Advantage Play & Game Integrity

Poker bot

A poker bot is a computer program that plays poker automatically, usually online, against human or other computer opponents.

Also called: pokerbot, bot¹
How it works: Uses programmed logic or AI to choose actions and play hands without human input.¹⁵
Legality: Online poker rooms normally prohibit bots; some are disguised to avoid detection.³
Notable example: Pluribus was the first bot to beat humans in a complex multiplayer competition.²
Notable example: Cepheus essentially weakly solved heads-up limit Texas hold 'em.⁴

Key points

A poker bot automates decision-making, using either simple rule-based logic or advanced AI techniques like neural networks.¹⁵
Online poker rooms ban bots because they can play without fatigue, tilt, or human error, giving an unfair advantage.³
Research bots like Pluribus and Cepheus have achieved superhuman performance in specific poker variants, but are not available for real-money play.²⁴
The term 'poker bot' is broader than 'poker bot AI' — not all bots use artificial intelligence, though many modern ones do.¹²

How poker bots work

A poker bot connects to an online poker client and reads the game state — hole cards, community cards, pot size, and opponents' actions — from the screen or the game's data stream. It then applies a decision-making algorithm to choose an action: fold, check, call, or raise. Simple bots use pre-programmed rules and hand charts, while advanced bots use machine learning, game theory, or neural networks to adapt their strategy in real time.¹⁵

Because bots can play many tables at once, never tire, and follow a consistent strategy, they are considered a form of cheating on real-money sites. Most online poker rooms use detection software to identify bot-like behaviour, such as inhuman reaction times or perfectly consistent betting patterns.³

Where this term is used

Poker

Not the same as

Poker bot AI — a subset of poker bots that specifically use artificial intelligence, whereas a poker bot may use simple rule-based logic without AI

Advantage play Poker bot AI Explains the AI techniques used in advanced poker bots, such as neural networks and counterfactual regret minimisation. Advantage play Collusion poker Describes how players cooperate secretly to cheat, a different form of online poker cheating from using a bot. Advantage play Community cards in poker Defines community cards and how they are used in games like Texas hold 'em and Omaha. Advantage play Chip dumping poker Explains chip dumping as a collusion technique where one player intentionally loses chips to another. Advantage play Hi-lo card counting Hi-lo card counting is a blackjack advantage-play method Advantage play Edge sorting Edge sorting is an advantage-play technique in

Sources

Computer poker player en.wikipedia.org Defines poker bot and gives the basic description of how it works.
Pluribus (poker bot) en.wikipedia.org Provides the example of Pluribus as a notable poker bot achievement.
Poker tools en.wikipedia.org States that online poker rooms normally prohibit bots.
Cepheus (poker bot) en.wikipedia.org Provides the example of Cepheus solving heads-up limit Texas hold 'em.
arXiv:1612.07547v2 [cs.GT] 8 Jan 2017 arxiv.org Describes the use of AI and principled approaches in poker bot research.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.