One week into a two-week run against an opponent that isn’t alive, four poker professionals have been able to move into the lead against a poker playing computer program in a casino in Pittsburgh.
The “Brains vs. Artificial Intelligence” battle started last week with four pros – World Series of Poker bracelet winner Doug Polk and online players Dong Kim, Bjorn Li and Jason Les – squaring off against the creation of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science. The poker playing program, called “Claudico,” and the four men would step to the felt – for the men literally as they are at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and for “Claudico” figuratively – for a two-week, 80,000 hand battle. The difference between this fight and past “man versus computer” matchups in the past is that “Claudico” and the men are playing Heads-Up No Limit Texas Hold’em; in the past, the battle has been conducted playing Limit Hold’em.
In playing the event, two of the human competitors are on the casino floor at Rivers Casino, playing off of laptops that are linked up to Carnegie Mellon and “Claudico.” The other two men are located in an “isolation room” (also on linked laptops) away from the floor. During the day of play, the four men will rotate between the casino floor and the “isolation room” to vary conditions and potentially to establish controls on the study.
To this point in the “man versus computer” battle, man seems to still have the upper hand when it comes to No Limit Texas Hold’em. Overall the “Brains” side has racked up $587,231 in winnings against “Claudico” with 48,500 hands of the 80,000 hands completed. To this point, the star of the team has been Li, who accounts for $305,172 of the winnings compiled by the professionals. Polk comes in a close second with $274,890 in winnings while Kim has put together a $113,701 edge over “Claudico.” So far only Les is letting the human race down as he sits at a $106,532 loss to “Claudico” after a week of play.
The players have been taking the competition very seriously, to the point that they are employing techniques that they would use against human competition. “Playing Claudico has been unlike any other game I’ve ever played,” Polk commented following a day’s play against the artificial intelligence. “I’ve been taking notes along the way when it makes a move that I wasn’t expecting so that I can continue to improve my strategy and make sure I walk away with a win.”
The host of the challenge, Rivers Casino, has also been pleased with the outpouring of support for the competition. “I give the pros a lot of credit for their stamina and good humor throughout the competition (the four men play from 11AM to 10PM each day),” said Rivers Casino General Manager Craig Clark. “Doug, Dong, Bjorn and Jason have been having fun along the way and whether you’re watching it on property or online, they’re answering questions and making sure viewers are engaged.”
The scientists from Carnegie Mellon aren’t backing down, however. “Claudico performs real-time reasoning while playing a hand and improves its strategy during the match by continuously computing,” said Tuomas Sandholm, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon who has led the development of Claudico. “I know many people are rooting for the humans, but I’m still hopeful that Claudico will give them a run for their money.”
Previous attempts by artificial intelligence created by computer wizards have been closing the gap between man and computers in the poker battle. The University of Alberta in Canada has staged several competitions between professional poker players and their computer programs, with their creation Polaris edging out six professional players by a 3-2-1 (wins-losses-ties) margin over a 6000 hand sample in 2008. In that competition, the game was Limit Hold’em, however, which is recognized as a much more static game (odds dictating action) rather than No Limit Hold’em (where various factors such as psychology come into play). Earlier this year, the scientists at the University of Alberta also claim to have created a program called Cepheus that “solved” the game of Heads-Up Limit Texas Hold’em.
According to the scientists from Carnegie Mellon, if the chip counts are “very close” (an actual number hasn’t been given), it is “possible that Claudico and the pros will reach a statistical tie and the competition will be declared a draw.” With a week to go in the fight, the humans may have the edge now but anything can happen. To check out the proceedings over the next week, tune into the Rivers Casino dedicated web page as the “Brains vs. Artificial Intelligence” battle rages on.
