int
to_call	int	Amount required to call existing bet
current_round_bet	int	Size of player's existing bet for the current round
available_actions	string array	List of valid actions for this turn

Effective action

Broadcast to all participants after a player makes an action.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "effective_action" for effective action messages
player_id	int
match_id	int
action	string	The action taken by the player. This will be the same as the input action except in cases of an invalid input action
pot_size	int	Pot size after accounting for this action

New stage

Broadcast to all participants when a hand advances to a new stage.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "stage" for new stage messages
current_stage	string	Current hand stage. Possible values are {"preflop", "flop", "turn", "river"}
board_update	card string	New cards added to the board

End hand

Broadcast to all players at the end of a hand. Note that some of the contents of this message may change depending on the hand outcome.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "end_hand" for end hand messages
winner	string	Public username of player who won the hand. In case of a split pot, the Type will instead be an array of strings containing the public usernames of all winners.
stack_size
---- <player_1 username>	int	Player 1's stack size at the end of the hand
---- <player_2 username>	int	Player 2's stack size at the end of the hand
hole_cards		This is an optional field. hole_cards will be included if and only if the hand reached showdown
---- <player_1 username>	string	Player 1's hole cards
---- <player_2 username>	string	Player 2's hole cards

End match

Broadcast to all players at the end of a match.

Field	Type	Description
message_type	string (constant)	Always equals "end_match" for end match messages
winner	string	username of player who won the match