Hold'em Algorithm that beats most pro players.

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RickAversion

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Article about an algo that beats most human players.
Guess what the general strategy is?
It even beats most pros.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/magazine/poker-computer.html?hp&pagewanted=all

[SPOIL]He has not seen many others turning a profit. “Over all, this machine crushes people,” he says. “The machine is far too aggressive and steals far too many pots.”

How does Reed manage to overcome a machine that has been so hard to beat? He says it “gains its edge by being the aggressor. It almost never check-calls, or simply matches an opponent’s bet without a raise. The bot gives credit to your hand when you raise and reraise.” Unseasoned players, Reed says, have a habit of folding hands that might seem inferior. Reed has discovered that playing connecting cards like 7 and 8 can have unexpected value. “If a high card comes on the flop, the machine often folds to a bet from you, believing that you have made a high pair. So you have the middle range [of flopped cards] from which you can make hands, and the high range from which you can bluff. If you don’t bet, the bot will want to.” It’s been estimated that Reed is among 100 or so people in the world who can steadily beat the machine.[/SPOIL]
 
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Matt Vaughan

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It's pretty easy to teach a machine to win at limit hold'em, because you can just make it play against "itself," millions and millions of times. The relatively small game tree (limited number of possible scenarios) makes it very plausible for a machine to play optimally. No limit is a bit of a different story (for now).
 
IPlay

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I wouldn't trust it for one. Secondly, it seems like making the proper adjustments is all it takes just like you stated in the OP.
 
Matt Vaughan

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Except that the machine adjusts as well. Did you read the whole article? The only reason anyone is even able to beat it is because it's programmed to make mistakes sometimes.

"Because a never-beatable game will not succeed in a casino, the machine was programmed to occasionally play in a weak, passive style, seeming to reduce the game’s edge and re-engaging casual players."

Also, even with those artificial leaks in place, "It’s been estimated that Reed is among 100 or so people in the world who can steadily beat the machine."

Yeah, seems easy :p
 
hashtag

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The strategy or workings would be something for people studying AI or neural networks to understand. As far as how many people in the world can beat it, I'd be surprised if they had more than 100 people thoroughly test these machines over some weeks; Another nonsense number plucked out of the air to make good reading.

The fact is we are not very good at artificial intelligence right now. The maths and the languages for this need lots of work. It's a game of chance, lies and common sense. Of course there will be ways to beat it that will be found out over time playing the machines.

Why you would want to play against a computer, owned by a for profit org who want the odds in their favour over the long run is well beyond me.
 
Matt Vaughan

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Except that it's not really AI. It's game theory.
 
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It adjusts to your play? It's AI. Learns anything about your playing patterns. AI. All AI algoriths are based on some fixed theory + learning. The learning part = AI.
 
IPlay

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Except that the machine adjusts as well. Did you read the whole article? The only reason anyone is even able to beat it is because it's programmed to make mistakes sometimes.

"Because a never-beatable game will not succeed in a casino, the machine was programmed to occasionally play in a weak, passive style, seeming to reduce the game’s edge and re-engaging casual players."

Also, even with those artificial leaks in place, "It’s been estimated that Reed is among 100 or so people in the world who can steadily beat the machine."

Yeah, seems easy :p

Actually, I did not read the article :p
 
Matt Vaughan

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It adjusts to your play? It's AI. Learns anything about your playing patterns. AI. All AI algoriths are based on some fixed theory + learning. The learning part = AI.

Adjusting to input (even if it's also past input) alone does not imply learning. Basically every machine ever made takes input and responds using output.

Also, I could be wrong, but the way I read the article was that the software played against itself to find game theory optimal strategy. It's been a while since I've read that article closely, as it's kind of old news, but my impression was that it was playing GTO, not exploitative. If it's playing exploitatively I'd be more inclined to agree that it falls under AI.
 
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