It is definitely a legitimate concern that some of these players might be non-human bots. A poker bot by definition is a non-human poker player.
So in this article I am going to break it all down for you. Does PokerStars really have bots?
What is a Poker Bot?
Before I even begin though let's talk about what a poker bot even is. As mentioned, a poker bot is simply a non-human computer program that will play poker for you.
Essentially you program the bot (or have somebody program it for you) to follow a set of rules for what poker plays to make in every situation.
Now for very, very obvious reasons pretty much every online poker site in history has banned these programs outright. In most cases the penalties are very harsh if you are caught using one.
And the reason why is simple. Using a poker bot is simply cheating. Poker is a game that is meant to be played between human beings, not computerized programs.
So if you are caught using a poker bot, then the poker site will probably ban you for life, confiscate all your money and you will get blacklisted in the poker community as well.
And rightfully so!
Because as a poker community we do not want you. You are a parasite on this beautiful game that millions of people around the world love to play in an honest way.
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However, let's be real. We live in a world where not everybody subscribes to the same moral code. Some people out there (and not just in poker), will always look to find a way to cheat for their financial gain.
It's just kind of a fact of life. You need look no further than the stock market to see clear evidence of this all the time!
Online poker continues to be a very profitable income source for many people. For me personally I have played poker professionally for over 10 years now. And most of my hands have been played on PokerStars.
I have played millions and millions of hands of poker on PokerStars. Do I think there are bots on PokerStars though?
For me personally, I would say yes there might be, but probably not very many. PokerStars has one of the best bot and collusion security prevention teams in the industry. They take this very seriously.
But of course whenever there is money involved in anything in life, people will try and cheat. So it doesn't stop people from trying to run a bot on PokerStars.
And while I believe most of them get caught (or will eventually get caught), you would have to be pretty naive to believe that the PokerStars security team catches them all.
I can say that I myself have been accused of being a bot on PokerStars many times because I tend to play the table maximum (24 tables) and I play long hours. I also don't use chat.
But I do this because online poker is my job. I am not there to chat and have fun like all the other amateurs. I am there to take your money and win!
And because of this PokerStars has watched my account very closely over the years. In fact, they would often freeze my tables and force me to solve a CAPTCHA while playing in order to prove that I was a real human being playing.
As somebody who has always played the game in an honest and fair manner, I am happy to deal with all this if it helps prevent other people from cheating.
PokerStars Bots - How Many Bots Are on PokerStars?
However, let's be real. We live in a world where not everybody subscribes to the same moral code. Some people out there (and not just in poker), will always look to find a way to cheat for their financial gain.
It's just kind of a fact of life. You need look no further than the stock market to see clear evidence of this all the time!
Online poker continues to be a very profitable income source for many people. For me personally I have played poker professionally for over 10 years now. And most of my hands have been played on PokerStars.
I have played millions and millions of hands of poker on PokerStars. Do I think there are bots on PokerStars though?
For me personally, I would say yes there might be, but probably not very many. PokerStars has one of the best bot and collusion security prevention teams in the industry. They take this very seriously.
But of course whenever there is money involved in anything in life, people will try and cheat. So it doesn't stop people from trying to run a bot on PokerStars.
And while I believe most of them get caught (or will eventually get caught), you would have to be pretty naive to believe that the PokerStars security team catches them all.
I can say that I myself have been accused of being a bot on PokerStars many times because I tend to play the table maximum (24 tables) and I play long hours. I also don't use chat.
But I do this because online poker is my job. I am not there to chat and have fun like all the other amateurs. I am there to take your money and win!
And because of this PokerStars has watched my account very closely over the years. In fact, they would often freeze my tables and force me to solve a CAPTCHA while playing in order to prove that I was a real human being playing.
As somebody who has always played the game in an honest and fair manner, I am happy to deal with all this if it helps prevent other people from cheating.
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Does PokerStars Take Bots Seriously?
So I know first hand that PokerStars does indeed take poker bots very seriously. In fact, if you are caught using a bot they will immediately ban your account for life AND confiscate your bankroll.
So the penalties are extremely harsh for those who still try and circumvent the rules by running a bot on PokerStars.
Now how would PokerStars actually know know if you are using a bot you might be asking?
Several ways. When you use PokerStars software their security team is able to detect what other running processes are in use on your computer.
Therefore, if you think you are just going to download some bot (yes, people are pathetic enough to sell these on the internet) and use it on PokerStars, you will be caught, 100%.
The other way that the PokerStars security team detects poker bots is by anomalies in your play. What I mean by this is repetitive non human actions and the total absence of tilt or fatigue mistakes.
Humans tilt when they get frustrated and they make mistakes when they are tired. A bot doesn't do these things. So this is one of the easiest ways for PokerStars to tell if you are using a bot or not.
By the way, there actually are plenty of poker software tools which are fully legal to use while playing online poker.
For the complete list of all the poker software tools that I personally use as a poker pro, click here.
PokerStars Bots and PokerStars Complaints
So how many complaints does PokerStars get about bots? Honestly, god only knows. I am sure it is a metric sh*t ton though.
Because you see here's the thing.
PokerStars is the #1 online poker site in the world by a very wide margin. And the other thing is that most people lose at poker in the end.
The thing about poker though is that everybody thinks they are good at it (most actually aren't). So therefore, since most people will inevitably lose, they need something to blame it on.
Instead of studying and improving their poker game it is much easier to blame their lack of success in poker on the site being "rigged" or the use of "bots."
There is nothing you can do about this. So the complaints about PokerStars having bots, being rigged for action and so on will never stop.
As somebody who has made more money than perhaps anyone in history in the low stakes cash games on PokerStars I have seen the bad play myself for many, many years.
This is actually one of the main reasons why I initially chose to write Crushing the Microstakes.
And then created the subsequent video series that I released alongside the book showing me crushing 6max, Zoom and full ring all on PokerStars.
Because the lowest stakes games like 1c/2c and 2c/5c in particular are so unbelievably easy to beat in my opinion. I have made tens of thousands of dollars just in these two games alone on PokerStars.
So the only conclusion I am left with is if there really are bots on PokerStars, they sure do play bad!
Final Thoughts
So does PokerStars have bots on their site?
Well, I think you would have to be pretty naive to believe there aren't at least a few. But at the end of the day, PokerStars has one of the best security teams in the business.
They use a lot of sophisticated methods for bot detection and they have a clear incentive to keep them off their site as well, PokerStars is a highly profitable business!
Also, in my experience people will simply accuse you of being a bot if you play a lot and don't talk. I have personally been accused of being a bot on PokerStars countless times, which is just hilarious.
Lastly, most people lose at poker in the end. These are just the cold hard facts.
And most people also think they are pretty good at poker (which isn't true). So when they inevitably lose due to their own bad play, they will need something to blame it on.
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People love to claim that PokerStars is rigged or it's overrun by bots in order to explain why they can't win at poker. The reason they don't win is actually bad play and tilt.
As a professional poker player, I spend a lot of time studying away from the tables to improve my poker game and get better at my tilt control.
If you really want to win at poker over the long run, I would suggest you focus more on the things that you actually do control at the tables such as consistently making better quality poker decisions.
Lastly, if you want to know how to start consistently making $1000 per month in low stakes poker games, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
Let me know in the comments below if you think there are bots on PokerStars? Do you personally have any experience with poker bots?
