Robot Deemed “Unbeatable” In Texas Hold ‘Em Poker

Robots can be pretty cool in the various tasks that they perform, and on the other hand, they can be terrifying, too, especially when they are being so efficient at what they do. Here is a robot that is so adept at playing Texas hold ‘em poker, so much so that it is deemed “unbeatable”. In the popular two-person version of the poker game, there are thousands of decisions to make that could affect the outcome of it all – but this robot is said to come up with a strategy that is so close to optimal, it would be nigh impossible to defeat in the long run.

The strategy behind it? To “solve” any form of poker – by playing as close to perfectly as is mathematically as possible, which would ensure that it does not come out worse for the wear across many hands, regardless of what kind of cards its opponent holds, or does with them – at least according to the computer scientist Michael Bowling of the University of Alberta, who helmed the research team behind this robot.

Making use of the poker-playing program “Cepheus”, it could also very well be applied in the field of cybersecurity, medicine, and even business negotiations, cited Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist Sam Ganzfried, who happens to be the co-author of the program that picked up the 2014 computer poker competition gong.

Cepheus’s winning strategies would include almost always raising after the first two cards, although it would also fold when it has likely losers such as a 3 and 7 or a 2 and Jack. If you are interested, you can check out the ideal moves as well as go up against Cepheus here.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Robots
Tags: AI (Artificial Intelligence), poker