How AI has ruined poker

[Free Market Capitalist]

Today I would like to share this video, in which I don't want to discourage many of you who I see are playing on crypto sites but it explains the evolution of online poker in the last 20 years.

How AI Has Ruined Poker

Basically, poker is a game of incomplete information based on probability calculations. Before online poker this calculation was mixed with intuition. With the development of online poker, tools such as initial tables, equity tables, solvers and finally AI that always gives the most optimal move in each hand started to appear. As technology has democratized and everyone can have these tools for little money, in the end online poker has become a bot-like game, especially in the main sites.

As I said at the beginning I don't want to discourage many of you, because probably the crypto sites you see around here are not so massively dominated by people using solvers or AI in real time. But it has gone from being a game, in its online mode, in which the best decisions are based on massive calculation and there is no human mind that beats an AI in it.

I think something similar to chess will happen. For many years now, no human has been able to beat the machine. But chess still has a certain popularity. Also in the case of poker, I think that poker in person is the one that will be less affected because it is very difficult to use AI tools without being seen.

I would like to know your opinions or experiences on the subject.

[Reatim]

Basically, poker is a game of incomplete information based on probability calculations. Before online poker this calculation was mixed with intuition. With the development of online poker, tools such as initial tables, equity tables, solvers and finally AI that always gives the most optimal move in each hand started to appear. As technology has democratized and everyone can have these tools for little money, in the end online poker has become a bot-like game, especially in the main sites.

this happens because a lot of players are no longer playing for fun but because they are treating poker as a source of income soon enough it may be a battle of who has better tech instead

I think something similar to chess will happen. For many years now, no human has been able to beat the machine. But chess still has a certain popularity. Also in the case of poker, I think that poker in person is the one that will be less affected because it is very difficult to use AI tools without being seen.

there are chess games where allows you to play with a bot and some people do end up winning there but the difference there is that the players willingly choose a bot to play with meanwhile if players decide to use ai to help them win and without disclosing this to their opponent it could be considered cheating and defeats the purpose of the game, no?

[viljy]

It was expected. The same thing happened not only with chess, but even with such a difficult game as Go. In general, all games in which skill is of great importance will be "occupied" by AI. Therefore, from online we will return to real-world games where people play with people. Of course, games based on chance are not threatened by AI. The widespread penetration of AI is likely to change a lot in the world, and these changes may not only be positive.

[Rashlyowl]

Great find bros @Free Market Capitalist, this discussion is interesting because I also see there are many poker contests on this forum.

(1) Betpanda.io Premier Poker League (BPPL) 2025 | $4k Prize pool | Discussion |
(2) Casinopunkz.io $1000 Poker Tournament| $400 1st Prize| Discussion + Registration
(3) [Event-24] 1Win Saturday Weekly Poker | Prize Pool $1,000 | Time 15:00 UTC
(4) Bitcointalk Poker Schedules (curated)

With this AI threat, hosts will face new challenges other than users playing more than 1 account. I agree with bros @Reatim, the idea of ​​playing for fun is no longer there, most players play just to earn money & consider it as a source of income.

I feel like @AB de Royse777 & @memehunter should see this, because they host all those events on PokerNow:
(1) PokerNow Bot

There are so many commits made, it shows this bot is well developed at least in the first year of its creation. Outside of the PokerNow context, I also found 2 others:
(1) Poker Bot AI+ (service)
(2) Poker Bot

[memehunter]

Great find bros @Free Market Capitalist, this discussion is interesting because I also see there are many poker contests on this forum.

(1) Betpanda.io Premier Poker League (BPPL) 2025 | $4k Prize pool | Discussion |
(2) Casinopunkz.io $1000 Poker Tournament| $400 1st Prize| Discussion + Registration
(3) [Event-24] 1Win Saturday Weekly Poker | Prize Pool $1,000 | Time 15:00 UTC
(4) Bitcointalk Poker Schedules (curated)

With this AI threat, hosts will face new challenges other than users playing more than 1 account. I agree with bros @Reatim, the idea of ​​playing for fun is no longer there, most players play just to earn money & consider it as a source of income.

