There is a famous New Yorker Magazine cartoon that shows two dogs sitting behind a computer with one saying to the other, “On the internet, no one knows you’re a dog.” Well, as far as we know, poodles have yet to figure out how to play online poker, but in the not too distant future you might come up against a different type of non-human competitor, one that is far more savvy at poker than your average terrier. It appears that computer experts are hard at work trying to create automated programs, or “bots,” that could play poker better than any homosapien could hope to. Fortunately, this is no easy task. Teaching a computer chess, for instance, was a relative snap since there is only one opponent and the machine always knows where the other player’s pieces are. But Holdem involves multiple players holding unknown cards. And just try teaching a computer program to recognize when a player is bluffing. Still, when there is money to be made, programmers will not stop trying. So next time you encounter someone who seems unable to lose a hand, make sure that he in fact has hands, or paws at the very least.

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