In 2023, a lot of us already know what artificial intelligence is all about. In recent years, we have seen bots do incredible things and as technology advances, so would the bots.

Naturally, bots would be used to play poker. Bots are made without emotion or feeling.

They are machines of logic and precision which means that they will make for great poker players. Bots never fall to tilt, never make a mistake, and never grow weary of playing. Bots may play endlessly, generating money in the long term.

How Poker Bots Operate

Poker bots are bits of software that are typically utilized on online poker sites by players who are unable to beat the game properly. Bots are computers that seek to defeat human gamers by using mathematics and player expertise.

Bots operate in the background and as separate apps in addition to the client you’re using. They mostly track played hands and make observations that the human eye may not be able to see.

It’s similar to a HUD, except it also plays for you. Operating a bot is simple, as long as the poker site you’re playing at allows it. These are just downloaded programs with detailed instruction manuals.

Modern bots can use statistics and complicated computations done by those who are called solvers. Solvers play an important part in today’s games since they are the ultimate learning tool for the players.

They can, however, be misused.

A poker bot can “remember” nearly an infinite amount of pre-calculated scenarios, which means it can respond correctly in a wide range of circumstances.

Bots are becoming a serious danger with that level of foundational understanding.

As Hold’em gets closer to being a “solved” game, these machines have an increasing advantage over human players.

What is a Poker Bot Farm

A poker bot farm is a word that refers to any collection of malicious poker bots that work together to perpetrate poker-related fraud, mainly to the prejudice of online poker rooms but also, on occasion, to legal poker players.

These bots work together to rig online poker games for a variety of reasons, ranging from money laundering to bonus misuse.

A poker bot can assist fraudsters cheat the system and win or lose a hand of online poker regardless of their opponents’ strategy or luck. When a criminal uses a bunch of online poker bots, they can:

Allow themselves to win or lose more at will.

Cheat in tournaments to win otherwise impossible rewards.

Go past any sign-up or other bonus conditions, which means they basically defraud the poker platform.

Conspire to launder money using the poker platform.

Two ways to Spot a poker bot

When the player is unresponsive

Assume you’re in a tournament with a poker bot and it’s down to three players. You and the other player reach an agreement, but the poker bot does not respond in the conversation. A moderator is summoned, and he tries to communicate with the poker bot but nothing occurs.

This is unusual. Of course, no bargain can be struck, so you continue to play. But then comes the unresponsive poker bot to play his cards. What exactly is going on here? Of course, at the time, the poker bot probably goes by a random username.

When this happens, the moderator will deliver a message directly to a player (this happens on many sites). When the message goes through, an unavoidable pop-up displays on the player’s screen. The player’s failure to respond may be taken as an indication indicating the player is a bot.

There are a few bots on the market that can converse casually to escape suspicion, thus a bot might communicate with a moderator. In more sophisticated scenarios, such as the one detailed above, their communication would most certainly come off as suspicious.

Some sites may also employ a captcha to ensure that the player is human.

The player plays an excessive number of tables

So, you launch your preferred poker website or app one day and see a user playing about 25 poker tables at the same time, then that user could be a bot.

The truth is, most poker bots aren’t particularly good at the game. Hence, once again, volume of play is required to optimize value. Playing as many tables as possible is simply another strategy to increase volume.

Contrary to common opinion, botters do not just leave poker bots running and then forget about them. Bots require ongoing upkeep. Except from the occasional glitch or software update, bots require a human to search their hand histories for leaks.

Most, if not all, botters that operate an excessive number of tables at once do not do this, and as a result, many bots are readily abused by human players.

If you play a bot for an extended period of time, you will see inflexible and easily predictable tendencies. This is especially true while playing heads up.

Conclusion: Poker Sites do not appreciate bots

Operating bots is against the rules and regulations of almost every internet poker room, and security personnel actively discourages it.

Bots harm the game’s public impression, and many recreational players believe that these programs can see their hole cards or cheat in other ways.

Although these worries are exaggerated, machines that work together as a team can indeed collaborate against their human rivals.

Bots are also detrimental to game quality. They sit in seats that might be occupied by genuine players. They suck out a chunk of the money that would otherwise stay in the poker market. This is particularly true for raking races and leaderboards.

Bots may achieve high finishes in these promotions and sweep up the cash awards since they can remain at the tables for considerably longer sessions than genuine players and never tilt or grow weary.

They’re also detrimental for the game’s environment because they don’t converse or mingle with the individuals at their tables.

The internet poker scene has a poker bot issue and it is detrimental to the game, the sites and the players.