Montell Senior 
Online poker will create a new generation of great poker players, and AI will play a part in that. Giving access to a larger database of hands will make players better. AI will also enhance people’s experiences at the poker table too. However, AI is also an ethical Pandora’s Box.
For years, an AI that could top pros at multiplayer Texas Hold’em was out of the question. Then the infrastructure was finally pushed forward, and in 2019 the system Pluribus was the first multiplayer poker superhuman.
AI-Powered Bots
The notion of deceptive AI chatbots fooling their opponents into thinking they were merely human was a source of such enthrallment among poker players and AI geeks alike. Using these technologies, players could play thousands of hands per second, creating what was euphemistically called a ‘database of experience’ that could refine the way they played.
AI-powered programs have changed online poker. Modern systems can process data much faster than the best of human players.
Advanced AI has already crossed the threshold into poker. Making decisions on bias, incomplete information and risk is what poker is all about, and computers are now making the transition. The AI Libratus won head-to-head, live, unlimited Texas Hold’em games against the world’s best human professional players, and Pluribus bested six-handed no-limit Texas Hold’em against the best amateurs and professionals. The next step for poker is for sites to devise interacting AI that helps their players during play. Developers and players will need to work together if integrity in games is to be preserved.
AI-Driven Tools
AI is driving the next phase of innovation in the game of poker. It’s providing better tools for poker players – bots, solvers and real-time advice (all getting more popular as poker players seek to hold an edge against opponents).
A few players have raised concerns about the use of poker-playing bots powered by AI, arguing it might give AI an unfair advantage over human players, defeating the social aspect of the game and making it more robotic.
Poker is one game, where mastery relies to a large degree on inferences from your opponents’ tells, and where there’s great value in exploiting counterfactuals to anticipate or take advantage of your opponents’ weaknesses. The short story is that AI is changing this dramatically. New technologies are emerging that bring sophisticated ideas from deep reinforcement learning to help create poker-playing bots that are now subtler, more counterfactual (or volatile), and unpredictable than ever before as they use counterfactual (or counterfactual) reasoning to learn from their mistakes, and develop close-to-optimal betting patterns, hand ranges, and bluffs with counterfactuals.
AI’s Impact on Online Poker
AI-enhanced pokerbots have transformed the scope of online poker played at high stakes. Their AI algorithms allow them to swiftly adjust their strategies to changing poker landscapes, as well as fully leverage weaknesses in their human counterparts’ playing strategies; create value betting and aggressive bluffing strategies which act as potent counters against human players.
But the larger point is that AI isn’t just about beating us at a card table. Because Pluribus improved so fast on its own, it’s now a good proxy for an AI system that can handle the challenging strategic problems that today’s top humans must deal with.
AI is giving rise to new ways in which players learn the game, with AI-powered training tools that provide actionable feedback and practice sets to help novices and veterans alike to improve their quality of play in record time. AI is also being integrated into the online experience, allowing for new, fun game formats that can bring in a wider range of players while invigorating the thrill of the game for all.
AI’s Impact on Responsible Gambling
Fears that AI pokers bots could lead to cheating aside, such systems can also help to ensure fair conditions for all players. They monitor real-time gameplay for indicators that point to collusion or the use of unauthorised software, information that could then be shared with moderators who could be ready to take swift action to resolve the issues and preserve the integrity of the game.
AI will be an invaluable aid to the industry. It could help to transform, not replace, the decision-making process and provide insight into risk management – which could lead to a better overall understanding of humans in this field, too. Any organisation that wishes to develop responsible gambling tools and digital safeguards geared towards reshaping behaviour must be aware of any potential harm to vulnerable players.
Among the tools are self-exclusion systems and customisable limits on time spent and money spent gambling. For their part, players need to recognise and confront their addiction – and to seek out assistance, of which there is a great deal available – if they do become addicted.
