Poker simulators from PokerStrategy – training for free. How dangerous is artificial intelligence in poker: we analyze the successes of Cepheus, Libratus and Pluribus Robots for playing poker

Behind last years online poker Bots have spread noticeably and are actively generating profit for their owners. What do players who, perhaps right now, are sitting with them at one or several poker tables at once, need to know? Let's figure it out right here and now!

Ask us about one of the most common problems in most poker rooms today, and we will answer you right away - these are damn online poker bots. It is not only the very fact of the existence of such creatures that is sad, but also their constant progress. With the help of their creators, they are constantly progressing in the game, and accordingly, many of us are losing money. Nowadays, it’s not always easy for even regulars to win against bots – we’re not even talking about beginners. Whether you have heard or not heard about them, it is a fact that at least once in your life you have encountered bots. Even if you don’t even suspect it. Before we begin, let's clarify a little what a regular poker bot actually is?

A bot is a special program with a set of embedded schemes and algorithms, which is created for playing online tables in order to bring profit to its owner. It is automatic and requires virtually no human control. For your information, one such robot, playing on several rooms, can generate about a thousand dollars in income per day, and sometimes even more (depending on the tournament). Let's talk about how to avoid this and generally everything you should know about this “poker virus”.

What are they saying?

Websites, forums, blogs and other resources - this topic worries many. Do they exist? Yes, 100% exist! As a rule, online poker bots are written by professional programmers. The catch is that these are not exactly typical hackers - these people also understand poker itself, poker mathematics, probability theory, logical analysis of scenarios, comparison of data about players, behavior patterns, statistics, and so on. The chance of such a bot going negative is very small and it would be stupid to believe that, despite all the rumors and facts, most poker rooms continue to talk about their cleanliness and “absence of pests.”

Of course, such a program costs a lot. However, this does not prevent many poker players from acting on the principle of two I’s - first Be Interested, and then Invest. This begs the question - why don’t programmers themselves use their brainchild? There are different options: 1 – this is a “minus” bot that simply will not bring you money; 2 – an unreliable “wanted” bot that was previously seen in a certain room; 3 – he just has a ton of them (the programmer found time to create it, but didn’t have time to play).

No matter what anyone says and no matter how the situation is, for a self-respecting room, control should be above all else. For example, at one time such a giant as PokerStars told the media that it had a very coherent and efficient protection system (there were exceptions, but then the players’ money was refunded), which was capable of identifying and eliminating any prohibited program in just a few seconds. This may be true - in most cases, AI machines play in lesser-known rooms, which is not surprising. There the risk of being caught is much lower.

Top 5 characteristics of the bot:

1. Similar time to make decisions.
2. Quick transitions to other tables.
3. Almost identical bet sizes.
4. Passivity in online chat.
5. Constant aggression.

Legality

For a better picture, imagine the Wild West of the 19th century. Each individual poker room is a state with its own sheriff. The fight against bots, as well as against other lawlessness in the city (the management itself sets priorities - who gets oil, who gets restaurants and cafes, and who gets poker), of course, is being carried out, but not in the way its law-abiding residents would like (we are like that, after all). , Truth?). Actually, none of the online poker players are 100% insured, and not even 90%. We are leading to the fact that any specific regulatory system simply does not exist, and each resource opposes them to the best of its views and capabilities. This means that our question about legality is ambiguous - everything is at the discretion and discretion of each individual online poker operator.

Here the question is not even about safety and legality, but about attitude towards your clients. Few players would want to play with robots, even if they had no idea about it, would they? After all, the human factor is also very important for virtual poker. Let's say more - some poker room owners don't care about all this and even use machines with artificial intelligence as an additional source of income. We would be happy to name them for you, but, alas, everything here has long been a secret. The likelihood of their exposure is very low, but if something happens, we promise that you will be the first to know about it.

X vs. Bot

Not everything is as easy as it seems at first glance. Building a truly effective robot takes a lot of time and effort, a lot. At least that’s what programmers say (well, how else can they justify their pricing policy?). Just like in chess, one day an ideal computer program, which can beat almost any player, including a grandmaster.

This is a matter of time, which remains open to this day only because creating a similar program for poker is an order of magnitude more difficult than for the same chess - there is no effect of randomness, the influence of luck, some psychological aspects and nuances (aggression, bluffing, etc.) . The probability of your victory over the bot will, firstly, depend on your individual skill, and only then on the level of advancement of the bot itself. And there will be something that will happen!

If we talk about the profitability of a poker bot, then, as we noted earlier, this is quite likely. Much also depends on whether the robot was developed for micro-limits or for high-stakes games (this is more difficult to do). How long can this last? A year, or even several years! Roughly speaking, until the room or some professional figures out you and your bot: okay, problems with the administration and an account ban - it’s much worse to get caught in the latter case, when they will still make good money from you. In general, don't expect easy money. Therefore, it is better to invest in yourself and work on your game so that you can become a real poker pro in the future!

They are already among us

« Poker bots can beat good players, but not the best... yet».

In fact, there are a lot of successful cases in creating poker bots: , Polaris, Vex Bot, Neo Poker Bot, Tartanian7, Cepheus, Libratus and many others. This was not just a matter of pure logistics. Data collection and analysis, open cards, player actions, sending instructions to the poker client about actions (multitasking, synchronization, Windows API programming), etc. In addition, the development must be hidden so as not to allow room security services to recognize itself. The program should operate in a way that is as human-like as possible. Any suspicious behavior, for example, silence/ignoring in the chat, will alert opponents and cause an investigation. As a result - goodbye bankroll! Now let's give the most striking examples of modern machines with artificial intelligence:

Conclusion

Trainings, competition between bots and people - all this, of course, is very interesting and exciting. But what if in life you suddenly encounter a bot again? Firstly, we recommend that you try to mix up your playing styles, be more creative and unpredictable. In general terms, do everything possible to make yourself unreadable. In most cases, bots play on tilt, avoid gambling situations and fold if they don’t get the right hand on the flop.

Secondly, try yourself in the place of a certain detective. Write to the chatbox and conduct a general analysis of the game - if your opponent does not unsubscribe or does not respond to any provocations from you, it is likely that there is a player with artificial intelligence at the table. And finally, thirdly, try to adapt to the bot’s game and, most likely, you will be able to easily win against the enemy machine.

In any case, we sincerely hope that in the near future poker rooms will be able to create a universal program for verifying bots. In the meantime, be careful and try to practice your game more. Then bots will not become a hindrance for you. Good luck!

Hello everyone, friends! Knowing my love for various poker applications, the developers of one social platform - 7 levels Poker - approached me. They wanted me to test it and tell you about their idea, which I had not yet encountered on social networks. Main feature platform is that the game is on not with real people, but with bots. And if at first this idea did not cause anything but skepticism, then, after playing a little, I realized that I was wrong.

Learning to play poker with bots

The main focus of the creators 7 levels Poker focused on the game process itself, and not on the casual component, which Lately has already become boring for many poker fans on social networks (flashing buttons, bonuses falling from the sky, spins). The client is not “hung up” with any unnecessary graphic elements, which allows you to fully concentrate on the game.

There are 7 levels available for the game, which are divided by limits from NL 25 to NL 1000 Texas Hold'em. To complete each, you need to win a certain number of chips from your virtual opponents, as well as maintain a positive result over several hundred hands. With each new level, the complexity of the bots increases, so even experienced players It will be interesting to spend a couple of evenings playing card battles at 7 levels Poker.

For those who sit down at the poker table for the first time or do not fully understand the rules of the game, training is available, where you can learn about the basic rules quite simply and in detail using examples. game moments and also study basic strategy. Combinations are shown at the bottom of the gaming table, which makes life easier for beginners and allows them to speed up the decision-making process. In addition, the developers promised to further develop the training component, and in the near future to please all users with unique training opportunities. This is why 7 levels Poker is ideal for those who are just taking their first steps in poker.

The game process itself differs from its other social “brothers”. Considering that we are playing with bots, your opponents make decisions many times faster than when playing with real opponents, which is why you end up playing a much larger number of hands.

