[benfranklin]

I don't have enough information to make a judgement yet. My immediate reaction to bots is, so what? A bot is a program that makes decisions according to a set of rules. To this extent, it is better than a human attempting to follow the same set of rules, because the bot doesn't go on tilt, doesn't forget, doesn't rationalize exceptions to the rules, and basically, doesn't think. And we all know what happens to us when we try to think [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

There are several potential downsides to bots. One is that a bot cannot make situation adjustments. This makes it less effective at higher levels. Another is that a bot is no better than the rules that are programmed into it. Making the rules is a lot harder than making the bot. Rules can't deal with the ultimate poker truism: "It depends."

All of the threads I have seen here so far assume that there are bots playing now, and that these bots are kicking butt at the tables. I haven't seen any evidence for either. And like the eternal battle between cops with radar and speeders with radar detectors, poker sites will be bringing more and more new technology to bear against bots, collusion, etc.