Man vs. Machine: Poker Pros To Put AI to the Test Jan. 11

Poker professionals will compete against new artificial intelligence again developed by Carnegie Mellon University to see whether the odds favor man or machine in heads-up no-limit Texas Hold’em games.

Beginning Jan. 11 at Pittsburgh’s Rivers Casino, the “Brains Vs. Artificial Intelligence: Upping the Ante” event will host four poker pros – Jason Les, Dong Kim, Daniel McAulay and Jimmy Chou – who will then play 120,000 hands of the heads-up no-limit hold’em games over the course of 20 days for a share of a $200,000 prize.

The computer of choice, Libratus, has been created since last year’s competition when Claudico, the former Carnegie Mellon computer program collected less chips than three of the four players last year, playing out 80,000 hands, too few to determine a conclusion of whether man or machine outwitted the other with statistical significance.

The pros will pair up and play duplicate matches (with each pair receiving the same cards as the computer in each scenario) on the casino floor and in an isolated separate room. The increased number of days and the “two-table” play (playing two hands simultaneously) will increase the chance of reaching statistical significance. Play will begin at 1 a.m. and end around 7 p.m. each day in the Rivers’ Poker Room and will be open for public viewing.

This year’s goal is to set a new benchmark for artificial intelligence.

“Since the earliest days of AI research, beating top human players has been a powerful measure of progress in the field,” said Tuomas Sandholm, the professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon who created the bot with his Ph.D student Noam Brown, in a release from the university. “That was achieved with chess in 1997, with Jeopardy! in 2009 and with the board game Go just last year. Poker poses a far more difficult challenge than these games, as it …

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