Bonus: training with a professional!

It is impossible not to mention the promotions that the creators have prepared

To start the game you need to click on poker table. Once clicked, the cards are automatically dealt to all 9 (including you) players at the table. The player's position is always centered at the bottom. You start playing as the dealer, this is indicated by an orange chip (“button”) with the Latin letter “D”. The transition of the dealer's chip, as well as the transition of the turn, is carried out clockwise starting from the dealer after each completed distribution.

The first player to the left of the dealer's chip or button is the Small Blind, the second is the Big Blind. These players, before the game begins, make initial or forced bets depending on the level of the blinds. The level of current bets (blinds) can be seen in the upper left corner called “Level”. If the Blind Level is 1/2, then the small blind will post 1 and the big blind will post 2.

The rates increase every 5 minutes. The time remaining until the next increase is counted in the upper left corner - “Next Level in”. The next betting level is also indicated next to it.

After the first round of betting, which is started by the player to the left of the big blind, you have 3 options to continue playing:

“Call” (put an amount equal to the big blind into the pot),
“Raise” (raise the bet) or
“Fold” (discard cards and skip a round of the game).

At the end of the first round of betting, when only those players who have agreed on equal bets remain in the game, the dealer places 3 cards on the table - the “flop”. The second round of betting begins, where, if no one raised the bet, you have the opportunity to make a “Check” or check the next card without raising the bet.

At the end of the second round of betting, the dealer places the fourth card on the table - the “turn”. The next round of bidding begins, at the end of which the last General Map- "river".

In the lower left corner you can see the number of points you have scored per game. There are 3 buttons in the lower right corner.

“Play Online” - allows you to try playing real poker online.
“New Game” - if you click on New Game it will start a new game, points and winnings will be reset to the initial level, the bet level will also return to level 1/2.
“Game Help” - this button will redirect you to a page with poker rules in English.

As the game progresses, computer-controlled players will lose and be eliminated from the table. If you are the loser (lose all your chips), the game will continue between virtual players until there is only one winner left.

Rules of the game Texas Hold'em(pokerlistings.ru/texas-holdem).

One of the varieties of Texas Hold'em poker originates in the small town of Robstown, which is located in the state of Texas. Hold'em became popular only in 1967, when it was brought to Las Vegas, where the poker boom began. Three years later, in 1970, the last first world series on playing poker "WSOP".

To get the highest combination of cards in Texas Hold'em you need to collect 5 cards out of seven possible, where you can use combinations of:

1 pocket card + 4 from the table or,
2 pocket cards + 3 from the table or,
all 5 cards from the table.

Before you start playing poker you need to know the basics winning combinations kart:

We have all probably heard more than once stories about incredible programmers who use poker bots to deceive ordinary players in poker rooms and constantly win against them, earning almost millions of dollars monthly. In addition, information appears in the news every now and then that some university in the United States has already developed its own poker bot, which can already beat any professional in this card game. But is this true? And is it possible to create a really good poker bot that would provide you with money for the rest of your life? Let's find out...

Theory

First of all, it should be noted that poker from a mathematical point of view is a rather primitive game, even despite all its complexity and ambiguity. After all, during a distribution, any player has the right to do, in fact, one of three possible actions: either raise the bet, or fold the cards, or equalize previously made bets. And only by varying these three parameters can we build an ideal game strategy, consistently beating our opponents.

However, it is worth noting that very much in real game It also depends on the size of the bets we will make. After all, professional poker is not only and not so much mathematics as it is the psychology of the players taking part in the hand. If we want to become successful player(or write a really powerful poker bot), then we must be able to sort our opponents into categories, highlighting “sharks” and outright “fish”. Of course, it’s much more difficult for a program to do this...

A little history

If we look at history, it turns out that poker bots have long tried to create the most “progressive” minds of humanity. So, one of the very first bots that we know about was a program called “Orac”, which was created by a professional in the world card games Mike Caro. Distinctive feature This program was that it could not only calculate the possibility of composing one or another combination, but could also determine the probability of an opponent’s bluff! Moreover, this was done according to a very simple algorithm - if the program’s opponent thought for too long about his move, then the program believed that he was most likely bluffing. And if a person made a decision instantly, then the program believed that he was playing with cards.

