Editing Computer poker player (section)

== On the Internet ==
These bots or [[computer programs]] are used often in [[online poker]] situations as either legitimate opponents for humans players or a form of [[cheating in poker|cheating]].  As of 2020, all use of Real-Time Assistance (RTA) or automated bots is considered cheating by all online poker sites, although the level of enforcement from site operators varies considerably. {{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

=== Player bots ===
Use of player bots or computer assistance while playing online poker is prohibited by most, if not all, online sites. Actions taken for breaches are a permanent ban and confiscation of winnings. {{citation needed|date=February 2023}} One kind of bot can interface with the poker client (in other words, play by itself as an auto player) without the help of its human operator. Real-Time Assistance (RTA) is another method of using computer programs. RTA is when a human player uses program called a “solver” such as PioSOLVER or PokerSnowie,<ref>Seven Games: A Human History. Chapter 5. Oliver Roeder, 2022. Publisher: W.W. Norton and Co.</ref> running on a different computer,<ref> https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF17/20131210/101570/HHRG-113-IF17-Wstate-EggertK-20131210.pdf  Testimony of Kurt Eggert Professor of Law Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade At a Hearing Entitled: “The State of Online Gaming” Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC December 10, 2013</ref> to make their decisions.

The issue of unfair advantage is twofold. For one, bots can play for many hours at a time without human weaknesses such as [[Fatigue (medical)|fatigue]] and can endure the natural variances of the game without being influenced by human [[emotion]] (or "[[tilt (poker)|tilt]]"). Secondly, since 2019, the computer program [[Pluribus (poker bot)]] is successful enough at reading bluffs, calculating odds, and adjusting to strategy that it consistently beats professional poker players at 6-player no-limit Hold’em.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Noam |last2=Sandholm |first2=Tuomas |title=Superhuman AI for multiplayer poker |journal=Science |date=30 August 2019 |volume=365 |issue=6456 |pages=885–890 |doi=10.1126/science.aay2400|pmid=31296650 |bibcode=2019Sci...365..885B |s2cid=195892791 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref> {{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Carnegie Mellon and Facebook AI Beats Professionals in Six-Player Poker - News - Carnegie Mellon University |url=http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2019/july/cmu-facebook-ai-beats-poker-pros.html |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=www.cmu.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref> {{Cite web |last=Marr |first=Bernard |title=Artificial Intelligence Masters The Game of Poker – What Does That Mean For Humans? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/09/13/artificial-intelligence-masters-the-game-of-poker--what-does-that-mean-for-humans/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

==== House enforcement ====
While the terms and conditions of poker sites generally forbid the use of bots, the level of enforcement depends on the site operator.  Some will seek out and ban bot users through the utilization of a variety of software tools.  The poker client can be programmed to try to detect bots although this is controversial in its own right as it might be seen as tantamount to embedding [[spyware]] in the client software.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}  Another method is to use [[CAPTCHA]]s at random intervals during play to catch automated bots, although isn’t effective against Real-Time Assistance.

=== House bots ===
“House bots” can pose a conflict of interest.  By the strictest definition, a house bot is an automated player operated by the online poker room itself.  These type of bots would be the equivalent of brick and mortar [[shill]]s.

Both brick and mortar casino shills and online house bots are not supposed to have access to any information that is not also available to any other player in the hand. The problem is that in an online setting the house has no way to prove their bots are not receiving sensitive information from the card server. This is further exacerbated by the ease with which clandestine information sharing can be accomplished in a digital environment. It is essentially impossible even for the house to prove that they do not control some players.