I feel like @AB de Royse777 & @memehunter should see this, because they host all those events on PokerNow:
(1) PokerNow Bot

There are so many commits made, it shows this bot is well developed at least in the first year of its creation. Outside of the PokerNow context, I also found 2 others:
(1) Poker Bot AI+ (service)
(2) Poker Bot

I record and stream every game that is hosted by me on https://www.youtube.com/@bitcointalkpoker and https://odysee.com/@memehunter:4 for precisely this reason. You can go through all the hands by yourself at any time, and if you find any anomaly, you can post it in the relevant thread. If someone is using solvers or RTA (real-time assistance) you can easily prove it by recreating the hands in solvers, and it will lead to a permanent ban from my contests.
It is the same as chess, when you can analyze the game afterwards to see if the moves match with the engine.  

[giammangiato]

Today I would like to share this video, in which I don't want to discourage many of you who I see are playing on crypto sites but it explains the evolution of online poker in the last 20 years.

How AI Has Ruined Poker

Basically, poker is a game of incomplete information based on probability calculations. Before online poker this calculation was mixed with intuition. With the development of online poker, tools such as initial tables, equity tables, solvers and finally AI that always gives the most optimal move in each hand started to appear. As technology has democratized and everyone can have these tools for little money, in the end online poker has become a bot-like game, especially in the main sites.

As I said at the beginning I don't want to discourage many of you, because probably the crypto sites you see around here are not so massively dominated by people using solvers or AI in real time. But it has gone from being a game, in its online mode, in which the best decisions are based on massive calculation and there is no human mind that beats an AI in it.

I think something similar to chess will happen. For many years now, no human has been able to beat the machine. But chess still has a certain popularity. Also in the case of poker, I think that poker in person is the one that will be less affected because it is very difficult to use AI tools without being seen.

I would like to know your opinions or experiences on the subject.

I have noticed this practice for a long time, practically since they introduced artificial intelligence, it was almost certain that people would have exploited
this function to the fullest.
Artificial intelligence is a very useful tool, but like everything used badly it also destroys things that work well.
I much prefer sports betting also for this reason, let's say that the interaction is different and not attributable to artificial intelligence.

[Free Market Capitalist]

I think something similar to chess will happen. For many years now, no human has been able to beat the machine. But chess still has a certain popularity. Also in the case of poker, I think that poker in person is the one that will be less affected because it is very difficult to use AI tools without being seen.

Well, that's precisely what poker is all about, making money.

I record and stream every game that is hosted by me on https://www.youtube.com/@bitcointalkpoker and https://odysee.com/@memehunter:4 for precisely this reason. You can go through all the hands by yourself at any time, and if you find any anomaly, you can post it in the relevant thread. If someone is using solvers or RTA (real-time assistance) you can easily prove it by recreating the hands in solvers, and it will lead to a permanent ban from my contests.
It is the same as chess, when you can analyze the game afterwards to see if the moves match with the engine.  

I imagine that's because it assumes a not very high level. Many players at the highest level have studied the GTO a lot and their moves are very close. I think it would not make sense to analyze at that level but I imagine that in those tournaments the level is far from that.

I have noticed this practice for a long time, practically since they introduced artificial intelligence, it was almost certain that people would have exploited
this function to the fullest.
Artificial intelligence is a very useful tool, but like everything used badly it also destroys things that work well.
I much prefer sports betting also for this reason, let's say that the interaction is different and not attributable to artificial intelligence.

It started before the AI did. Equity analyzers, statistics programs and many other tools have turned poker in the last 20 years from an eminently recreational discipline where those who studied a little bit made easy money to a quite bot-like game (even if no AI or RTA is used).

