The battle against the use of unauthorized technological aids continued recently at 888poker. The site announced Tuesday that it had closed 85 accounts aided with artificial intelligence (AI).
The move included recovering $100,000 for customers affected by playing against these accounts. This becomes the latest in the industry as operators look to battle the usage of bots, artificial intelligence, and banned software.
“We are proud of our continued progress in tackling bots that use software to create an unfair advantage over real-life players,” head of 888poker Amit Berkovich said in a news release.
“We know that online poker players see bots as a concern when choosing their online poker platform, and we are proud to be leading the way in cracking down to ensure that 888poker provides an enjoyable, safe, and level playing field for all.”
Shutting down bots at 888poker
Most legal, regulated online poker sites, including 888poker, look to ensure a fair and level playing field for all players. The company’s actions in closing the accounts are part of its efforts to do that.
These accounts affected more than 4,000 users and those players have now received a share of the money the site seized.
888 has developed sophisticated and innovative methods of detection in recent years. The site’s security team works to provide players a fair and safe environment.
What is a bot and how do they work?
A poker bot is a computer program designed specifically to play online poker. The goal is that the bot acts as a real player.
The programmers behind the bot hope the bot can play well against human opponents or other computer opponents.
This form of cheating is against the terms of service by most legitimate poker sites. Bots offer players an unfair advantage and because they are computer programs, they can play endlessly.
This means the “player” doesn’t get tired and make mistakes like regular human players. The whole concept behind online poker is real players competing against other real players.
Bots run counter to that idea. 888poker is now working even more to battle bots and AI at the tables.
“We will continue to use a combination of AI, our industry know-how, and other monitoring software to crack down on bots,” Berkovich said, “and ensure that 888poker is the safe and fair platform of choice for all poker lovers.”