Poker Game
A poker game against an AI using rust and the Raspberry Pi Pico 2
Author: Ciortan Rares-Sebastian
GitHub Project Link: https://github.com/UPB-PMRust-Students/project-troly69
Description
Pocket Poker is a single-player Texas Hold'em-style poker game that runs entirely on a Raspberry Pi Pico 2W, using a 1.8" SPI TFT LCD for the displays and push buttons for input. The game allows the player to go head-to-head against a simple AI dealer, simulating betting rounds, card dealing, and hand evaluation. All logic and graphics are written in Rust, demonstrating how embedded systems can be used for interactive, game-like applications without requiring internet or external screens.
Motivation
I wanted to create something more interactive and fun than traditional embedded projects. Poker is a great balance of logic, randomness, and user interface work. This project is a chance to explore Rust for embedded systems, work with SPI-based LCDs, and implement game logic on limited hardware.
Architecture
Raspberry Pi Pico 2W: Acts as the main controller. Runs the game logic written in Rust. Communicates with the displays via SPI and handles button input through GPIO. -Connection: Communicates with the display via SPI and handles button input through GPIO.
Buttons: Used for player inputs (Check,Bet,Fold). -Connection: Each button is connected to a GPIO pin with pull-down resistors for clean signals. Displays: Used to show the table cards, your cards, balance of both players/game state. -Connection: Connected via SPI (MOSI and CLK), plus control pins (CS, DC, RST).
Log
Week 5-11 May
wip
Week 12-18 May
wip
Week 19-25 May
wip
Hardware
The hardware consists of a raspberry pi pico 2W microcontroller as the core unit, around 3 displays used for displaying the cards, balance etc. , buttons for checking, folding, betting.
Bill of materials
| Device | Usage | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi Pico 2W | The microcontroller | [40 RON] |
| Wireless Super Starter Kit with ESP8266 (Programmable with Arduino IDE) | Kit | [65 RON] |
| 3X Modul LCD SPI de 1.8"(128x160) | LCD Display | [29 RON] |
| [Breadboard] | Connectivity | in kit |
| [Buttons] X3 | Game Inputs | in kit |
| [Jumpers] | Connectivity | in kit |
| TOTAL: 200 RON |
Software
| Library / Tool | Description | Usage |
|---|---|---|
rp-pico | Board support crate for Raspberry Pi Pico (W) | Provides pin definitions, boot setup, and HAL integration |
rp2040-hal | Hardware Abstraction Layer for the RP2040 | Access to SPI, GPIO, timers, clocks, etc. |
embedded-hal | Embedded hardware abstraction traits | Interface between display/button drivers and hardware |
st7735-lcd | Rust driver for ST7735 LCD over SPI | Used to draw graphics and text to the LCD screen |
embedded-graphics | 2D graphics library for embedded displays | Draws text, shapes, cards, etc. on screen |
cortex-m | Low-level access to ARM Cortex-M processors | Required for system boot and interrupts |
cortex-m-rt | Runtime support for Cortex-M | Entry point and memory layout setup |
panic-halt | Halts the program on panic | Simple panic handler for embedded |
embedded-time | Time units and delays for embedded | Used for timing animations or button debounce |
probe-rs (optional) | Flash and debug Rust code to microcontrollers | Used to upload code directly (or you can use elf2uf2) |
Links
- [Texas Hold'em rules] (https://casinos.lotoquebec.com/dam/jcr:c49e36e5-1e3d-4123-ae10-e7250d837140/Regles_Ultimate-Texas-Holdem_e.pdf)
- [embedded-graphics] (https://github.com/embedded-graphics/examples)
- [Rust on Raspberry Pi Pico Guide] (https://github.com/knurling-rs/app-template)