[IIrik11]

i play on indian sites mostly not crypto sites

and i was under the impression that they use shills

but someone suggested that they don't need to and they can just have programs

it was in my other thread i created in indian sub

when i play with real people i almost always win but on indian poker sites lol never

which is why i almost never play 

[acroman08]

This reminded me of this thread Can Chat GTP destroy poker on-line gambling???. quite sad that the use of AI in poker has become popular and ruins the aspec of "game of skill" in the game but then again, people are greedy and want to win so it is not surprising.

similar thing is happening with chess but from what I know chess platforms already have counter meassure for it like AI detection or something, I don't know how accurate the detection is but it seems like it is working on combating cheaters in on online chess.

[purple_sparkles]

AI can be both a solution and a source of problems. Right now, we're in a transitional phase where AI offers many opportunities, but there are still no clear mechanisms for its ethical and responsible use.Online casinos and poker platforms are using AI, and players themselves also apply it. As a result, it  ends up being two different AI programs playing poker against each other, not exactly exciting entertainment, except maybe for the AI developers.
By the way, virtual reality technologies are evolving rapidly. VR headsets are becoming more accessible, and online tournaments may soon take place in that format, you put on the headset and feel like you're in the room, playing face-to-face with your opponents. Now that’s a truly interesting concept. I believe the future of online poker is heading in that direction.

[ovcijisir]

I'm surprised it took so long for AI to overtake online poker, because it is odds based game.

I remember in 2016. when Go champion lost his title to AlphaGo AI by creating its own strategy that was yet unknown. Go is complex game with level of complexity similar to chess, and it was believed that AI will never dominate it.

I remember the former champions Lee Saedol feeling of defeat and surprise when in interview he described that AI made moves that at first didn't make any sense but only at the end he discovered that every move was well calculated at the start of the game.

[KTChampions]

Today I would like to share this video, in which I don't want to discourage many of you who I see are playing on crypto sites but it explains the evolution of online poker in the last 20 years.

How AI Has Ruined Poker
~

Thanks for the video. But this is not news for a long time. Everything that can be calculated will be calculated, everything that can be automated will be automated. Naturally, where there is real money, this is done faster (players in other games, even where there is no money, also suffer from cheaters who attract AI to the game) and in poker this process has been going on since the very moment poker appeared online.
The bad thing about this is not only that bots have an advantage over live players, but that the game loses its "human" part. Poker becomes indistinguishable from slots, it is psychologically unpleasant.

[Yaunfitda]

I recently watch a poker player who uses technology and the loophole on the rules and regulations and exploited it. So basically it's just the same and hopefully WSOP might have updated their rule book about using computers for unfair advantage. But with the advent of AI and then many online poker tournaments, it's really hard for them not to used this (not necessary cheating), but they could have an AI to analyze everything and see what percentage they can win or if they really need to fold and not play. So it's very hard right now to really identify who's using this and maybe we can compare this to card reading. You know that they are doing it, but it's hard to capture and caught them on hand. So what also happens to bluffing and those poker player that are good in reading their opponents?

[Fortify]

There have always been people who were capable of playing near perfect poker online and who had the patience to grind rooms endlessly during a session. So on that front we are not seeing much new, as you say - poker is a game based on incomplete information.

While AI can get around many restrictions and be difficult to detect, unless it is able to harvest player information to detect betting patterns, it will lean towards pot odds calculations that are defeated by bluffing. In my experience the algorithms behind online poker will often reward bad players or those who force lots of money into the pot, because this increases the return to the casino. There has been assistance software for a long time, but potentially AI can make new observations and strategies. Better to stick to physical world poker if you want to eliminate this possibility.

[summonerrk]

Today I would like to share this video, in which I don't want to discourage many of you who I see are playing on crypto sites but it explains the evolution of online poker in the last 20 years.

