Okay, I am someone who both appreciates bots as a nifty little invention and also enjoys a good game of cards. I've played games against PC's without an inkling of being upset, other than losing for the fiftieth time. It's not a problem because on some level I am accepting what I am up against - but an article on how bots were being used against unknowing poker players, after a lot of thought had me coming out well on the side of the players - and I'm a past computer scientist too!
I liked the story and somewhat mischeviously thought; '...thats kind of clever - this guy (it's always a guy) has come up with a program that will win you money at Poker...'. But then I thought about it some more, which is something I am prone to do, and I thought about the people I had played cards against online, albeit for fun money and I could only come to one conclusion...
Like a lot of regular PC/Internet users I do some online game playing. I like card games and recently I have been playing online Poker. I can't justify the risks of playing with real money, and find it hard to see how people do, considering all the chat software available and the possibilities for cheating. Contrary to some beliefs, poker players aren't all a hoard of bad and evil people, and I don't have an altar to some naughty demon of the netherworld in my garden shed - in fact I don't even have the shed. I have in the past played normal poker and know a great number of people that do, none of whome I could ever say I dislike for that.
Whilst I can also see the negative side of places like casinos, I can only start with what I feel is the real story - that it's just another game in the world amongst many others and some people play for pleasure with others taking risks to gain some reward. I do however agree with the opinion that it can go too far and have bad affects on people's lives, but then too, I can see the thrill of beating the money-bags gambler at his own game. However, the vast majority of players are occasionals - young and old play and gamble the world over in many different ways - so then, how is online poker much different to a real casino's or a normal game ? Well I'm not sure, but this article told of how online gamblers may increasingly find themselves playing against bots - unknowingly.
It reminds me of when Chess programs were getting smarter and smarter and eventually beating world class players. Whilst that in itself is probably only enough to upset a Grand Master for a while, it's not likely to drain their pockets and serious Chess players will still recognise a fellow players skill's (and good for them). This use of poker bots on the other hand, seems to me a whole new card game.? Whether some of us may have so far only wondered about the possibility of AI's having a negative effect, it can be seen here that it is already an actual problem... need it be?
I don't want to take anything away from achievements like making a game that is hard to beat or this kind of software that sets out to outplay a real living human. The fact is though, people could be and it seems are being conned into losing their money when they would be expecting a fair game against another person. Perhaps you could argue that the player should accept the losses as part of the game, despite it being a bot. Afterall, we've been piling money into arcade machines and slot machines for years and who's worried about losing 10p on a penny slide machine. But what about players losing $100, $1000 or more to a machine, when you expect it to be a person ? Sadly, they are being deceived.
What happens when the bots get so good they almost reign supreme and what's the point in getting a machine playing against a machine if you believe in the skill of the game or just the pleasure and experience of playing ? On the other hand, if it's all about winning money anyway, what's the problem ?
To make a bot that wins more money than it loses might well be an achievement for a computer scientist, which is fair enough, but is it fair to bring that kind of technology on players who will be completely unaware of it ? I'm sure that not a single one of them would even take the risk unless it was forwarned, even if they are fond of a gamble. I don't think David Beckham is a robot in disguise, but it would amount to the same kind of thing - cheating.
However tempting the idea is of raking in a huge win from a loaded player or the casino, the fact that a lot of those players are regular people and non-professionals is being overlooked. Also everyone KNOWS they may lose as well as win, thats the whole point, but they expect it to be against another person. So then, what if I use a bot to play ? I am still unlikey to beat a brilliant player with a bot, at least at the moment, infact I'd be more likely to cheat loads of people in the same boat as me. No thanks.
It could be argued that this is a development of the game, and it seems fair on the surface to say that the online game is a different kind of game to the casino's. Adding the use of bot's to resources such as books on playing techniques is just another stage, like a runner using the latest type of sports shoe. But it simply isn't like that when regular people go to an online table expecting to play against other real regular human players. It's an unwritten rule, because bots weren't around when the game started - but it's presence will still be felt and glaringly obvious to most, hanging over the table like a great invisible neon - shouting 'PLAY THE GAME'.
Perhaps we'll end up with two groups, the 'player vs player group' and the 'bot vs bot group'. Presumably the latter would be people who don't want the bother of learning to play cards? Still it's all the same thing in the end; the money is there - you need to find a way to get at it. So one way or another you will either need to learn how to play better cards or spend time researching the best software and programming techniques. Both are worth doing and both need skill, but let's not mix the two up.
I think the unfairness comes where the two worlds meet, if a player is not playing by the rules of the game or the table (be it human or bot) then they are a cheat. Thats the plain truth, and I can see why this issue would concern many players and AI developers too. No one forces anyone to play - you go to a table with an understanding of the rules, you play the game, you take the same risks and you leave with more money or less. It's an incredibly simple concept, a self-funding competition, one person vs another to see who comes out best - if that is the game people expect and want, it is the one they should get. Sadly using bots in such a way makes them seem more like invaders from outer space, who happen to play a mean game of cards.
So to authors of this type of software I have to say if you would like to see the whole idea embraced so that bots are pitted against other bots and other people then set about doing it now - openly. Otherwise you will just end up with so many people asking questions like; why treat players like they are stooges in a game to be ripped off , why don't you develop the idea and get your bots playing openly, why enrage and cheat people - at the end of the day, why not play the game like everyone else ? Because you see, these are the people you are upsetting and there are thousands if not millions of them. If you cannot do that, then the only conclusion that people can make is that you are there to cheat them.
So maybe a few people have made a point and also made some money, but if I were a serious poker player and had money at stake then I think I would be saying 'kindly leave the table' - and they can't all be that friendly.
Here's the article :
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.09/pokerbots.htmlFreddy. :blah:
