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Community Quickstart: Playing via GUI

This guide explains how to set up the Pangea Poker backend nodes and connect them to the React frontend GUI so you can play a hand of poker directly through your browser.

If you are looking to run automated headless tests without a GUI, refer to the CLI Auto Quickstart instead.

Before you start

You will need:

Verus daemon running with -chain=chips and verus on your PATH.
bet built — clone this repo with submodules and compile; see Build bet from source. From the repo root, make -j$(nproc) produces poker/bin/bet.
pangea-poker cloned — the React GUI frontend; see the pangea-poker README § Development (npm install, then npm start in Phase 3 below).
Registered Verus identities and config under bet/poker/config/ — worked examples in Phase 1.

Phase 1: Prerequisites & Configuration

Configure the shared bet/poker/config/ directory with your registered Verus identities before starting nodes. The snippets below show the layout the shipped examples use; replace every FQN with the IDs you registered on CHIPS.

Example layout: cashier, dealer, table, two players

In this walkthrough:

The cashier identity holds player payins and pays out the pot.
Dealer d1 hosts table t1.
Players p1 and p2 join through the GUI (WebSocket ports 9001 and 9002).

Role	Example FQN (shipped CHIPS layout)
Cashier	`cashier.sg777z.chips.vrsc@`
Dealer	`d1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@`
Table	`t1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@`
Player 1	`p1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@`
Player 2	`p2.sg777z.chips.vrsc@`

Example config files

Only the fields you need to verify for a first GUI run are shown. Optional knobs live in the reference docs linked at the end of this section.

blockchain.ini — how bet invokes the daemon and names the currency:

[blockchain]
blockchain_cli = "verus -chain=chips"
currency       = chips
new_block      = "Y"

keys.ini — aggregator identities (discovery lists on chain):

[identities]
cashier_id = cashier.sg777z.chips.vrsc@
dealers_id = dealers.sg777z.chips.vrsc@

.rpccredentials — copy poker/.rpccredentials.example to poker/.rpccredentials and set user/password to match your daemon config (same values as in your chain’s *.conf):

[rpc]
url = http://127.0.0.1:22778
user = your_rpc_user
password = your_rpc_password
use_rest_api = 1

With use_rest_api = 1, bet talks to the daemon over HTTP JSON-RPC. Set use_rest_api = 0 to use the verus CLI as a subprocess instead (see Architecture § RPC credentials).

dealer.ini — table parameters and which players may join:

[table]
max_players = 2
big_blind   = 0.001
min_stake   = 20
max_stake   = 100
table_id    = t1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@

[verus]
dealer_id  = d1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@
cashier_id = cashier.sg777z.chips.vrsc@

[players]
ids = p1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@, p2.sg777z.chips.vrsc@

cashier.ini — allowed players (must match dealer):

[cashier]
gui_ws_port = 9002

[players]
ids = p1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@, p2.sg777z.chips.vrsc@

p1.ini / p2.ini — one file per player process. When both players run on the same host, give each a different ws_port (below); on separate hosts each can use any open port (often 9001 on each machine):

# p1.ini
[verus]
dealer_id   = d1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@
table_id    = t1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@
wallet_addr = *
player_id   = p1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@
ws_port     = 9001

# p2.ini
[verus]
dealer_id   = d1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@
table_id    = t1.sg777z.chips.vrsc@
wallet_addr = *
player_id   = p2.sg777z.chips.vrsc@
ws_port     = 9002

What must match

table_id, dealer_id, and cashier_id — same FQNs wherever they appear in dealer.ini and both player configs.
[players] ids — identical comma-separated list in dealer.ini and cashier.ini.
player_id — each pN.ini must use a different player FQN from that list.
ws_port — must be an open port on the machine where that player backend runs. Unique per player only when two player processes share one host (e.g. 9001 / 9002 below); if each player runs on its own machine, both can use 9001. In Phase 4, the GUI host and port must match the player process you started (ws://<host>:<port>).
RPC credentials — .rpccredentials user/password must match the running daemon when using REST.

Phase 2: Starting the Backend Nodes

You will need to open a separate terminal (or tmux pane) for each node.

Terminal 1: Dealer

Start the dealer node with the --reset flag to ensure a clean state for a new hand:

cd bet/poker
./bin/bet start dealer --config config/dealer.ini --cli --reset

Wait until you see: Dealer ready (RESET). Waiting for players to join...

Terminal 2: Cashier

cd bet/poker
./bin/bet start cashier --config config/cashier.ini --cli

Wait until you see: Cashier idle — polling player IDs for join requests

Terminal 3: Player 1 (GUI mode)

Start the player node using the --gui flag. This spins up the WebSocket server on the port specified in p1.ini (e.g., 9001).

cd bet/poker
./bin/bet start player --config config/p1.ini --gui

Wait until you see: Player node started. WebSocket server listening on port 9001

(Optional) Terminal 4: Player 2 (GUI mode)

cd bet/poker
./bin/bet start player --config config/p2.ini --gui

At this stage, the backend is fully initialized and waiting for the GUI to connect. No payin transactions have been broadcasted yet.

Phase 3: Starting the Frontend (GUI)

Open a new terminal for the React frontend:

cd pangea-poker
npm install  # If running for the first time
npm start

This will automatically open your web browser to http://localhost:1234.

Phase 4: Connecting the GUI to the Backend

In the browser, navigate to the Player (or Private Tables) tab in the startup modal.
Enter the IP address of your backend node (use localhost if running locally).
Enter the WebSocket port for Player 1 (e.g., 9001).
Click the Set Nodes button.
The GUI will connect to your player backend and fetch your wallet balance.

Phase 5: Joining the Table and Playing

Step 1: Find a Table

A large Find Table button will appear in the center of the screen.
Click Find Table. The backend will query the blockchain for available dealers and tables.

Step 2: Take a Seat

Once a table is found, the table layout will appear.
Occupied seats will be visually marked.
Click on any Available Seat to sit down.
This action approves the join request. The backend will now execute your payin transaction to the cashier.

Step 3: Wait for the Game to Start

You will see a notification: “Joining table… Please wait 10-30 seconds”.
The game must wait for the blockchain to mine your payin transaction (and the transactions of other players).
If you are playing with two players, open a new browser tab, repeat Phase 4 using Player 2’s port (e.g., 9002), and repeat Steps 1-2 to seat Player 2.

Step 4: Play the Hand

Once all required players have successfully joined and their payins are mined, the dealer will shuffle the deck and deal the hole cards.

Your cards will appear on screen.
When it is your turn, the betting controls (Check, Call, Raise, Fold, All-in) will become active based on the current game state.

Enjoy your decentralized poker game!

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