Introduction to probability: Bison hold'em poker game

Abstract

Probability literacy is the foundation of business analytics. Although traditional textbook probability exercises may be convenient, students might have insufficient life experience to contextualize them. Aiming to stimulate students' interest in learning probability, this article presents an interactive pedagogical game based on Texas hold'em poker. In order to compete with some robots in the game, the students must earn in-game currency by answering a set of poker-related probability questions covering general conditional probability and Bayes' rule. Using this game and framework, we achieve the goal of introducing the basics of probability to students in a fun and immersive way. Student feedback has shown that this interactive pedagogical activity effectively and efficiently advances business analytics education. The activity is designed for undergraduate students in business analytics courses. The game is developed using Visual Basic for Applications for Microsoft Excel and can be easily implemented in class. Regardless of student's prior exposure to Texas hold'em, they can easily play along and enjoy the game while learning.