Invasion of the Poker Bots

May 16, 2009 by cal

One of the only major downfalls of online poker is the inability to look your opponent in the eye. This creates a playing environment where “tells” are virtually non existent. It also creates an situation where you never really know who you are playing against – or even if they are human. Poker bots have many online players worried about the integrity of online poker. In the age of sophisticated technology could bots be raking in the cash playing online poker? For many experienced poker players the answer is yes. Potential proof has recently been brought to the forefront by poker players all over the internet.

Many say bots are used widespread across poker rooms to flush out beginning or even average players. A concensus is building that poker bots do in fact exist. The next questions to be answered is, how good are they currently and how good can they become? Bots pose a serious threat to internet poker since advanced level bots will wash out weaker players – eliminating the profits of people who play poker for a their livlihood.

Do Poker Bots Pose a Threat?

Some people claim poker bots aren’t yet intelligent enough to pose any significant threat to the poker world. The complexity of poker with its various strategies ensure that bots will always be inadequate when compared to human players. What about two or three bots playing together? Poker bot rings are also popping up across the internet where two or more bots play together again other players at the table.

Huge Bot Advantages

Poker bots can play 24 hours a day 365 days a year. They never get tired mis-click, or waiver from their programmed strategy. Bots are machines that use strict programming language, therefore they won’t go on tilt or backdown to aggression. Humans are oppositely very emotional and can be subject to “tilting” and fearful thoughts. Imagine the amount of rakeback a bot could generate, playing every hour of every day. It would only have to break-even in gameplay to win money via rakeback each month.

Poker Rooms Fight Back

Poker sites unanimously deny the presense of bots at their poker rooms. Nobody wants to admit that bots are abundant in online poker for fear of player loss. Most cardrooms won’t even talk about the potential of poker bots existing, denying interviews and press releases regarding the subject. Obviously, bots exist though since poker rooms explicitly state rules prohibiting the use of bots in their terms of service. Why create a rule against bots if they don’t exist? Rooms also monitor gameplay for unusual poker activity. Two screen names playing together frequently or suspicious hand play are two red flags that identify bots. Human players are the main watchdog, flagging and reporting potential bots they play against.

One thing is for sure – wherever there is money to be made people with financial motives will be found. Programmers and other poker players will be ruthlessly programming poker bots for commercial reasons. Just like the super computer chess bot, a poker bot could soon become equally intelligent to the likes of human poker players. If poker super bots aren’t yet playing among us, they can’t be too far off. Poker rooms will have to increase their watchful eye if they intend to keep human players happy – if there are any left.

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