[dismalstudent99]

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It is backward thinking to want to play poker in an environment (where computers outnumber humans 2 to 1) and yet expect there to be only non-computer assisted players.

Computer assisted players have been part of the game since poker appeared on the internet 10 years ago - yet we still have people like you hanging around who are possessed by the false notion that internet poker is identical to the live game.

Can somebody please tell me why human beings can latch on to the idea that they and only they should be playing internet poker in an environment where computers outnumber humans 2 to 1? This is not a reasonable expectation within the online game.

RIIT

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First, we're talking about bots, not computer-assisted players. Something like Poker Tracker assists a player, whereas a bot IS a player.

AI "assistance" is also a bit off topic -- we are considering a situation where the AI is so superior that most players would be better off letting the bot make all the decisions.

In such a situation, humans would no longer be having fun playing if they just followed the bot's instruction. Take out the fun aspect, and people will stop playing.


Second, technology gets better. Yes, bots are already here and aren't very good. However, the point is that they will get better (especially with the boom in poker studies in academia). And once they get better, there will be put into greater use.

Third, once bots are capable of beating the microstakes game, the whole foundation of online poker will be threatened. Bot operators will have an incentive to populate the tables with bots until all profitability is drained out of the game (too many bot-sharks and human sharks, and not enough human fish).

This, in turn, will make it impossible for a moderately-skilled human player to build a bankroll and move up.

Also, newbies would be deterred from entering the online poker world in the first place because they hear news about how it's almost impossible to beat the game.

Since money flows up the poker pyramid, the depletion of winning microstakes humans would cause the higher stakes game to dry up -- no fresh meat.


In short, the online poker economy is built on entertainment value and players' belief in upwards mobility. Bots take away these two foundations.


The economics of botting must take precedence over the ethics of botting. Super bots will vastly shrink the online poker economy. Because of this negative effect, we should consider bots unethical.

Therefore, I hope the powers that be start thinking up better anti-bot measures.

The best measure would be to make it a crime (fraud). After that, I think we would have to resort to bot-proof Internet cafes.