Using indices is a (slight) improvement over pointers, since in Rust you will benefit from bounds checking (restricting you to the memory allocated for that tree).
(If you use u32 for the indices, you also save some space.)
(If you use u32 for the indices, you also save some space.)
I think I remember a discussion a while back lamenting that we just tacitly accepted wide pointers. If anyone has a link going over that, I'd be delighted to read it again. I'm 90% sure I did not understand it when I first saw it. :D
The idea is that every game of poker is a walk through a tree. Keeping track of probabilities and outcomes allows for exploration of the correct way to play. Using indices made building the tree easier (though I am still one bug away from it all working).