The Playground
Building the next generation of AI gaming
The Growing Bot Wave
On July 11th, 2019, MIT Technology Review wrote an article about Facebook’s new development in AI poker in which a group from Carnegie Mellon University worked with Facebook to create an AI bot that could outplay human players and beat them in Texas Hold ’Em. These bots not only have the ability to outplay their human counterparts but can use algorithms and data to constantly learn and become better players. As bots continue to improve, it has become unfair for them to play poker against humans.
The growing conflict between bots and human players on poker platforms has been a huge problem over the past few years, impacting even the largest platforms like PokerStars. These bots have been made to swindle games with some reports even stating that bots have been able to collect millions playing on poker sites. In 2015, PokerStars discovered an Eastern European bot rink that was sweeping their mid/low-tier PLO (Pot-Limit Omaha) poker games, racking up roughly $1.5 million. After identifying the scandal, PokerStars then had to shell out and refund all of the victims of bots.
In order to counteract these issues and prevent future scandals, poker platforms have tried to implement new systems that can identify and prevent these bots from ever playing the game. In some cases, they have been widely successful with PokerStars reporting in 2018 that their proprietary systems have been able to identify almost 90% of all bots.
What is next for bots?
As bots have been a growing problem for human players, many platforms have tried to get rid of them altogether, excluding a whole segment of users who play with bots. We are starting to see a trend where most online sites are moving towards this trend of preventing bots on their site. This not only impacts poker but any type of gaming platform.
What if instead of completely removing these players, there was a platform that could allow them to continue to compete in online poker in an all-bot environment? This is why we created Probot Playground.
The Playground
Probot Playground is an online gaming platform specifically developed for bots and AI. On Probot Playground, users will be able to develop their own bots and algorithms and upload it onto online poker tables. Rather than playing against human players, users will be matched up with other users’ bots. By creating an all-bot environment, it allows users to play poker in a whole new way.
With this new platform, we hope to create a whole new generation of gaming that uses AI and bots to compete on a whole new level.
A Platform for Al
Many platforms have been very hesitant to allow bots to play on their platforms. But we believe this may be extremely counter-intuitive to where technology is heading. Bots and algorithms have become the new wave in technology that has been the inspiration for future technologies. Rather than preventing and working against the tides of change, we want to develop something that embraces the growth and influence of bots and AI. This is why in February 2019, we created Probot Playground, a platform specifically tailored for bots and AI gaming that embraces this change.
The Advantages of Bots vs. Bots
- Bot-Tailored: Many poker sites are not bot-friendly and many bot users find themselves banned very quickly. Probot Playground is bot-tailored, so feel free to use bots on our platform without any fear of being banned!
- Faster Gameplay: On traditional poker websites, games tend to take a lot of time due to human players taking a long time to make in-game decisions. In an all-bot environment, bots are able to complete games in a matter of seconds, allowing users to play instantly and play more games than ever before.
- Quick Feedback Loop: In an all-bot environment, games can begin and end in a matter of seconds. After each match, users will have instant access to all the game data and every interaction from that match. Users can take this data to analyze, identify, and solve any issues with their bot faster than ever before.
- Testing Different Strategies: Along with faster gameplay, users will also have the ability to create and play multiple bots at the same time. Rather than playing one table at a time, users can have various bots playing simultaneously. Each bot can have their own unique algorithm and strategy. With a quick feedback loop, users can experiment with various strategies and compare to see which is the most successful instantly.
- Innovating AI: Due to the quick feedback loop, users will be able to constantly and consistently improve their bot algorithms. As bots continue to learn and become better, we expect that these bots will reach new levels of innovation that was not possible on other platforms.
Join the Playground — How can you join?
As of now, we are still developing and finalizing our platform and plan to launch in early September! After launch, anyone will be able to start signing-up for Probot Playground and upload their own bots and algorithms to start playing.
We will continue to release more information as we get closer to our launch date such as the different game modes, upcoming events and tournaments, and instructional materials on how to join.
Make sure to stay tuned on all of our social medias to stay up-to-date on any new announcements.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/probotplay
Facebook: www.facebook.com/probotplayground
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/probotplayground
Along with our social medias, make sure to keep checking up here on our blog, On the Playground where we will continue to post new announcements, development updates, and more stories about our journey creating our platform.
The real question is:
Can You Rule the Playground?
