Can You Write a Sure-fire Algorithm to Stop Bots?

[Nick Rivers]

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- I don't remember/know a lot about Backgammon AI, but I think I remember the search tree for it is really shallow because of the probability element (ie. each possible turn has many possibilities since the moves allowed are determined by rolling the dice). Is it possible that the backgammon algorithms can't be run fast enough on typical machines to play in real time against another player?

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No.

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- Its possible Bot detection algorithms are good enough to find these bots. I doubt this will be true in 5 - 10 years. Similar to my argument above, the interface is just too narrow between hosting site and the player to make bot detection possible in the long term.

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No. There are bots in action on backgammon sites.

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- There isn't the money in Backgammon that there is in Poker, and thats a big factor when writing these bots.

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There isn't, but the bots exist. AI has been able to defeat any human player for a long time at backgammon; turning it into bots or even just player-assisting tools didn't take long after the emergence of online BG money games.

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- Backgammon hasn't received the attention Poker has, so potentially thats a factor in the short term.

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Irrelevant. BG has received enough attention and the AI has been developed for long enough to render humans second-rate.

Invincible (in terms of EV) bots for BG exist and yet people still play these online money games. Players can generally tell later if they've been "cheated," by simply plugging the games they've played into Snowie and seeing if the opponent made any mistakes. A zero mistake rate indicates another player using AI (probably Snowie) and either a bot or a player-assisting program. But, by that time, they've already wagered their money. And, the next time, they may be up against the same bot under a different username and fall into the same trap again. I suppose the intrepid players are willing to fade these bankroll hits, though, because of the many moronic players out there. Just like it will be in poker when "unbeatable" bots are all over the place.