Phil Laak vs. the bot

[NateDog]

Article in the L.A. Times this morning.

[Overdrive]

In the article Phil Laak says anyone who can write a poker program than can win can also write it to evade detection. Once the word spreads around that online poker sites are running rampant with bots you can kiss all the fish goodbye. All of online poker will look like a Crypto $1-2 table (before they changed bonus structure) on the first of the month with bots trading the sb and bb back and forth between themselves. That will sure be fun. Thank god for the B&M's and home games....

[Supern]

It seems like the bot threat is for real.

How do these bots play automatically?
Do they simulate mouse movements and mouseclicks?

There must be a way to prevent them.

[iluzion]

[ QUOTE ]
There must be a way to prevent them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just those random bot check type boxes.

[Supern]

[ QUOTE ]
Just those random bot check type boxes.

[/ QUOTE ]

If that is true we need Bill Gates help to solve it.

If the poker software only accepts mouse actions there must be a way to prevent bots.

But I guess they will make robots to move the mouse then. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[WC64]

The guy who won was from Indiana, here is a local article on it

Bot Article

[Sponger15SB]

[ QUOTE ]
In the article Phil Laak says anyone who can write a poker program than can win can also write it to evade detection.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well if Phil Laak says this it must be true!

[BruinEric]

[ QUOTE ]
In the article Phil Laak says anyone who can write a poker program than can win can also write it to evade detection. Once the word spreads around that online poker sites are running rampant with bots you can kiss all the fish goodbye. All of online poker will look like a Crypto $1-2 table (before they changed bonus structure) on the first of the month with bots trading the sb and bb back and forth between themselves. That will sure be fun. Thank god for the B&M's and home games....

[/ QUOTE ]

Kiss your home games goodbye when the bots rise up and overthrow mankind!

In all seriousness...I'm not fond of "the sky is falling" posts.

The fact that there are reasonable countermeasures to bots which have the potential of upsetting the risk/gain ratio puts me at ease.

Aside from various technical countermeasures that can be (and are being) deployed, there is the simple fact that a poker site has the "upper hand" when it comes to enforcement.

For the example of the USA, these sites aren't governed by US Law, so what impacts the risk/reward ratio is the fact that the sites can seize a player's entire account until he "proves" himself innocent.

If a site suspects a player of running a bot, they can prevent cashouts or even close the account while doing research. What recourse does a bot-writer holed up in a cabin in Montana have? Is he going to hire a lawyer in Gibraltar?

As for your "kiss recreational players goodbye!" panic (I don't like using the term "fish.") It should rest your mind somewhat that players who are fully aware of the house edge and guaranteed long-run losing proposition of casino games still play them.

[Siingo]

This suck!!!!!

[Diplomat]

Time to make hay while the sun shines.

*opens 12 tables*

-Diplomat