AI in Online Poker: Handy Tool or Unfair Advantage?

What is AI in Poker?

AI is hardly a fresh face. 

At this point, it has been part of poker’s evolution for a good few years.  

Tools like PioSolver, GTO+ and PokerSnowie have helped players refine optimal strategy through simulation-based analysis. These solvers are widely accepted for post-session study, allowing users to analyse spots and identify mistakes based on game theory.

While these tools have firmly established themselves, lately we’ve seen a notable uptick in real-time AI tools. 

For example, this software offers perfect play suggestions during live hands. Known as RTA, these tools cross a clear ethical and competitive line.

And it’s not just theory. In 2023 and 2024, several cheating scandals rocked the poker world, including players banned from major platforms for using RTA and bot rings. 

For instance, in 2023, 888poker identified and banned 161 accounts found to be using real-time assistance (RTA) software or automated bots during gameplay.

The industry has since been on high alert, considering ways to address the issue.

What Are These AI Tools?

AI poker tools fall into two broad categories: study-based tools and real-time assistance tools (RTAs).

Study-Based Tools

These are widely accepted and used to improve a player’s understanding of the game outside of live play.

Real-Time Assistance Tools (RTAs)

These operate during actual gameplay, offering players suggested actions in real time, a big no-no against fair play rules.

• Dream Machine – Allegedly a decision-aiding tool that runs alongside poker software, giving players optimal plays on the fly.
• Private Bot Rings – These include customised RTA systems or fully automated bots designed to play optimally across multiple tables.
• Overlay Solvers – Programs that mimic HUDs but are connected to solver backends, offering advice based on database lookup or precomputed GTO charts.

While some tools are clearly designed for study, others toe a fine line, and it’s this ambiguity that has many stakeholders in the poker world up in arms.

Where the Line Is Drawn 

At its core, poker is a game of incomplete information, luck and human decision-making. 

Therefore, tools that assist with post-game analysis are generally seen as fair, even encouraged, for improving skill and fostering development. 

But once those tools offer decision support during live play, the debate begins.

While solvers for hand review, equity calculators, and note-taking software remain widely permissible, with borderline tech including HUDs and trackers (some sites green-lighting, others banning), there is little patience for RTAs, bots and software that assist with decision making mid-hand.

Key Actions

So how much action have key organisations taken? 

As it turns out, quite a lot.

Between January and May 2025, WPT Global confiscated $166,885 from banned accounts and publicly disclosed 50 internal IDs, making it one of the most transparent anti-cheating moves in online poker’s history. 

Additionally, in 2025, PokerStars banned solvers and preflop charts during live play under its new anti-cheating framework, revealing that even in-hand assistance is increasingly under scrutiny. 

Furthermore, back in 2023, 888poker banned 161 accounts found using bots or real-time assistance (RTA) and refunded $362,893 to 4,068 affected players, including $250,000 paid directly by the operator when stolen funds had already been withdrawn

Major operators publicly describe AI/ML-based monitoring and strict third-party tool bans, detailed in recent platform transparency reports, plus periodic integrity reports and refunds.

It’s a stance that is unlikely to change in the near future.

What the Pros Are Saying

As you can imagine, the international poker community is divided. 

Some high-stakes players warn that without stricter regulation, the future of online poker is at risk, with the common alarm being one of integrity and fairness.

Daniel Negreanu has been vocal in his disapproval:

“RTA and bots destroy the essence of the game. It’s no longer man vs man, it’s man vs machine.”

Others, like Fedor Holz, take a more nuanced approach:

“AI is a brilliant study tool. The edge comes from understanding why it says what it says, not from blindly copying it.”

As with any powerful tech, AI’s value depends on how it’s used, and whether the line between study and cheating is respected.

How Players Can Adapt

As this is something that affects all of us to varying degrees, one must ask how we can realistically adapt to this new normal.

While there are many against, on the other hand, countless serious players are using AI tools to sharpen their edge, without crossing any lines.

By focusing on study and discipline, players can benefit from AI’s insights while still preserving the fairness of the game. 

What the Future Looks Like

AI isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it will likely become more sophisticated, more accessible, and more tempting to misuse.

The challenge for online poker operators is to strike a balance. However, what does this mean? What will it look like? 

Most likely, it will require further investment in detection and prevention software, along with educating users on using tools ethically. As many sites have always done, emphasising clean play and providing incentives (fair play badges, verified status) will perhaps require more attention than before.

Ultimately, the poker community will shape the boundaries. And as AI advances, trust, not just technology, will define the direction that platforms head.

Data and integrity figures sourced from 888poker’s 2023 Game Integrity Report, WPT Global transparency updates (May 2025), and PokerStars’ 2025 Fair Play Policy release.