Bryan Taylor, 36, began playing poker professionally in 2008. Taylor became extremely suspicious of his most frequent opponents when they began to play so similar, that it made him believe that he was competing against computers (or robots). To his surprise, this held to be true. These "bots" were programmed to play poker, and essentially beat the odds. A frequently visited site of Mr. Taylor's, PokerStars, had determined that some of their opponents were computers, playing as if they were people, and they were shut down. Any other incidents in the past that involved this issue were usually not that big of a problem because until recently, the poker bots were not that good. Now, they are programmed to win so much, that they could win up to tens of thousands of dollars.
Companies, such as PokerStars are cracking down on catching these bots. When a player is identified as being a bot, PokerStars removes them from the games and confiscates all of their winnings that they may have accumulated. This issue is becoming more and more common because the availability of buying your own personal poker bot is becoming more easy. Full Tilt, another large poker site, has banned more than 400 customers and has seized more than $50,000 of the customers' money because of this.
Unlike Watson, the I.B.M. computer that won on "Jeopardy!", poker bots are not stellar players. But they are getting better due to the advances in the way that computer scientists program software to play games. It is said that more than 90% of these bots aren't so good, and they are losing more money than they are gaining. These could be a couple reasons for why gambling sites aren't really cracking down as much as others in catching these bots.
Most of the poker bots made today and that are sold on the Internet were created by programmers as a hobby. Buyers can than program the bots that they purchase to make different strategic decisions in various circumstances. This allows them to observe which are successful, and which are not. They can then apply these successful strategies in the real world. While some buyers use it to this advantage, others think they can just use the bots they buy off the Internet to make money.
Is this just another step to advance into a world where humans encounter more robots each day? It becomes more frustrating, when you are playing online poker or things of that nature, and you are up against a bot, yet you don't know it. As the bots become better, your odds lessen and you're out of more money. Sure, it's your decision, but most people don't think of these things when playing on the Internet. It's going to become more and more popular, and everyone will eventually purchase a bot just to be able to beat the odds. It's going to be a battle against the bots, eventually, and not so much about humans intellectual and strategic decisions. It's going to be more about power.
Article Name: Poker Bots Invade Online Gambling
by: Gabriel Dance
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/science/14poker.html?ref=technology
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