Bots on the iPoker Network: Where Things Now Stand

In recent weeks serious allegations have been raised multiple times that a flood of Bots has been unleashed on the iPoker network, especially in the micro-limits games. Here's an overview of the current situation as well as reactions from the network.

Online poker is fascinating for any number of reasons. One of these is certainly the fact that you can measure yourself up against other people in a card game where a variety of factors help determine the outcome, starting with your own range and the ability to put your mental skills to work at a high level against a concrete opponent. The underlying presumption is and must be that the games are fair and that all players are working on the same playing field.

Playing against a computer, or a Bot, as they are know, is something else entirely. The better the programming on the Bot, the tougher it is to beat it, especially for beginners. Yet Bots can be tough to detect. Before you can establish for certain that a Bot is involved, where certain strategic approaches can be used to negate the Bot's advantage, it's generally already moved on to another game. There simply isn't time to adapt your game.

High Bot count, weak support

Overview of Bots in the iPoker network

Numerous PokerStrategists (German thread) experienced this first hand in recent weeks when they played for micro-stakes on the iPoker network. A rash of similar-sounding screen names that always contained numbers and produced remarkably similar statistics across a frequently larger sample size raised suspicions that these were not human opponents.

Experienced PokerStrategists who typically play in higher limit games stopped by the micro games and confirmed the suspicions of the micro-regulars.

The number of these "players" is shockingly high, in some cases leading to multiple Bots sitting around one table. Their ability to adapt to opponents suggests that they are in fact accessing a shared database and are likely centrally operated.

What's also striking is that new Bots frequently step directly into the spots at the table that had just been vacated by another Bot.

Threads addressing this problem at iPoker have appeared on TwoPlusTwo as well. The suspicion has been raised there as well that the Bots are also active in the MTT area and for high stakes games.

It's worth noting that the general terms & conditions of business at William Hill state that the site can integrate Bots into the game to improve the flow of the game. They are clearly declared as Bots, however, with screen names containing the tag "bot" (and in many cases numbers or name suffixes). It seems apparent that Bots are active both in the No Limit and Fixed Limit areas.

iPoker issues detailed statement

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Several PokerStrategists expressed additional frustration about their interaction with the site's support.

Support staff initially claimed with absolute conviction that their site, and thus the network, contained no Bots. The statements seemed dodgy from the start and ultimately had to be retracted.

In recent days the situation has improved on the micro-stakes tables, claims the originator of the thread in the German PokerStrategy.com forum, dasgebuesch.

When queried by PokerStategy.com, the iPoker network also issued a statement in which it clearly states that Bots are forbidden and that the network would pursue them with extreme prejudice. The good reputation of the network would be protected at all costs.

iPoker also took a position on the clause in the William Hill general terms & conditions permitting Bots. That passage is not compatible with the iPoker regulations, they claim, and will be removed straightaway.

Effective immediately, it is also forbidden to use a screen name containing the word "bot", so as to avoid the impression that a human player might in fact be a Bot.

The iPoker statement also addressed the inaccurate statements provided by its customer support team. They did a "poor job" and ultimately contributed to the anxiety on the part of the players. iPoker has demanded of the respective support provider that the support be improved.

Can the Bot problem really be addressed?

The accounts detailed in the PokerStrategy.com forum are purported to have caught the attention of iPoker's staff even before the threads were posted, they claim. They have in some cases been frozen and will remain so until an investigation has been conducted in full.

Efforts are allegedly also underway to pursue the providers of Bot software and their affiliates in this area using legal means.

Later William Hill issued a statement here on the topic.

What can be said with certainty is that there has been a marked improvement on the Bot problem, especially in the No Limit micro-stakes area. It seems reasonable to presume that the numerous posts in the PokerStrategy.com and TwoPlusTwo forums contributed significantly to this.

To ensure quicker reaction in the future if new suspicious accounts should arise, PokerStrategy.com is currently working on establishing lines of communication to iPoker, who will need to address or at least support such efforts. Even if the problem of the Bots is unlikely to ever go away completely, the process is nevertheless a good and important start.

PokerStrategy.com's view on the issue

In recent weeks we've been following the discussion in our forum regarding Bots in the iPoker network with great care, and contacted iPoker shortly after the problem caught our attention. Thanks to our (in many cases mutual) help, the suspicious accounts have been frozen, which is an important first step. The fight against the Bots will unfortunately have to continue.

We can completely understand your displeasure and the demands for a fair game, and will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that the issue of Bots remains front and center for the iPoker network. Please contact us in the future if you have concrete suspicions that a specific account is a Bot. We'll then forward your evidence to iPoker.