Is Using Poker Bots Safe – Will I Get Banned?

AI poker bots have gone from being something that could barely beat a new player to something that can play and win by itself. In fact, the best bots have proven that they can beat multiple professional poker players at once.

So, the idea of using a poker bot to create an income is now something that could be reality. But before you invest, you need to know everything about bots. So is a poker bot safe to use, and can you be banned, losing your money along the way?

Detection Methods Used by Online Poker Platforms

In general, most if not all online poker platforms have terms and conditions that ban the use of AI poker bots. To maintain that ban, they have systems in place that detect bot usage, but how do these work?

Anti-cheat systems are automated and look for certain patterns of play that can signify a bot, and will then flag the account for further manual investigation. Those patters include a number of factors, in particular:

• Bet Size – Endless identical bets can suggest a bot in action
• Timing – Bots will go through the same analysis on every move, taking an almost identical amount of time, every time.
• Play Time – Bots don’t need to sleep, if an account is being players for 12+ hours a day, it could mean a bot is active
• Predictable use of specific strategies
• No chat activity

There are more, but if flagged, many systems now present a Captcha challenge to see if a player will respond, if not, then it is passed for further investigation.

Risks of Using Poker Bots

The biggest risk associated with poker bots is that your account is detected as using them and you lose the winnings in there. If you are detected, they will usually ban the account, and retain any money in your account, declaring it illegitimate winnings.

However, while this is not a good outcome, you can take action to mitigate the risk, and you will usually be able to open a new account with other providers to replace it.

How are your poker bots protected from detection?

AI poker bots avoid the most obvious signs of automated play by mimicking human behavior as part of their basic operations. That means varying bet sizes and the length of time needed to make their choices each move, so they appear more human for the detection systems most commonly used today.

Safety Measures for Bot Users

If you are using an AI poker bot, there are things you can do as well to avoid detection. One key area that reveals bot use is play time. Most human players won’t be spending 18 hours a day or longer without a break, and they won’t be playing multiple tables while they do so.

Limiting the hours a bot is used on an account, varying those hours and sticking to one game at a time can help limit potential exposure. To overcome these limitations, many poker bots today can also play on multiple accounts at once. Open several accounts and you can still have all day play on multiple tables, just staggered between different account identities.

The other thing you can do is manage each account more effectively. Don’t leave large amounts of money in the account, keep it to as small a bank as you can get away with, by withdrawing winnings on a regular basis. This means that if you are banned, your money losses will be minimized.

How do your poker bots mimic human behaviour in order to remain undetectable?

Avoiding the robotic nature of automated play is key to avoiding detection as we mentioned earlier. But what does that mean in practice? The key tell for a bot in the past has been the consistency in how they play. No matter the situation in the game, no matter where the hand is, from preflop to the river, the bot took the same amount of time to make their move. This is because they were performing the same calculations every time.

To mimic human behavior, the latest poker bots will take random lengths of time for each move, simulating a player thinking harder about some situations than others. Similarly, bots will now vary the bets made, rather than the earlier, less sophisticated poker bots that used the same bets every time as part of their hard coded strategies.

Which poker platforms are more likely to detect and ban bots?

The most sophisticated anti-bot systems today are used by PokerStars. They are very secretive about how their system works, so it is difficult to know what they do differently. They have a policy of banning all accounts confirmed to be using poker bots and other AI tools during play.

However, while the system has a reputation for finding and banning bot accounts, poker bots designed to work with PokerStars can still operate successfully.

What are the main risks associated with using poker bots?

The main risk of using an AI poker bot to play on your behalf is that it will be detected and your account will be banned from the platform. In the worst-case scenario, you will lose the account and any money you had in it.

Have there been instances where users faced problems due to bot usage?

Beyond losing an account and the money in it, there is very little that can happen. However, this alone can be a major problem for some. One example comes from PokerStars, who banned the WCOOP-2018 Champion, username Wann2play, when they determined he was using a poker bot.

As you might expect, his account was banned instantly, with $1.35 million in prize money seized from the account as well, probably the biggest loss for cheating on poker to date. That is why it is good practice to withdraw funds quickly and not leave large amounts within the account.

What steps do you recommend consumers take to reduce the risks associated with using poker bots?

With bots using human mimicking behavior in game, the key thing for users to consider is how, where and for how long the bot is working. Don’t leave a bot playing a single account all day, or for extended hours at the same time every day. Instead use several accounts and vary when and for how long the bot is deployed on each one.

This randomness avoids many of the problems that bot users encounter and minimizes the chances of being caught. By using good money management and minimizing the amount of money in an account at any point, you also protect yourself from large losses if an account is banned.

FAQ

What are the risks of using a poker bot in online poker?

The big risk of using an AI poker bot is getting caught doing so, which will result in your account being banned, potentially losing any money held in it.

How do you assist users that have concerns with banned accounts?

Guides for the best practice in deploying the poker bot, and tips for money management, both help avoid the most common detection solutions.

How often do you update your poker bots’ software?

Bot software is updated to counter any new detection algorithms as they are deployed.