Poker bots sharking the one table tourneys
On one of the noted poker discussion boards, 2+2, players have been discussing the discovery of poker software ‘bots’ that have been playing the $22 one table high speed tournaments.
What’s scary is that these robots were only caught because of an obvious pattern in their betting which was so unusual it drew attention. Once suspicion had started, people started to notice other patterns as well, such as the robots all sitting in the same seat, to ensure that two would never have to play each other.
Had the programmer not made the error, it is unlikely anyone would have even noticed.
I’ve been playing a lot more live poker lately, and winning, and this may be just what I need to tip me over the edge.
Link: The 2 2 Forums: Five bots at the $22s. Watch them now and see..
More reason to play the 33s. 🙂
And not play Hold’em, at that. I’d be pretty impressed by a good stud8 bot considering the Hold’em ones aren’t very good/too predictable.
I don’t understand why anyone finds this surprising:
* there have been bots in online games where *no* money is at stake
* it’s a foregone conclusion that readily-available software can beat 99.9% of humans in chess; why not poker?
* if people aren’t using bots, they’re using calculators to supplement their play
Oddly enough, it seems that the technology (automation, ease of use, etc.) that threatened physical casinos will now be their savior; you know the dude sitting next to you in AC or Vegas is an actual person.
What would be really interesting is if the online gaming companies came up with a more meaningful authentication system. They sure have incentives to do so.
I remember the WinHoldEm bot coming out a while ago (over a year), but no one was really using it and it was regarded as crap. Obviously it’s picked up.
Party is actually one of the sites that scans(/ed) for bots, but the botmakers are always a step ahead with workarounds.
Of course, there’s a lot more at stake. You get caught with a bot, your funds get seized, period. That alone would seem to discourage a lot of cheaters, if effectively enforced (and apparently it’s not).
Many other sites don’t even bother to scan for bots, which is the absolute least they should be doing.