World's first human-machine poker championship to begin

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2007

VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) — Two top poker players will pit their wiles and math ability against a computer Monday, in a two-day match scientists say is the world's first man-machine poker championship.

The program, called Polaris, will play four games of "Texas Hold Em." Its opponents are Phil Laak and Ali Eslami, gamblers from Los Angeles who are among the top players in the global high- stakes cash poker circuit.

The competition will begin Monday and end late Tuesday, and the humans will receive 5,000 dollars for each match they win against Polaris.

But the cash is modest, noted Eslami, who said he agreed to come to this western Canadian city to compete because he's interested in artificial intelligence.

"I'm interested in being at the cusp of this...