Poker playing Computers Not So Fast
Most computer poker games attempting to imitate a human playing poker fail completely. There is but one exception, being Daniel Negreanu's Stacked but most of them come up short. The reason is that playing poker is about picking up on subtleties and variations, strategies and tells. And unfortunately, poker playing computers do not have the capability to recognize those things, at least, not yet.
Computers faced a similar intelligence crisis when learning Chess a number of years ago. Now the difference is that our virtual opponents have to transition from a finite number of moves and possibilities in chess to an environment in which anything can affect the way a hand of poker plays out. Poker is more like real life, and as such, means computers are at a huge disadvantage in playing, be it hold'em, Omaha, limit or no-limit.
A few poker programs, with names like "Poki" and "Poker Probot" are to be put to the test next week in Boston. The American Association for Artificial Intelligence will be running a computer poker competition. You might not want to gamble on them though. Phil Laak, a champion, defeated Poker Probot without much effort last year at the World Series of Poker. Let's hope they fair a little better this time around.
Computers faced a similar intelligence crisis when learning Chess a number of years ago. Now the difference is that our virtual opponents have to transition from a finite number of moves and possibilities in chess to an environment in which anything can affect the way a hand of poker plays out. Poker is more like real life, and as such, means computers are at a huge disadvantage in playing, be it hold'em, Omaha, limit or no-limit.
A few poker programs, with names like "Poki" and "Poker Probot" are to be put to the test next week in Boston. The American Association for Artificial Intelligence will be running a computer poker competition. You might not want to gamble on them though. Phil Laak, a champion, defeated Poker Probot without much effort last year at the World Series of Poker. Let's hope they fair a little better this time around.
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