A computer scientists from Carnegie Mellon University recently  announced the development of an artificial intelligence that is “stronger than human professionals” in the most popular version of poker. While the code has not been released because it could have a serious impact on the online poker market. The AI strategy was developed for a cloud-computing cost of just $144 in 8 days, runs on normal computers, plays twice as fast as professional players and could be adapted for any poker variant.

The emergence of superhuman poker bots in the online ecosystem now appears to be a matter of when, not if. Morgan Stanley’s review of the academic papers, conversations with industry contacts and 4 pro poker players, including one who was on the experiment, lead them to 3 key conclusions:

1) The development reinforces an ongoing challenge for operators, 2) Poker key because of cross-sell: larger impact likely on top 20% of ecosystem, and 3) A secondary impact could come from reduced overall confidence in poker as a fair skill game. You can read more about the artificial intelligence risk to online poker and gambling at YogoNet.