JazzyBets

Over on the minimalist gambling news blog, Smash-Vegas, there is an excellent series of beginner articles on the “Anatomy of a Pokerbot” , using the open source pokerbot software, OpenHoldem. The series of posts on Smash-Vegas covers a wide range of PokerCoder challenges when developing a Pokerbot from scratch, such as the importance of stealth, improving the AI development with Pokertracker software, and using screen scrapers effectively.

The collection of posts of Smash-Vegas also covers introduction to Pokerbot strategy, and a brief, informative riff on First steps in Coding a Pokerbot. An interesting resource revealed in the pokerbot post is the OpenHoldem End-User documentation and formulas.

Taking a last look at the Man vs. Machine Pokerbot championship last month, the University of Alberta research team leading had an amusing quote that “real world problems are more like poker than chess” after the match on MSNBC.

“It’s hard to describe how good that felt,” research team leader Michael Bowling said in a report from the University of Alberta. “As a group, we may not all be great poker players, but all of us really, really want to win.”

Bowling pointed out that this was just a first step. “This was really the simplest form of poker,” he said. “There’s a lot more we can look at, such as playing without betting limits, or playing with more than two opponents. One of the reasons I got excited about this line of research is that it’s not just a one-off. It’s a really challenging path of research.”

Historically, computers have been better at games where all the information is essentially out there on the board - for instance, chess and checkers. Poker is trickier, because players have to make judgments based on different amounts of information about the state of play.

“In general, problems in the real world are going to be more like poker than chess,” Bowling said.”

To make smart betting decisions, you need to learn to use pot odds when deciding to call a bet or fold. Pot odds tell you if calling is the right decision.

Being able to think quickly on your feet, and knowing the odds on what’s good and bad on the flop, turn and the river is what makes a winning poker player!

Wrapping up JazzyBets coverage of the 2nd Annual PokerBot Championships, over the weekend, the Man vs. Machine Poker match was held with University of Alberta’s Computer Poker Research Group’s Polaris-2 Pokerbot pitted against professional poker players Nick “stoxtrader” Grudzien, Matt “Hoss_TBF” Hawrilenko, and IJay “doughnutz” Palansky. The Polaris Pokerbot won two matches against the professional poker player teams, with one match-up concluding in a draw.

Here are the official Pokerbot competition results:

Playing mediocre cards because they are suited is a common error made by beginner poker players. Here are some common flush draw percentages you should try

So, here at JazzyBets, we try to provide a wide range of opinions about Pokerbots and Pokerbot calculators in general, and recently Jazzy came across this interesting is pokerbot a scam riff over at the old school gamer blog, Original Nintendo. Now granted, the guy who wrote that riff, likely has a formal name, but for our purposes, in playfully addressing the curiousities of whether internet poker players should use Pokerbots, let’s call him, Super Mario Fishstix.

So Super Mario Fishstix starts off with:

“First of all what exactly is Poker Bot? It is a computer program that runs on popular Poker Room clients to read your hands statistically and it recommends the players action. I would not call it a scam exactly because it does provide good statistical information but I would not advise using it.”

Let’s see, Super Mario Fishstix, almost hit the definition of an ICM Bot right. A computer program that runs concurrently with online poker room clients and reads your hand and other player’s chips statistically and executes the most statistically efficient player’s action to WIN MORE HANDS. Please eat a mushroom and get big, Super Mario Fishstix. He goes on to say that these computer programs do provide good statistical information, which is slang for, Pokerbot calculations are smarter than me.

Super Mario Fishstix continued to enlighten with:

“The best question is. How can a Poker Bot pick up obvious reads and tells if it’s information is based on numbers? It can’t think for itself or make gut decisions which are crucial. There is no automatic poker winning machine I am sorry to say. ”

While Independent Chip Modeling can’t pick up some time-based reads and tells, the ICM Bot can play optimal ranges, so that it is statistically possible to win more all-in’s, more showdowns and more tournaments, hands down. Gut decisions and obvious reads lead to one thing, Super Mario Fishstix. Sitting out early.

A Poker Bot, like ICM Bot, for instance, that uses an algorithm synthesizing four major poker specific probability theories, is simply more accurate, more intelligent and more efficient at winning SnG tournaments, more often, over a defined period of time. Combined with multi-tabling capability and online poker room frequent player rakeback deals, this can all add up to a super double jump to your pocketbook and then some, Mario!

Save fun for your Sunday poker night with buddies Luigi and Goomba in your Zelda garage. ICM Bot never gets tired, never feels emotions like “Why didn’t I go All-in on That”, never gets sidetracked by distractions or anything less than completely, and statistically PERFECT poker playing. Super Mario Fishstix, maybe there are no automatic poker winning machines, but that’s only because you didn’t try using the ICM Bot, every couple hours with your online poker SnG playing. Yep, that’s right. You can turn ICM Bot on or off, on demand, even in the middle of a tournament. Oh snap! Instantaneous Poker Smarts!

Ok, we’ll offer Super Mario Fishstix a golden star for the line “If Poker Bot was used a Statistical Learning Program through Poker Rooms the idea would be more realistic to use.”

And now for the grand finale. Why Super Mario Fishstix is every ICM bot calculator player’s dream.

“To become the greatest at poker a player must practice the game with friends, family, or online...”

On that note, we cleverly round out our ICM Bot versus Super Mario Fishstix showdown. We hope you had a little fun with our all-in pocket rockets at you, and we’re really glad you think Poker bots, probably are not a scam. See you at the tables, FISHSTIX!

If you want to make good poker decisions, using the infinite powers of your mind, you’ll want to use Poker Mathematics to apply odds at your internet poker table. Some hardcore players have jedi-like capabilities, and can do these calculations simply by their excellent intuition and pinpoint accurate judgment for the game. But the majority of us players, Jazzy included, need to rely on Poker Mathematics to assist in guiding us with close decisions at the flop, that uneasy feeling your get at the turn or a serious push on the river. JazzyBets players that understand how to apply poker mathematics for odds in an online poker game will have a considerable advantage of most opponents.

Let’s take a look at a jazzy example of demonstrating Poker Mathematics to execute exceptional poker decisions. You are playing in a $1-$2 game and are seated on the button. You are holding suited K T hearts and the board shows 9(h) 2(s) 4(d) A(h). One of the players at the table bets $2 bucks for a total pot of $10. To make things easy, let’s also assume your opponent is betting a pair of Aces, however, he’ll fold if another heart surprises him on the river. Now should you call and shoot for the flush? Remember, he has a pair of Aces to your nothing.

Using Poker Mathematics, you can safely guesstimate that the odds of hitting a flush are 4 to 1. Basically, that means you will hit a flush once every five tries. If you played this hand five times, you’ll lose $2 four times, (ouch!) and win $10 once, for a total assumed profit of $2 (yay). So what if the pot is only $7? In this situation, you could reasonably expect to lose $2 four times and win $7 once for a loss of $1, so if the pot is not enough to risk it, you should fold, with no shame in your game.

Online Poker Action from PokerStars TV

Online Poker Action from PokerStars TV

Online Poker Action from PokerStars TV