Many players and prominent poker personalities were alarmed in recent days when they read a news story that shocked them. The Bloomberg agency published an article authored by Kit Chellel entitled "The Russian Bot Army That Conquered Online Poker."
Beyond the shocking headline, the reality is that it is a rather complex story that once again raises alarm bells about the possible presence of bots, now enhanced by the evolution of Artificial Intelligence. In his text, Chellel tells the story of a group of Russian students who discovered online poker as a source of income and ended up developing one of the most advanced automated gaming software seen to date.
The history of the group dates back more than ten years. In 2012 they had already developed a highly evolved bot for the time and had successfully implemented it in some of the main rooms that led the market at that time. Today they are known as the Bot Farm Corporation, and they have ideas to change the course of online poker.
A few years after their inception, the group went further and tried to start a training software business under the name Neo Poker Lab, but it didn't work out. Eventually, they ended up selling their bots to small online poker rooms and clubs so they could generate liquidity without needing a large field of players. They also offered anti-bot security services to make sure only bots played at certain tables. But aside from making money from these businesses, B.F. Corp., as Chellel calls them in his article, has plans to change the world of online poker.
After years of research, Chellel finally got an interview in Armenia with founding members of B.F. Corp. In that report, they explained to the reporter that they had noticed a flaw in the world of online poker. The number of professional players had grown so much in the last decades that it was no longer profitable. Previously, a pro would come to a table to take the chips from the fishes that were abundant in every room. Now, a single fish has to feed five pros. Through their gigantic database, they had noticed that losing players are stripped of their money in less than 1,000 hands and stop playing. For them, this meant that online poker was in danger.
That's why they decided to create a new format of online poker without rake. In this version, bots would be in charge of looking for opponents with the same skill level. "A poker tinder," they called it. In this way, they would create a balanced game in which amateurs can play against each other, just like professionals. While this could generate an attraction for new players, it would also make online poker a kind of casino game without skill differences.
The Western poker playing community reacted on Twitter to the news. Joey Ingram quoted the article and wrote "I can't believe these guys were featured in Bloomberg. Incredible report." WPT ambassador Tony Dunst called the article a “disturbing read.” WPT Global Chairman Alex Scott also quoted the article several times, highlighting its importance. He also expressed his regret that there is finally mainstream coverage of the poker industry, and it is about a bot farm.
