A team of researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada has developed an algorithm it claims can win all poker games played against another person.

The algorithm given the name "Cepheus" after a constellation in the northern sky can win against anyone playing against it in heads-up limit Texas hold' em poker. The Canadian team built a website (http://poker.srv.ualberta.ca/about) allowing anyone from anywhere to try to beat Cepheus.

Like Us on Facebook

The Canadians said Cepheus is the first computer program to play what is basically a perfect game of poker. The artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm is so smart it's played a billion of hands against itself and it can even bluff.

The Cepheus team noted that even if you played 60 million hands of poker for 70 years, 12 hours a day, and never made any mistakes, "you still wouldn't be able to say with statistical confidence you were better than this program."

It said while Cepheus doesn'tt play perfectly, the AI is so close to perfect that even after playing an entire lifetime of poker against it (over 60 million hands) it'simpossible to tell the difference. It's essentially perfect.

Cepheus accomplished this goal with no human expert help and was only given the rules of the game. It was trained against itself, playing the equivalent of more than a billion, billion hands of poker.

The Canadians said Cepheus is a milestone for AI and game theory.

Tagscomputer algorithm, Cepheus, poker, texas hold em, texas hold em poker, gambling game, gambling