AI, Tech & Academic Theories Penetrate Online Poker In India

The younger generation of poker enthusiasts and progressive academics are breaking the “poker is a game of chance” perception in India by steadily incorporating technological and academic approaches in the game.

During the Poker Sports League in India, Assistant Professor Deepak Dhayanithy from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode said that the newer generation of poker players are using logic, technology, and mathematics to elevate the poker game in the country.

The professor said that online poker has been largely instrumental to this change.

In a statement, Prof. Dhayanithy said,

The new generation of poker players are using artificial intelligence methods to prove their win in the games…The level to which the younger generation study the game and play is a notch above the older generation. Younger generation not only rely on exploitative play…but try to make it as a game which is optimal and spectator-friendly

Four years back, Dhayanithy introduced the elective ‘Competitive Strategy Through The Game of Poker‘ at the IIM Kozhikode. Because of this course, the students were able to play poker as well as study the science and logic behind the game. They started looking into simulations and developing new strategies and skills with the help of technology and AI.

This is ground-breaking for a country who, until this date, has ruled poker as a “game of chance” rather than a “game of skill”. This is why the poker community in India is so keen in proving how much skill and logic actually lies behind every poker game, and stoking the growing competitiveness and lucrativeness of the sport.

New Research Shows Poker Is A Game Of Skill

In other parts of the world, many universities are already acknowledging the potential of poker as a real mind sport. As early as 2015, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) already introduced a Poker Theory and Analytics course to introduce students to the psychology, strategy, and decision-making that happens behind every poker match. At the University of Ottawa, they also has a course called Probability and Games of Chance: Poker 101.

In fact, poker has gone a long way in the scientific front that just recently, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania were able to develop Libratus, a poker AI. This year, Libratus was able to best four of the best Texas Hold’em players in the world in a special organized competition.

Prof. Dhayanithy adds that in addition to studying poker with a logical and scientific approach, the evolution of the game from an individualistic sport into a team format is contributing towards helping India change its old perception about the game of poker.