Are poker ‘bots’ raking online pots?

There is growing concern that Internet poker sites are using sophisticated poker "bots" (programs that can play card games) against unsuspecting players. This was reported by Mike Brunker of MSNBC. com.

Duane Hoffman/MSNBC September 20, 2004 19:59 UTC / Source: MSNBC. com Mike Brunker

When you sit down at a poker table in a friendly room with friends, you probably know the other players and know their weaknesses in card games. For example, Big Al has a habit of playing chips when he feels like upping the ante. But when you sit down at a table in an ever-expanding number of online card rooms, you never know who is sitting to your right, or if that player is human or not.

In online poker chat rooms and newsgroups, there is growing concern that sophisticated card-playing robots (called "bots" in online jargon) are being used on commercial gambling sites to fool novices, people with poor strategies, and perhaps even above-average gamblers.

"We're almost certain that bots are playing on the Internet," says Gautam Rao, a 43-year-old Canadian poker pro who regularly plays three high-stakes Internet games simultaneously. "... But we don't know how powerful they are."

The prevalence of bots capable of beating average players would pose a major challenge to the popular online poker industry, which has grown exponentially in recent years and is expected to surpass the $1 billion mark this year. Without a way to verify players' identities and humanity, the business would take a big hit.

Many are unaware of the threat. But skeptics argue that because of the complexity of the game and the changing strategies, it will take years at best to create programs that can use screen-scanning technology to "read" opponents' cards and react in real time. As evidence that modern bots are no match for humans, they point to a handful of commercial products that claim to give online players a big advantage, but which they unanimously describe as woefully inadequate.

Rao and his colleagues have a ready answer: Bots that can play against the best people already exist.

The Alberta Research Institute's computer poker research group has developed an artificially designed machine, "VEX BOT," which has been artificially designed to play poker at the master level. VEX BOT is used by researchers to test the potential of artificial intelligence and is used as a basis for paid poker training programs, Poki's Poker Academy, but for software developers who have more motivation. Some are afraid of becoming a prototype.

DARCE BILLINGS, the main artist of VEX bot, says that the possibility that other software developers secretly move robots on paid poker websites is more than half of paid bots. However, he is skeptical that he is more likely to be ready for VEX bot (named from the ability to upset human opponents), which is more than 10 years of research by the Alberta Research Institute's team. Synchronize.

"The game strategy is complicated, and it's not easy to create a program to eat with experienced human players," he says.

Poker is completely different in other online card games, such as Blackjack, if bots are already used to develop excellent strategies. The biggest obstacle is that it is necessary for the program to be able to use various strategies at various timings, such as the amount of information that players are difficult to access and the setting of traps for bluffs and rivals. Bings, a student and a poker expert, explains.

A program that can be considered, "" Chess does not neglect it, but it is just a matter of arithmetic. "Poker has to think about this game and create a program that can be inferred.

In the case of Bex Bot, a solution was found by adding artificial intelligence layers to the ability to calculate odds. < SPAN> Alberta Research Institute's computer poker research group has developed an artificially designed machine, commonly known as VEX BOT, which can play poker at the master level. VEX BOT is used by researchers to test the potential of artificial intelligence and is used as a basis for paid poker training programs, Poki's Poker Academy, but for software developers who have more motivation. Some are afraid of becoming a prototype.

DARCE BILLINGS, the main artist of VEX bot, says that the possibility that other software developers secretly move robots on paid poker websites is more than half of paid bots. However, he is skeptical that he is more likely to be ready for VEX bot (named from the ability to upset human opponents), which is more than 10 years of research by the Alberta Research Institute's team. Synchronize.

"The game strategy is complicated, and it's not easy to create a program to eat with experienced human players," he says.

Poker is completely different in other online card games, such as Blackjack, if bots are already used to develop excellent strategies. The biggest obstacle is that it is necessary for the program to be able to use various strategies at various timings, such as the amount of information that players are difficult to access and the setting of traps for bluffs and rivals. Bings, a student and a poker expert, explains.

A program that can be considered, "" Chess does not neglect it, but it is just a matter of arithmetic. "Poker has to think about this game and create a program that can be inferred.

In the case of Bex Bot, a solution was found by adding artificial intelligence layers to the ability to calculate odds. The Alberta Research Institute's computer poker research group has developed an artificially designed machine, "VEX BOT," which has been artificially designed to play poker at the master level. VEX BOT is used by researchers to test the potential of artificial intelligence and is used as a basis for paid poker training programs, Poki's Poker Academy, but for software developers who have more motivation. Some are afraid of becoming a prototype.

DARCE BILLINGS, the main artist of VEX bot, says that the possibility that other software developers secretly move robots on paid poker websites is more than half of paid bots. However, he is skeptical that he is more likely to be ready for VEX bot (named from the ability to upset human opponents), which is more than 10 years of research by the Alberta Research Institute's team. Synchronize.

"The game strategy is complicated, and it's not easy to create a program to eat with experienced human players," he says.

Poker is completely different in other online card games, such as Blackjack, if bots are already used to develop excellent strategies. The biggest obstacle is that it is necessary for the program to be able to use various strategies at various timings, such as the amount of information that players are difficult to access and the setting of traps for bluffs and rivals. Bings, a student and a poker expert, explains.

A program that can be considered, "" Chess does not neglect it, but it is just a matter of arithmetic. "Poker has to think about this game and create a program that can be inferred.

In the case of Bex Bot, a solution was found by adding artificial intelligence layers to the ability to calculate odds.

"He will show you something that human players have never showed," said Bings, which can simulate his opponent's actions. "... one of the biggest advantage of the program is not to feel fear or embarrassment. People can be intimidated. In front of a very aggressive player, it retreats. But the bot is a bot. If you don't hesitate, you'll have a strong anger or emotion. It is a slope monster.

Lao, one of Vex Botter, acknowledges its ability.

"I was a stuck partner," he said, about his first encounter with the bot before adding a new feature. "It is evident that that (improved) bot will become an absolute world winner if given enough."

There is no doubt that VEX-Boot is the leader of this class, but the bot is a delicate problem for poker site operators.

"I can't imagine something good from this interview." Said Bob Wolf of Tiltware LLC, a developer of Los Angeles Software, who is licensed for poker games from Fulltildpoker. com. I'm writing.

Other poker site operators and poker software creators who answered MSNBC. com said, "I'm somehow managed to play poker." COM stated that it is managed to win the bot by tracking suspicious game model sites and setting software to confront commercial bots.

According to Vikrant Bhargava, a general manager of Partypoker. com, the largest poker site in the Internet, said, "There are several commercial programs that people are trying to use. I think that the latest update can no longer be used.

BHARGAVA, who plays more than 50, 000 players at 5, 000 tables at 5, 000 tables, believes that competition with existing bots is more likely than dangerous.

"If I'm a player, I would like to play against the bot. I will take the bot money."

Nancy Chan-Palmater, a spokeswoman for Canadian software maker CryptoLogic, which oversees online card rooms operated by eight poker licenses in the Caribbean peninsula of Curacao, said some players have been banned from participating sites because of unreliable game patterns that could well indicate a robot intrusion.

"Sometimes we don't know if it's a direct (bot) or not... We've of course blocked players who showed anomalous behavior," she said.

But Ray Bornert II, who makes WinHoldEm, a so-called "programmable poker bot," said he devised a two-computer strategy to thwart attempts to block his company's users.

Bornert criticized poker websites for highlighting his company's products, including a "team edition" that lets players see each other's cards without following the rules that prohibit dealing, yet without being able to check whether other players are still playing by the rules.