Man was victorious over machine in an exhibition match that followed the first-ever World Poker Robot Championship (formerly known as The World Series of Poker Robots) at Binion's. However, Hilton "Print" Givens, creator of the "bot" that lost the match, was smiling, all the way to the bank.
Givens' creation. PokerProBot (www.pokerprobot.com) won the $100,000 prize in the machine-versus-machine tournament that featured poker-playing software from six creators. It was standing-room only as spectators watched the action on giant monitors in a roped-off section of Binion's poker room.
Givens, 37, said his robot won the event with a combination of "a sophisticated program, my own poker skills and knowledge, and a little bit of luck."
Even robots gets lucky.
Givens said he used his personal poker experience to get the most value out of each hand as he wrote his software.
In an exhibition match following the victory, Givens' PokerProBot also beat a poker robot created over the last 14 years by the University of Alberta.
What his bot couldn't do, though, is beat a human pro. Crowds gathered again as Givens and his computer went head-to-head against Phil Laak, known as "The Unabomber" because of his sweatshirt and sunglasses.
"The match with Phil was very interesting. It see-sawed back-and-forth the first couple hours, then his professional skills took over and he found a weakness," Givens said.
When asked if he's addressing that weakness as he modifies his bot, Givens replied: "Oh, yeahhhhhh."
The poker-robot tournament and man-versus-machine exhibition will be part of a television show in the near future, said Steve Latham, business partner of event coordinator Ken Mages. Details haven't been worked out yet, he said, but look for the show, and the robot tournament, to return to Las Vegas.
"Le Reve," at Wynn Las Vegas, the newest Cirque du Soleil production, is donating all proceeds from the 7:30 p.m. Saturday show to Nevada Public Radio. Tickets, which are for sale only online, are $100 each for members and $120 for nonmember listeners.
Show creator Franco Dragone, the cast and crew will conduct a question and answer session with the audience immediately following the show. Everyone who attends will be invited to complete an online survey about the show.
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