The Secret Behind the Computer That Will Win at Texas Hold ‘Em Every Time
The secret behind the computer that mastered Texas Hold 'Em.
— -- The best Texas Hold 'Em player in the world is a computer program named Cepheus,
Scientists at the University of Alberta's Computer Poker Research Group developed a software program that is statistically unbeatable when facing off against a human player.
While the computer won't win money on every single hand, it will never lose, according to the study published this week in the journal "Science."
The secret to Cepheus' success began during a training phase when the computer played the basic poker game against itself. As Cepheus continued to play, it got smarter and was able to update its strategy, according to researchers.
When Cepheus plays now, it searches its database of pre-computed possible gaming situations to find the perfect winning moves.
While perfect information games such as checkers and Connect Four (where the players have all of the information they need on the board) have been solved, the Texas Hold 'Em breakthrough is believed to be the first time an imperfect information game (when players don't have all of the information) has been solved.
Want to see Cepheus in action? You can play the computer on the Computer Poker Research Group's website.
Thankfully it's just a friendly game -- no money involved here!
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