Can a computer beat man at poker? It can at least stay competitive. Polaris, a poker-playing AI, went up against two pro players this week and ultimately lost.
Phil "The Unabomber" Laak and Ali Eslami played identical games against Polaris separately to remove randomization. They each played two 500 hand games of Limit Texas Hold'em over two days. On the first day, Polaris posted a win and a draw, but lost both games on the second day.
The creators are extremely happy with the performance as they've shown that a computer can be competitive against pro players. Poker was thought to be a game that computers could not play well against humans because of the amount of the level of bluffing and reading of human behavior.
One of the creators said, "We had no idea where the technology stood. We're not better [than humans]. There's not enough data to suggest that," but, "It's clear that we're competitive."
Just another step toward the Robot Uprising.
ABC News: Man vs. Machine: Poker-Playing Computer Falls to Pros
