Poker bots remain the “bogeyman” of online poker players, creating fear and mistrust with every new advance of artificial intelligence. Yet one of the world’s leading authorities on computer poker research – Dr. Darse Billings – says there is nothing to fear.
The Dallas News Online recently posted an article by technology blogger Andrew Smith, with the incendiary title “Will computer programs destroy online poker? Probably.” In the post, Smith argues that now that poker software has been shown to be good enough to beat human professionals (a reference to high end poker robot Poalris,) the anonymity of the Internet will allow people with little scruples to pass poker bots as human players, with the result that “Human players will consistently lose. Eventually, all but the stupidest humans will just stop playing.” Smith supports his bold – and ill advised – prediction of doom for online poker by quoting professor Ian Fellows, whose research on poker software has shown great advances in a computer’s ability to deal with incomplete information. Smith followed his dark predictions with an equally bold questioning of online poker rooms, “What possible assurances are there — even with big-name companies — that everything is running as it should?”
Two top experts on the topic of artificial intelligence applied to poker took it unto themselves to disagree with Smith –the very two experts he had quoted to support his assertion.
Dr. Darse Billings is a member of the University of Alberta Computer Poker Research Group and one of the minds behind Polaris, the poker bot which managed to defeat professional players and poker coaches this year. Dr. Billings dismisses Smith’s claims as “ridiculous” on a response to Smith’s post on the Dallas News online, which makes several good points:
- Dr. Ian Fellows’s software – cited by Smith as proof of the superiority of poker bots – only plays Limit Hold’em, a rather unpopular poker variation, and even then can only play it heads-up (against a single opponent.) Dr. Billings affirms, “Modern programs are not strong at No Limit or multi-player games.”
- Dr. Billings follows this assertion with one that is obvious to any serious online poker players: poker bots can be detected by poker sites, and will lead to a lifelong ban. Major poker companies such as Party Poker and Poker Stars invest a great deal of money into sophisticated bot identification software, and they are supported in this by the poker bot developers.
- Finally, Billings points out the slow and steady pace at which poker playing software has developed: “I started the research into poker AI in 1992, and we have had a very large team of excellent researchers working on the problem for many years. We have made a lot of progress over the past 16 years, but I can assure you, the sky is not falling.”
To drive the final nail in Smith’s coffin, Ian Fellows also distanced himself from Smith’s views by posting on the Dallas News Online: “Just to be clear, Darse is absolutely correct. The quote about my work “destroying online play” is incorrectly attributed to me. I said nothing of the kind.”
Poker playing software has advanced as great deal, mainly as an attempt to explore the uses of artificial intelligence with incomplete information. But unless you play heads-up Limit poker on a regular basis, you have the experts’ word that no poker bot is able to top a sharp human poker player… yet.