Everything you Need to Know About Online Poker Bots

You’ve probably already encountered your fair share of online poker bots, but you might not have even known you have done so.

That‘s because poker bots are everywhere: playing against you at online casinos; even when you think you’re actually playing against real, human players! So what are poker bots, how good are they to play against, and what else do you need to know?

We’ll give you the lowdown of everything and anything you should know about online poker boots.

What Are Poker Bots?

As they sound, poker bots are online programs designed to think, feel and act like a real player that you play poker against.

They’re actually illegal, and are unethical, at that, that’s because they’re literally the perfect players: they never misplay a hand, and they can play forever…literally. They’re not human, and so won’t succumb to tiredness as we do.

If you’ve ever been playing online poker, and felt that something wasn’t quite right, while playing against your opponent, then you’re not alone. You might have been playing against an online poker bot.

So how do you detect a poker bot?

How to Detect An Online Poker Bot

Online poker bots are only getting more and more sophisticated, which means you also need to know how to spot one!

1. They do the same thing repeatedly. Poker bots are computer programs, so there’s no human rationalizing over what actions they take, which means they often make the same moves if the programs deduce that’s what’s best. Humans rarely do this.
2. They take around the same amount of time to act, or even act immediately. Unless the person sitting opposite you in the poker game is super quick, you can usually see a pattern, or even instant actions, in the time it takes for your bot opponent to play.
3. They play forever. While we’ve all had those poker games that go well into the night, a poker bot can literally play for days and weeks on end. There’ll be no bathroom breaks, chatting or otherwise.
4. They’re on every single table. If you see the same username at every table, then you’re likely playing against an online poker bot.

What To Do If You Find Yourself Playing Against a Poker Bot

It’s disappointing to find out that you’re playing against a poker bot, and not least because it’s an illegal program, rather than the human opponent that you thought was a little odd.

Here are a few things you could do if you find yourself playing against a poker bot at your table:

1. Do nothing. Not all online poker bots play well, so if you see it’s not a particularly good oven, you can use it as a chance to easily win against it (and serve it right, at that!).
2. Move to a different table. Just make sure that it’s not at the same table too.
3. Report it to the site you’re playing at. We can’t say how effective this is, as even if that username is banned from playing again, it’s super easy to create another username and then sign up to play.

On that note…

How do Poker Sites Treat Online Poker Bots?

Poker sites ban poker bots (usually this is stated in their Terms of Service). It’s worth checking what your favorite poker site’s policy against poker bots is, but it usually goes along these lines:

• They could ban the poker bot straight from the poker game, thanks to the security software embedded in the game
• The poker client uses this behavior to update its library of suspicious behavior, then blocking and reporting other poker bots that may be using it in the future.
• The site itself will cancel and block these accounts, and confiscate the account’s funds too.

The Bottom Line on Poker Bots

Poker bots are illegal, and so they should be. Poker is a game of fun, skill and more, and by using a poker bot, the bot has an unfair advantage against humans. This is in terms of stamina (they can keep playing for literally ever), in terms of logic (they read and understand the situation at present in mere milliseconds) and in speed (they react in milliseconds).

While not all bots are great players, the ones that are serve to destroy the game for other players. Be vigilant, and remember to report any poker bots you might come across!

FAQs about Poker Bots

1. Are all poker bots created equally?

Not really. Some poker bots are outstanding poker players but just as many aren’t. It all depends on the programming of the poker bot, but if you happen to see a badly playing one, do your best to win against it (before reporting it, that is)!

2. Why would someone create a poker bot?

For many reasons, but we think the main one is to make money. Poker bots need no supervision and can be used at every table on the site. That means they can use their strategy quickly and at the same time, and so have a higher chance of winning, quicker and more often, than us tired, hesitating, break-needing humans can.

3. Once they’re banned by a poker site, can online poker bots come back?

Unfortunately, yes. Even though a poker bot can be banned from a site, it’s very difficult to stop a poker bot creator from simply creating a new username, and starting all over again. For now, at least. The best course of action is to make sure to report any poker bot you see, and wait for it to be banned (which will be pretty quick). It will take some time for the poker bot creator to create a new username and get accepted to the poker site again, so hopefully, with repeated reporting by multiple players, the poker bot creator will eventually get bored and move on to something or somewhere else.