Robot knows when to hold 'em, wins huge in poker tournament

Artificial intelligence has enjoyed some remarkable online-gaming victories in recent years, though usually in slower games with clear--if incredibly multi-threaded--rule systems. On Monday, the robots pushed ahead with a slightly more remarkable online-gaming victory over their puny human masters when an AI program won big at Texas Hold'Em poker. A lengthy tournament of Hold'Em--specifically, the heads-up, no-limit variety--ended with victory for Libratus, an AI program developed by a professor and PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon University. Libratus emerged victorious after 120,000 combined hands of poker played against four human online-poker pros. Libratus' $1.7 million margin of victory, combined with so many hands, clears the "Brains Vs.