Poker players defeating formidable computer opponents | IXGAMES
Two elite poker players have accomplished what many of the worlds grandmasters have failed at till now, defeating formidable computer opponents. Phil Laak and Ali Eslami took on Polaris, a software developed by researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada, in a set-up designed to reduce the role that luck normally plays in a game of poker. The pair played Polaris simultaneously in different rooms, with computer and human playing opposite hands in each game. In other words, if Laak was dealt a full house, Polaris would have exactly the same hand, at the same time, in its game against Eslami. 
At the end of play on Monday, Polaris had tied the first round of 500 hands and triumphed in the second, finishing almost 1000 dollars up against the humans. But two wins in Tuesday’s sessions earned Laak and Eslami overall victory. The game was played at a meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in Vancouver, Canada, reports New Scientist. Scientists say though poker is harder than other games for computers to crack because of the importance of studying other players’ tactics and behaviour, a computer could become a world champion in around 10 years, provided tournament organisers allow machines to enter.