📖Protocol overview

Three main actors interact on the protocol: the Players (anyone accessing the URL of a table), the Front-end Operators (think of them as online casinos), and the DAO itself (which is made up of anyone holding PKD tokens who wants to participate in governance).

The architecture of PokerDAO is such that there is no centralized front-end or back-end. What is meant by this is that PokerDAO does not run any of the poker tables itself, and the only software supporting it is the blockchain its protocol is built upon.

From staking to playing games, everything is carried out by a dApp through smart contracts. The smart contract code and the game are fully auditable since they exist on the blockchain as a permanent and transparent record. This means other users can observe and challenge attempts to interfere with the game.

Games are ‘provably fair’ thanks to the mental poker protocol. All actions are recorded on the blockchain and can be freely reviewed to validate any game's fairness. This is discussed in greater detail in section V. iv. ‘Provably fair.’

PokerDAO requires no downloaded app or hidden proprietary solutions to manage multiple table tokens. Located entirely within a web browser, PokerDAO allows Dealers to set a single cryptocurrency for the game, reducing needless complexity. If players want to bet on another token, they find another table or set up their own.

The PokerDAO governance model gives members a direct say in how the DAO will develop and improve and how the funds are spent. In stark contrast, many other online poker solutions boast teams of 20+ people, advisors, and firms of expensive lawyers, accountants, and specialists whose wages are all paid out of the table rake, meaning fewer benefits and rakeback rewards for investors and users.

We believe in a leaner and more technological solution where all the hard work is done by smart contracts and dApps without the need to develop and maintain expensive proprietary technologies. There is no central office to run and no threat of closure by regulatory authorities. That means nothing gets wasted on the costly teams of accountants and lawyers defending CEOs and Operators from the predations of outside bodies.

In short, PokerDAO isn’t a company; it’s a concept supported by a community controlled by the people who play on it. It will be a fair and open place to play. The PokerDAO liquidity's power will feed right back into the DAO itself.