Of course, that algorithm could not beat real poker professionals, and when it was tested in practice in the 90s, it turned out that people, unlike programs, can adapt to their opponent’s play. And those people who played against “Orac” very quickly realized how to trick the program, forcing it to “think” in the wrong direction.

If you want to download a poker bot now, you will immediately come across a hundred different offers from various stores and simply dubious companies. Moreover, some of these programs are distributed completely free of charge, while for others they may ask you for very serious money, up to several thousand dollars. However, they all have one thing in common - sellers will always assure you that with the help of his program you will consistently win at poker, and no one will ever know that you are playing with a bot.

However, why would a person sell a bot if it can consistently bring him a good income in some well-known poker room? It’s no secret that the administration of any room has an extremely negative attitude towards the use of any programs that make decisions for a person, and to the use of poker bots in particular. And this is logical, because when we ourselves play on the Internet, we want the same person to sit on the other side of the screen, and not a machine that mathematically beats us. And that is why the administration of the same PokerStars blocks all accounts that have been noticed in one way or another using this technology. And money from these accounts is never returned.

Therefore, it turns out that the more identical bots are used within the same room, the greater the likelihood that the administration will be able to identify them and block all accounts using this bot. Therefore, it turns out that selling a really working poker bot is simply unprofitable; it would be much more logical to use it yourself!

How does a poker bot work?

So, let's look at how the simplest poker bot works, which you can easily download on the Internet. In principle, its entire algorithm is divided into three large modules:

1. Receiving the information. A poker bot must receive information from the poker room about the size of its stack, the size of opponents’ stacks, bets made, position at the table, the size of the blinds, as well as the cards with which it will play for you and me.
2. Information analysis. The bot must decide what to do with certain cards in certain conditions. Let us immediately note that most of the simplest poker bots act in a template manner, according to a pre-planned plan, while the most “smart” bots, created on the basis of neural networks, can learn to play independently, based on already hands played and analysis of lost hands.
3. User simulation. The bot must put its decisions into practice, that is, press the buttons that a real user would press (pass, call, raise, etc.). In addition, at the same stage the bot must do other actions that it performs real player during the game, for example, move the mouse from corner to corner, switch between tabs, turn on VKontakte music, etc.

At the same time, a poker bot can also receive information from several sources:

1. First of all, they are often used for this log files that everyone has poker client. The advantage of these files is that they record absolutely all the actions that we saw in the hand, starting from our cards and ending with the actions of our opponents.
2. API messages. Essentially, this is a chat in the poker client window, in which everything that happens at the table is written in text form. You yourself have probably seen a post like “Player1 won a $0.56 pot with the combination QQ994” more than once. These are the same messages.
3. Client screenshot. The most advanced poker bots can even take constant screenshots of the screen in order to read information directly from the received images. This method is the most secretive, since it is the most difficult to calculate, but not all bots can do this.

conclusions

Thus, we can conclude that poker bots exist today, and they can be downloaded to your computer on the Internet completely without any problems. A clear proof of this is the website poker-bot.ru, where Russian-speaking users communicate with each other and discuss what bots they use in their practice, and how effective they are in general.

At the same time, the administration of any poker room will always oppose the use of these programs, since they undermine the very essence of poker. After all, we always want to play against real people, because real poker is, first of all, positive emotions, and only then the money.

In addition, on the same forum there are a lot of offers for the sale of plus bots, in which the sellers swear that it is their brainchild that can really make you rich and happy. Let us immediately note that many bots that are sold there (or even given away for free) are completely useless, since it will not play a plus.

In addition, by downloading suspicious software from suspicious resources, you risk installing a virus on your computer, due to which you will simply instantly lose all the data from your account, and along with it, all the money on it.

You need to understand that creating a truly profitable poker bot is a process that lasts for years, and it is impossible to write such a program in just a few months. In addition, these programs cannot be used on all rooms. The same one has several degrees of protection against bots, and therefore such programs are completely useless there.