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Texas Hold 'Em poker machine built on neural networks beats even the best players

Texas Hold 'Em poker machine built on neural networks beats even the best players

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(SHUTTERSTOCK) Texas Hold 'Em Poker Card Casio
(SHUTTERSTOCK) Texas Hold 'Em Poker Card Casio

A new poker machine has such smart artificial intelligence that players are hooked even though the house always wins. About 200 machines across the country, called "Texas Hold ‘Em Heads Up Poker," use knowledge gained from billions of staged rounds of poker fed through neural networks, and the result is an unpredictable poker player that can win almost every time. Three different banks of knowledge are used depending on the gameplay scenario, but the basic idea behind its play technique is "to prevent itself from being exploited." "The theory behind it is almost paranoid," as engineer Fredrik Dahl explains. Before the machines hit the casinos, the makers spent two years trying to dumb the AI down so players wouldn't walk away from the machines. Even with the adjustment, it's estimated that only 100 players around the world even have a chance of taking the game down. Michael Kaplan has profiled the machines for The New York Times — be sure to read the full article for all the details.