EDMONTON 香蕉视频直播� A computer program has learned to win at one of the most complex poker games by copying a very human impulse 香蕉视频直播� trusting its gut.

香蕉视频直播淚 think there香蕉视频直播檚 a lot of similarities to real human intuition,香蕉视频直播� said Michael Bowling of the University of Alberta香蕉视频直播檚 Computer Poker Research Group.

Teaching poker to computers has been a popular tool in the artificial intelligence community for years.

Unlike games such as chess, no poker player knows what cards other players hold. Having to deal with incomplete information makes poker programs useful in everything from improving public security to helping doctors treat patients with diabetes.

Bowling香蕉视频直播檚 lab has long worked on poker and attracted worldwide attention in 2015 for developing Cepheus, a program that was unbeatable in two-handed, fixed-bet Texas Hold 香蕉视频直播楨m. The lab香蕉视频直播檚 latest achievement, revealed Thursday in the journal Science, went after the much more complex version of Texas Hold 香蕉视频直播楨m in which there is no limit on bets.

Cepheus worked by allowing the computer to learn from mistakes. After billions of hands, it developed a 10-terabyte table of probabilities that made it unbeatable.

But that wasn香蕉视频直播檛 going to work for no-limit Hold 香蕉视频直播楨m.

The fixed-bet version of the game has decision points equal to the number 10 with 14 zeros after it. The no-limit equivalent is 10 with 160 zeros after it.

香蕉视频直播淭hat香蕉视频直播檚 more than there are atoms in the universe,香蕉视频直播� said Bowling 香蕉视频直播� way too many to simply crunch through probabilities.

Bowling香蕉视频直播檚 team found the answer with a program called Deep Stack.

香蕉视频直播淒eep Stack doesn香蕉视频直播檛 compute the whole strategy beforehand,香蕉视频直播� Bowling said.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 going to compute how it香蕉视频直播檚 going to play on line, as it香蕉视频直播檚 playing. It香蕉视频直播檚 going to only worry about the decision points it reaches while it plays, and figure out how to play those on the fly, in the middle of the game, much more like a human player.香蕉视频直播�

The key is in developing what Bowling calls intuition. Like a human player, Deep Stack trains its instincts through repetition 香蕉视频直播� in this case, 10 million poker hands played against itself.

香蕉视频直播淒eep Stack will play against itself over and over again until it figures out, 香蕉视频直播業 think this is how much it香蕉视频直播檚 worth, being in this poker situation,香蕉视频直播櫹憬妒悠抵辈�� Bowling said.

That data gets fed into a program that recognizes patterns, which in turn allows Deep Stack to deal with new situations.

香蕉视频直播淚f it does a good job, what I should be able to do is feed it a poker situation that香蕉视频直播檚 not any of the situations it香蕉视频直播檚 seen before, and it should still give me a good answer for how valuable that situation is.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 going to generalize from all its past experience.香蕉视频直播�

Remarkably, Deep Stack doesn香蕉视频直播檛 take that much horsepower. While Cepheus required vast amounts of computing ability, Deep Stack can be run on an off-the-shelf gaming laptop.

And it seems to work.

In December, Deep Stack played a tournament of 3,000 hands with 30 poker professionals from around the world. The program beat all 11 professionals who completed all 3,000 hands.

It was the first time a computer beat humans in a two-handed, no-limit game.

香蕉视频直播淭here were some players that, even when you showed them that they were losing, they were convinced they were not,香蕉视频直播� Bowling recalled. 香蕉视频直播漈his is the nature of poker. You can always convince yourself that you just got unlucky.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播� Bob Weber, The Canadian Press