Technically Speaking

I’m a pretty big poker player but I just couldn’t see myself playing online because there isn’t really any real way you can tell if it is an honest game or not. Playing poker online also takes away the human element of the game. Player “tells” are almost non-existent and most will argue that the “tells” are what makes poker … poker. Conversations in chat rooms and news groups are increasing about the possibility of bots playing poker. If this is the case, you could be throwing your money away even faster, in games that could be, in essence, rigged.

Concern is growing in online chat rooms and news groups devoted to poker that sophisticated card-playing robots – known as “bots” in the nomenclature of the Web – are being used on commercial gambling sites to fleece newcomers, the strategy-impaired and maybe even above-average players.

“It is pretty much a certainty that bots are playing online,” said Gautam Rao, a 43-year-old Canadian poker pro who regularly plays three high-stakes Internet games simultaneously. “… What we don’t know is how strong they are.”

Widespread use of bots capable of beating your average player would pose a significant problem for the red-hot online poker sector, which has grown exponentially in recent years and is expected to top the $1 billion revenue mark this year. Without some way of verifying the identity – and humanity – of players, the business could be significantly undercut.

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Experts believe that the technology to pull off such a feat is in a prepubescent stage. The bot would have to be able to read opponents’ cards using screen scanning techniques and respond in real time. The technology is supposedly years away. But a bot capable of playing against the best humans already exists.

The University of Alberta’s Computer Poker Research Group has developed an artificially intelligent automaton known as “Vex Bot,” capable of playing poker at the master level, though as yet it can only apply its gambling genius to two-player games. Vex Bot has been used by researchers to test the frontiers of artificial intelligence – and as the basis for a commercial poker tutorial program, Poki’s Poker Academy — but some fear it may become a blueprint for programmers with more sinister motives.

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The evidence makes it clear that there are bot out there but that they most likely aren’t that sophisticated yet. Either way, I’d be careful playing online if I were you.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 21st, 2004 at 1:59 pm and is filed under Digital Underground. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.