How AI Has Ruined Poker

Basically, poker is a game of incomplete information based on probability calculations. Before online poker this calculation was mixed with intuition. With the development of online poker, tools such as initial tables, equity tables, solvers and finally AI that always gives the most optimal move in each hand started to appear. As technology has democratized and everyone can have these tools for little money, in the end online poker has become a bot-like game, especially in the main sites.

As I said at the beginning I don't want to discourage many of you, because probably the crypto sites you see around here are not so massively dominated by people using solvers or AI in real time. But it has gone from being a game, in its online mode, in which the best decisions are based on massive calculation and there is no human mind that beats an AI in it.

I think something similar to chess will happen. For many years now, no human has been able to beat the machine. But chess still has a certain popularity. Also in the case of poker, I think that poker in person is the one that will be less affected because it is very difficult to use AI tools without being seen.

I would like to know your opinions or experiences on the subject.

It is likely that we are witnessing the complete death of online poker. I am writing this absolutely without jokes, because I do not know how to fight dishonest guys who use an IT that reads the screen and decides what to do next. The only thing is that such poker players will be banned, because their decisions will be exactly like those of the checking AI from the casino side (a similar practice exists in chess). But what is the point of banning poker players who will immediately create a new account and continue to abuse the AI?

[cande86]

however there have always been automatic poker bots, it's normal, in online casinos things are not checked and it's normal that many people participate in many tables and help themselves with automatic bots, now I don't know how they do it with AI, but I'm sure that many use them, it's clear they've always done it now they're just easier

[asarfiar]

It was expected. The same thing happened not only with chess, but even with such a difficult game as Go. In general, all games in which skill is of great importance will be "occupied" by AI. Therefore, from online we will return to real-world games where people play with people. Of course, games based on chance are not threatened by AI. The widespread penetration of AI is likely to change a lot in the world, and these changes may not only be positive.

You said it very well. AI is creating all kinds of management fields over time. OpenAI Five Dota 2; AI for creating games, FIFA's NPCs compete with players through AI. Google's AI that can beat even the world's best players in the game of Go. Stockfish chess AI that is capable of beating world-class chess players.

[Hispo]

... Also in the case of poker, I think that poker in person is the one that will be less affected because it is very difficult to use AI tools without being seen.

I would like to know your opinions or experiences on the subject.

For some time now I knew it was inevitable we would reach a point within the online poker community in which bots and Artificial intelligence would be used by a bunch of people to try to get some leverage during their session and easily take money from other players, who are not using those same tools.
As it stands today, I would not dare to play poker online only in person and with people whom I know and are about in the same level I consider myself to be in.

It is unfortunate, but I have already seen something similar happening in other games which have nothing to do with gambling, but there were ways to monetize them. People would farm accounts on MMORPGs with the assistance of bots. I don't want to even imagine how nad it has gotten since AI appeared on the scene, since last time I checked those MMORPGs was several years ago.

[finaleshot2016]

There are bunch of bots in poker in the past years, nothing new. If you want a better experience and you really want to show off your skills and knowledge on poker, then play with people. Why would you risk playing online if you already knew that some people are relying too much on computers. Few people play for the entertainment but if you’re looking for a quality experience with accountability and guaranteed fair gameplay then do actual poker, not online.It already existed in the past, AI just make everything accessible to everyone and with complete details.

[sompitonov]

There are bunch of bots in poker in the past years, nothing new. If you want a better experience and you really want to show off your skills and knowledge on poker, then play with people. Why would you risk playing online if you already knew that some people are relying too much on computers. Few people play for the entertainment but if you’re looking for a quality experience with accountability and guaranteed fair gameplay then do actual poker, not online.It already existed in the past, AI just make everything accessible to everyone and with complete details.

I would also simply exclude this risk with bots and AI in online play, and would switch only to offline tournaments in place of those who still play. I have not played poker for a very long time, but I still watch some professionals from the poker world, and they not only stay afloat, but also earn well. Even if someone stays near zero in profit, they can earn money through streams and contracts with poker rooms. In any case, I am not afraid for offline poker, and I just do not want to play online...