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2007-09-24
Online Poker Bots a Problem at Full Tilt Poker
Following public outcry, Full Tilt Poker has decided to respond to the accusations that online poker bots are playing within their poker rooms.
The website has issued several players affected by the "online poker bot play" refunds, according to Kelli Smithgall of 4Flush.com. Smithgall also goes on to suggest that suspect "bot" accounts have been froze and are "under investigation".
"The bots reportedly played on Full Tilt at the Texas Hold’em Limit cash tables and possibly, however not confirmed, at some no limit style tables.
"A poker bot is a type of malware, since the bot player is not human, they don’t express fear or shame, they also can’t recognize a bluff, they play the math, playing correct poker, not emotional poker, which has both it’s ups and downs. Humans on the other hand might back off against extremely aggressive players.
"For example, a poker bot will raise any two cards if they think there is even the slightest advantage based on a real player’s history.
"Although bots have been a common theme in online gambling and poker playing for several years now, it has been almost impossible to catch them. Like slimy snakes, they seek out unassuming new poker players that are still naive about the online gambling world."
Not all bots are bad though. For example, the Google Bot is a "good bot" that scans websites for content than lists news stories to be part of the Google listings.
There has been a great deal of controversy about the use of bots in an automated trading function. Auction website eBay has been to court in an attempt to suppress a third-party company from using bots to traverse their site looking for bargains; this approach backfired on eBay and attracted the attention of further bots. The United Kingdom-based bet exchange Betfair saw such a large amount of traffic coming from bots they launched a WebService API aimed at bot programmers through which Betfair can actively manage bot interactions.
Malicious bots are well known for harvesting email addresses from contact forms or guestbook pages and spamming said email addresses with messages that read: "Hello my dear and new freind !!!!! It's Natalia" (Russian brides); "Thanks, we are ready to lend your company money" (seedy loan sharks); "Save on meds" (illegal pharmaceutical companies); "When I tried to give him **** sex I practically choked" (sexually enhancements).
Bad bots also hack and play online poker. Whether Full Tilt Poker can prevent online poker bots from entering their room again remains to be seen but at least they are making some efforts to accommodate affected players. |
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