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How an AI took down four world-class poker pros
"That was anticlimactic," Jason Les said with a smirk, getting up from his seat. Unlike nearly everyone else in Pittsburgh's Rivers Casino, Les had just played his last few hands against an artificially intelligent opponent on a computer screen. After his fellow players -- Daniel McAulay next to him and Jimmy Chou and Dong Kim in an office upstairs -- eventually did the same, they started to commiserate. The consensus: That AI was one hell of a player.
Libratus, the poker-playing AI, destroyed its four human rivals
The Kenny Rogers classic profoundly states that "you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em," and for the first time, an AI has out-gambled world-class players at heads-up, no-limit Texas Hold'em. Our representatives of humanity -- Jason Les, Dong Kyu Kim, Daniel McAulay and Jimmy Chou -- kept things relatively tight at the outset but a ill-fated shift in strategy wiped out their gains and forced them to chase the AI for the remaining weeks. At the end of day 20 and after 120,000 hands, Libratus claimed victory with daily total of $206,061 in theoretical chips and an overall pile of $1,766,250.
Two research teams taught their AIs to beat pros at poker
Poker-playing bots aren't exactly new -- just ask anyone who's tried to win a little cash on PokerStars -- but two different groups of researchers are setting their sights a little higher. To no one's surprise, those AI buffs are trying to teach their algorithms how to beat world-class Texas Hold'em players, and they're juuuust about there.
Apple pulls Texas Hold'em from App Store
One of the first big games for iOS -- and the only title of its genre to come from Apple -- has been quietly pulled from the App Store. MacRumors is reporting that the classic Texas Hold'em game is no longer available for purchase. The game was first introduced in late 2006 for iPods. After the iPhone debuted in mid-2007, Apple was rumored to be starting in-house game development based on the successful release of Texas Hold'em. When the App Store launched in 2008, one of the first titles available was -- you got it -- Texas Hold'em. It was thought that the game was developed more as a proof of concept to demonstrate the capabilities of the iPhone platform for gaming to potential game developers. Once the big development houses like EA and Gameloft started creating titles, Apple realized they didn't need to roll their own. The app sold for US$4.99 and hadn't seen many updates, the last being in September of 2008. There's still a page on the Apple site about the title, although it may not last for long. As a person who spent many an hour playing Texas Hold'em in the garage with the old Macs and Apple posters on the wall, I'm going to miss this classic.
TUAW's Daily App: World Series of Poker Hold 'em Legend
While in Las Vegas at CES last week, I didn't have a lot of time to gamble, but I did get to play a few hands of video poker, and that combined with my preview of Full House Poker for the Xbox had me looking for a poker game to scratch the itch when I got back home on Sunday. I poked around the App Store for a few ideas, and while Pokerbot is a nice simulation, this official World Series of Poker app seems like the best version around. It's made by Glu Mobile (the same company behind the great Gun Bros), and it's a solid experience, offering up not just Texas Hold'em, but a persistent career, a nice online multiplayer mode and even Game Center integration with leaderboards and achievements. For a quick game of Hold 'em on the iPhone, it's been perfect for me. The full iPhone app is available for US 99 cents, but if you're not sold, there is a free version with some annoying interstitial ads. And unfortunately, the app's not universal -- the iPad version will set you back $4.99. Still, that's pretty cheap compared to what I'd have ended up losing at the tables in Vegas anyway.
