Beware of Software Bots Playing Online Poker
FuckOnlinePoker describes the use of bots in online poker how concerned you should be.
Unfortunately, with online poker being based on a computer it was only a matter of time before programmers devised Poker bots. A poker bot or robot is a program that plays your hands for you without any need of interacting with the game. These exist and are used by players, but most experts agree that cheaters using bots lose much more money then they win. That is because a computer program can play great in games with perfect information, such as chess, where during each decision all the information is available.
However, poker is a game of imperfect information, with players concealing their hole cards and using varying betting patterns, it is currently impossible for a bot to know what is the correct play everytime and the amount of big mistakes it makes more then make up for the few times it makes a good decision. An average poker player should beat bots regularly and should not be worried about playing against one. It is good to know that poker tracking software exists and is commonplace amongst online poker players. Sites allow these programs as long as they are not making the decision for the player. These programs track the playing styles of your opponents through previous hand histories and also give you advice on decisions by showing mathematical odds on the current hand.
Recently, top poker pro Phil "The Unabomber' Laak and high stakes pro Eli Eslami played against the best poker computer in the world in heads up matches. The pros beat the computer during the competition proving that even the most advanced computer programs are still incapable of playing against skilled poker players. However, the pros did not win by that much.
Online poker rooms and players often detect accounts using bots. The cardrooms have programs that watch for certain behaviors and raise red flags when suspicious. These programs watch for repeated timing of bets, such as when a player (bot) bets at exactly 3 seconds every time it is there turn to act. That is just one of many examples of how these bots get caught. Sometimes it is obvious when a player plays for 25 hours without a bathroom break or never a player never chats or responds to others chatting.
The biggest advantage that programs have over humans is that they have no fear, no shame, and do not go on tilt. Where a person can get intimidate against a very aggressive player, a computer bot will not suffer the same intimidation. Bots simply try to do whatever it takes to win meaning it can use your history to raise you with a garbage hand if it thinks it has a slight advantage. This can lead to a player going on tilt easily. However, these wild moves often get caught when the player is holding a better hand then the bot thought, and now this mistake costs the bot a large pot.