Poker Robots

wilheim · Jul 18, 2005

Good read about the man Vs. Machine battle now going on with poker robots.

Phil "The Unabomber" Laak takes on a "BOT" at Binion's.

Rx. Daily Reporter Article:

http://www.therx.com/nm/templates/article.asp?articleid=3765&zoneid=36

wil.

RobFunk · Jul 18, 2005

Very interesting. Sounds like if the Robot just varied it's aggressiveness some, it possibly could have defeated Laak.

Fishhead · Jul 18, 2005

This is scary!

Thanks Wilheim

maxdemo · Jul 18, 2005

http://www.pokerprobot.com/ :103631605

maxdemo · Jul 18, 2005

2005 World Series of Poker Robots

http://www.wsopr.com

Former North graduate to compete at Las Vegas

By Doug Hunt
doug@jrpress.com

[font=Arial, Helvetica, Sans Serif]A 1986 North Montgomery High School graduate was chosen to be one of six people from around the world to compete his poker robot software against similar software for a $100,000 prize.

Hilton ‘Print’ Givens, owner of software company Poker Probot.com, will play during the finals of the July 12-15 World Series of Poker at Las Vegas.

The event is sponsored by GoldenPalace.net and poker software-makers Fireswirl Technologies.

“(The sponsors) picked and chose people interested and the type of people they were dealing with,” Givens said Friday afternoon. “They wanted people who developed their own commercial products — people who had a variety of different backgrounds.”

The 72-hour duel of these “finest computer scientists in the world” will determine which contestant will have the bragging rights to the best software.

“It’s definitely going to be a challenge,” Givens said. “It should be fun to watch on TV. They are pitching several networks at this time. It will sure to be shown on the game show network. We’re also pitching it to ESPN.”

The 37-year-old Lafayette man, like the other contestants, will be flown to Vegas and set up in a hotel room with all expenses paid.

Givens never has met his competitors, which include people from Madrid, Hong Kong, Calgary, Indiana, Paris and the Silicon Valley.

“The one gentleman from Spain does not speak good English,” Givens said. “That is going to be interesting.”

Givens graduated in 1992 from Purdue University in computer technology. Throughout his career until about three years ago, he worked in information technology, software engineering and related fields.

An incident caused him to focus on creating a poker robot software.

“I got laid off from a startup company in Indianapolis a few years ago and started playing poker on-line,” Givens said. “I figured there had to be a better way to win, an easier way to win.”

Givens considers poker a hobby and has not had much time to play the game because of the time he has been putting into his software.

“Until now, poker robot competitions have existed in the underground,” said Darren Shuster, Poker Robot, LLC spokesman. “We’re making a truly global competition for poker and gaming enthusiasts to enjoy at the venue in Las Vegas, on TV or via the Internet.”

The World Series of Poker, the human version, will take about six weeks to narrow down the competitors to the final table. An independent Hollywood crew is in the process of recording most of the contestants at their homes in preparation for their journey to Las Vegas.

“The venue of the 2005 World Series of Poker Robots presented by GoldenPalace.net is being closely guarded for security purposes and will be announced 48 hours in advance of the competition to both media and public,” Shuster said.

Givens’ poker robot software does an “analysis on the hands that are being played by different opponents, and calculates the odds many, many times faster than a human can calculate them — it determines the best possible move.”

The software engineer placed in the top five out of about 1,000 competitors during the first $300-entry poker tournament he ever played.

Givens considers himself an amateur poker player.

“I do pretty well,” Givens said. “You have to be a good player to build a good robot.”

Even since high school, Givens has “pretty much been set in my ways.”

John Welliever, his former high school wrestling coach, did make an impact.

“I guess there was one teacher/mentor that pushed me,” he said.

On the Net:

http://www.pokerprobot.com On the Net: The World Series of Poker Robots.

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