Just wondering if the use of Pokerbots (a piece of software that can automatically play online cash poker) is illegal, or simply against the policy of the major online poker vendors.
There’s a lot of websites out there that state their use is illegal, but I can’t find any that mention under which jurisdictions these laws apply, and which specific laws are being broken.
As a followup question, is it “illegal” to put myself between the online poker game and the pokerbot, such that I have the pokerbot running next to my online poker game “advising” my every move, but I actually do the pointing and the clicking myself?
*“Just wondering if the use of Pokerbots (a piece of software that can automatically play online cash poker) is illegal, or simply against the policy of the major online poker vendors.” *
That is like asking what the meaning of is is!
Since there are no entities having lawful jurisdiction over the internet other than the FCC the only interpretation of what is legal or not is defined by the rules of the entity {online poker vendors} in charge of the game.
* As a followup question, is it “illegal” to put myself between the online poker game and the pokerbot, such that I have the pokerbot running next to my online poker game “advising” my every move, but I actually do the pointing and the clicking myself?
*
You are suggesting that being and intermediary is different from having the bot do it for you? For shame. For shame!
Perhaps they mean “illegal” in the sense of not allowed by the rules, as in an illegal play in a game of bridge. I rather doubt there are actual governmental laws about it.
If the OP is asking along the lines of say… card counting in BlackJack, then a bot is legal.
Card Counting is not illegal, there is no law against it and Casinos can’t really do anything to you until they catch you, then they would kindly ask you to leave, knowing the house is at a disadvantage.
A bot is technically a bot, decisions would be based on percentages. Successful Hold’em is made up not only percentages, but luck, and mostly skill. Bots do not have emotions, which arguably makes up the largest percentage of good hold’em skills.
What exactly do you mean by “lawful jurisdiction over the internet?” Because it’s not the FCC that’s enforcing any ban on internet gambling, it’s the US banking system, last time I checked that was under the purview of Treasury and/or the Fed. I am familiar with the various parts of the FCC rules under CFR 47 and I don’t recall anything in there about gambling.
The Internet is a global network of computers. The FCC only has a certain amount of jurisdiction over what goes out over the public airwaves in America.
There is no central authority for the Internet. It’s an entirely anarchic venture ruled, to the extent it is, by the agreements in force between the parties involved.
Just giving this a bump… am I breaking any law (as in, governmental law, risking charges) if I use a pokerbot to play for me, and also if I use a pokerbot to merely advise me?
I don’t think it’s illegal in that sense, BUT in addition to banning you the casino will also be perfectly happy to confiscate any funds on your account whether they are winnings or deposited money. People have lost huge amounts of money getting caught botting or multi-accounting online. Often they will also freeze the funds of any account related to yours, such as family members or people you have transferred money to/from. So it’s not exactly risk-free.
You have not said where you live, so it’s hard to give an answer. In the US, it is de facto illegal to play online poker for money. That aside, you could be charged with fraud for violating the terms of agreement by using a bot if a site explicitly bans it, which AFAIK they all do. All of the major poker sites have deployed bot detection tools, so it may be a moot question.
Whether you use the bot to play hands for you, or use software as a tool to analyze hands, profile players, or even collude with other players… the online sites all explicitly ban this and threaten criminal and civil prosecution.
If you used a bot to count cards for you in Vegas, you’d go to jail. It’s not illegal to count in your head, but it IS illegal to “use a device to affect the outcome of a game of chance.”
Pokerbots are not illegal. They are against the terms of conditions of many online poker sites, but no one can put you in jail for using them.
They also generally aren’t very good. Poker is not blackjack. Poker is a tougher problem for a computer than is chess. The University of Alberta’s computer poker program is the most advanced out there, and it can sort of hold its own in heads-up matches against good humans, but I don’t think it does very well in multi-way pots.
I suspect you can make a bot that could turn a small profit playing in weak limit holdem games where a more statistical approach to playing can beat very bad players. I would not want to put my bankroll at risk with a bot playing against good players in ring no-limit or pot-limit games, though.
I understand that the U of A’s bot has gotten significantly stronger in the last year or two, so maybe the day is coming when bots will dominate online play. At that point, I think it’s more likely that they will simply crash the online poker industry than that the government will get involved in trying to pass laws against them.