More rumored Telltale plans for the Mac
We posted a little while back about Telltale possibly bringing its games over to the Mac, and now there's even more rumblings to be interested in. Rumor has it that since most of their games use the same platform, one port is the same as all of them, which means we may see the whole catalog released in one fell swoop on OS X, and sold right alongside their PC brethren. Additionally, Telltale hints that we may even see iPhone and/or iPad versions of their games, including Sam and Max, the Monkey Island franchise, and all the rest (with the exceptions of the Bone series and Texas Hold 'Em). They are saying that we'll hear more at Macworld next month, and since TUAW plans to be there en masse, we'll definitely keep our eyes open for anything they're showing off. Good to hear that one of the more interesting and quality developers out there is planning to come over to the Mac in a big way. [via IMG]
First Look: Texas Hold 'Em
I've been having such a good time getting my virtual wallet cleaned out by my Texas Hold 'Em opponents that it's taken me three days to write this post!Texas Hold 'Em is an iPhone port of the popular Apple iPod game that came out a few years ago. If you're a fan of poker tournaments or just intrigued by Texas Hold 'Em, this $4.99 game is a heck of a lot cheaper and less stress on your home life than going to Vegas and playing the real thing.The play action, as you can see in the gallery below, is amazingly realistic. Each of the players even has a "tell" (distinctive physical cue that they're either bluffing or have a really good hand) that you can pick up after a while. There's music that plays in the background, a Wi-Fi multiplayer mode, a number of poker rooms (including a garage that has a shelf full of old computers on one wall), and a good assortment of well-rendered virtual opponents. Frankly, I think it's one of the unsung bargains of the App Store. %Gallery-27918%
Texas Hold 'em gets Vision support
We're not sure how we missed this, but today XBLA game Texas Hold 'em received an update enabling the long rumored Vision camera support. The update rolled out this morning and not only added Vision support, but also fixed a few bugs, added custom matches, improved matchmaking, enhanced rich presence, and multi-language support. The update goes on to say that the "Vision Camera also allows players to use a series of game faces using the snapshot mode for all-ins, wins, losses, folds and more". Interesting stuff indeed! Whip out the Vision camera, go play some poker, and try and steer clear of those who like to use their camera to be vulgar. Eww.DeadPlasmaCell also warned us that finding games was nearly impossible after the update was applied. We'll report back in if we hear of any widespread matchmaking problems.[Thanks, DeadPlasmaCell]
Going all in on XBL poker challenge
A new Play and Win giveaway has started over at Xbox.com featuring everyone's favorite once free XBLA game Texas Hold 'Em. The Alltel Texax Hold 'Em Challenge started yesterday and all you have to do to win is sign up for the giveaway from now until July 12th and play the game online. Every day you play you receive an entry to win prizes including an Xbox 360 Elite, Microsoft points, or a set of poker chips. What's cool is that you don't even have to be good at poker to win prizes, you just have to play online to enter. Which is a good thing, since we can't tell the difference between say ... a three-of-a-kind-pair and a full house.
Texas Hold 'Em tournament on Xbox Live
We just got word that new fansite Xbox Live Connection is holding a Texas Hold 'Em tournament via Xbox Live. Anyone who has the XBLA game Texas Hold 'Em and is at least 18 years old can join in on the fun. Qualifying rounds started last night, but will run until February 18th. All the nightly winners will be invited back to square off on the championship table on February 19th with first place receiving a $40 Best Buy gift card and second place a $10 Best Buy gift card. For complete rules, tournament dates, and to sign up please click the 'read' link below. Good luck card players, the $40 gift card would be a nice down payment on a Xbox 360 game.
Texas Hold 'Em multiplayer reset
The Gamerscore Blog sends a warning that today, Wednesday the 10th, XBLA game Texas Hold 'Em will see a reset. Everyone's multiplayer bankroll will be reset as well as the online multiplayer leaderboards. But don't fret, your single player bankroll and leaderboards will not be affected by the reset. We actually played a little Hold 'Em last night for the first time in a while and it seems to have shaped up since the last update. But when is the game going to be Vision enabled? Hold 'Em is still listed under the Vision enabled category in the XBLA section, but we get no Vision. Oh well, we can't complain seeing that we got the game free back when it was released. Anyone going to throw a fit when the online multiplayer bankroll and leaderboards get reset?
Texas Hold 'em gets fixed ... finally
A quick note for everyone, this morning users who login to the XBLA game Texas Hold 'em will be prompted to download an auto update. According to Major Nelson, this downloadable update will fix the numerous issues that have plagued this arcade game including:- Game-play has been sped up.- Post the blind and play right away!- New 'Away' mode- New 'Auto-boot' mode- Faster overall pacing- Improved blind structure- Matchmaking improvements- Improved interface controls- Leaderboard display- Art and text improvements- Online exploits addressedNow you can go back to gambling all your time away without all those annoying bugs. Overall, I'd have to say great work on the update guys, but couldn't it have arrived a little earlier?[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
Texas Hold 'em to get Vision upgrade?
Sharp-eyed 360 Fanboy reader, Gregg Smith, noticed something after this morning's fall update. If you list your Xbox Live Arcade games by category, there is a section for Vision Camera enabled games. In that category, Texas Hold 'em -- or as I call it, Texas Hold Them -- is listed as Vision enabled. Granted, I don't play Hold 'em very much, so I fired it up just to be sure. Lo and behold, there is no Vision support. Does this mean that Hold 'em will have an upgrade in the near future, or did someone at 360 HQ make a mistake?
Product placement in Hold 'Em for iPod
Ah, the powerful tactic of product placement, in which a real, commercial product is used in a fictional setting (for a fee, of course). Check out the screen grab of Texas Hold 'Em for iPod [iTunes link] that reader Michael sent us. Is that an iPod and iPod HiFi on the bookcase in the background? Why, yes it is. You can view a larger version of the screenshot after the jump.Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to finish my game of cards...and spend my winnings on an iPod HiFi.Thanks, Michael!
