Poker at Berkeley

Welcome to the Poker DeCal!

Fall 2025 Timeline:
Infosession: Wed 9/10 | Applications Due: Thu 9/11

Join the discord and Apply to the Decal!

And here is a link to the most up to date Syllabus!

If you want to learn more, you can find the course material below, or check out our resources page.

Course Description:

Introduces poker fundamentals with focus on strategy and decision-making in 6-max No-Limit Hold’em. Concepts tie into probability, statistics, game theory, and economics. The DeCal was originally founded in 2003 by UC Berkeley undergrad David Daneshgar, who went on to win a WSOP bracelet in 2008.

Syllabus

Week # / Date	Lecture Topics	Assignments (due at the beginning of next class)
Week 1 Wed 9/10 (Infosession), Thu 9/11 Apps Due	Course onboarding	N/A
Week 2 Wed 9/17 & Fri 9/19	Course Structure: Rules of Play, Expected Value, Variance (Wed) Intro to GTO Play & Hand Ranges (Fri)	Reading: Brokos, Play Optimal Poker Ch. 1–2 HW 1: Rules of Poker
Week 3 Wed 9/24 & Fri 9/26	Preflop Fundamentals: Open Raising, BB Defense, Constructing Ranges (Wed) Preflop II: Combinatorics; Relative vs. Absolute Strength (Fri)	Reading: Brokos Ch. 3–4 HW 2: Open-Raising
Week 4 Wed 10/1 & Fri 10/3	Advanced Preflop: Pot Odds, Equity Realization, Combo/Draw Math, Isolation (Wed) Advanced Preflop II: 3B/4B/Flat/Squeeze, Exploit Adjustments (Fri)	Reading: Brokos Ch. 5–6 HW 3: Advanced Preflop
Week 5 Wed 10/8 & Fri 10/10	Flop I: Made Hands vs. Draws, Board Texture, Calculating Equity (Wed) Flop II: C-Betting (IP vs OOP), Range Advantage, Sizing (Fri)	Reading: Brokos Ch. 7–8 HW 4: Pot Odds & Draw Calculations
Week 6 Wed 10/15 & Fri 10/17	Betting the Flop: C-Bets, Sizing, Pot Control, Raising Dynamics (Wed) Flop Defense: Non-Aggressor Lines; Hero vs Opener (Fri)	Reading: Brokos 2, Ch. 1–3 HW 5: C-Betting & Sizing
Week 7 Wed 10/22 & Fri 10/24	Turn I: Delayed C-Bets, Probes, Range Elasticity (Wed) Turn II: Thin vs Thick Value, Range Adjustments, Advanced Elasticity (Fri)	Reading: Brokos 2, Ch. 4–5 HW 6: The Turn
Week 8 Wed 10/29 & Fri 10/31	River I: MDF, Bluffing the River, Bet-Sizing Frameworks (Wed) River II: Multi-Street Bluffing, Bluffing Frequencies (Fri)	Reading: Brokos 2, Ch. 6–8 HW 7: The River
Week 9 Wed 11/5 & Fri 11/7	Hand Analysis I: Street-by-Street Tracking, Adjusting Ranges (Wed) Hand Analysis II: Deep Stacks; Revisiting Flop/Turn Defense; River Decisions (Fri)	Reading: Brokos 2, Ch. 9–11 HW 8: Hand Analysis
Week 10 Wed 11/12 & Fri 11/14	Rake Effects, Session Dynamics, Special Lines (Donk, Unusual) (Wed) Common Turn/River Lines: Double XR, x-x Flop, River Give-Ups (Fri)	Reading: Acevedo, Modern Poker Theory Ch. 14 HW 9: Common Lines
Week 11 Wed 11/19 & Fri 11/21	MTT Strategy (Wed & Fri)	Reading: Acevedo Ch. 6–9 HW 10: Exploits
Week 12 Thanksgiving Break 11/26–11/28	—	Reading: Elwood, Reading Poker Tells Ch. 1–2 Final Project: Checkpoint
Week 13 Wed 12/3 & Fri 12/5	Modern Applications: Solvers, Exploits, Live Reads/Tells, Node-Locking (Wed) Final Lecture: Wrap-Up, Reflection, Poker Beyond the Table (Fri)	Reading: Elwood, Ch. 3 Final Project Due: Hand History Analysis
RRR	—	—

This syllabus is subject to change as the semester progresses.

Course Information

Disclaimer

At no point during this course will you wager real money. If betting as a topic raises concerns for you, please let us know. We focus on the probability, statistics, and decision-making behind poker—not gambling.

Course Objectives

1) Understand the rules of poker
2) Learn foundational and advanced poker concepts, including GTO and exploitative play
3) Apply strategy to play a fundamentally sound game
4) Use structured logic for hand analysis and transfer that reasoning to other domains

Assignments and Grades

Attendance (25%)

Attendance is tracked using an Attendance Deck system. At the end of each class, students will scan a unique QR code assigned to a playing card in a deck to record their attendance.

After three unexcused absences, each additional absence will result in a 3% reduction to the final grade.

Playing Session Attendance (15%)

The second portion of each class involves guided play using play money on PokerNow, where students will play through our club account. Participation in these sessions is tracked directly through the platform, which records hand histories and player activity. These logs are used both to measure engagement and to help identify areas for improvement. Each week we will release leaderboard standings for PnL, and the top performer will be guaranteed a spot on Berkeley’s Intercollegiate Poker Association (IPA) team.

Attending and actively participating in at least 75% of these sessions earns full credit (15%). Each missed session beyond that threshold will result in a 0.5% deduction from the final grade.

Homework (25%)

Weekly assignments (generally < 1 hour). Graded on effort/completion; solutions discussed next class. Late up to one week for 50% credit.

Final Project (35%)

A hand history analysis of hands you played during class sessions. Graded on effort and completeness.

Final Grade

An overall percentage of 70% or higher is a Pass. If you need accommodations or have extenuating circumstances, please reach out to the course staff—we’ll be reasonable.

Lecture Activities

Each class is split into two parts: ~90 minutes of lecture on poker theory and ~30 minutes of guided play using play money.

A Note on Playing Sessions

Player results are tracked during the semester with a class leaderboard based on PnL win rates. The top performer earns a guaranteed spot on Berkeley’s Intercollegiate Poker Association (IPA) team for the following term.

Prerequisites

No official prerequisites. Prior exposure to probability/statistics (e.g., Stat 20/21/88 or UGBA 88) is helpful, but not required.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate knowledge of foundational and advanced poker concepts

• Apply strategy to play a fundamentally sound game

• Think critically about hands using structured logic and apply that reasoning broadly

• Develop an understanding of GTO play and when to adjust exploitatively

Resources

You can find more resources for learning about poker on the resources page of the Poker at Berkeley website.

Lecturers

Maysa Barandish

maysabarandish@berkeley.edu

Jones Dickerson

jones.dickerson@berkeley.edu