What HoldemRobots.AI is, and isn't
HoldemRobots.AI is an AI expert system for poker studies. Poker is the sandbox, not the destination. It has hidden information, probability, bluffing and opponents who adapt, which makes it a fun way to explore complicated ideas.
Why I rebuilt it
In 2005 I taught myself the new tools of that era: Open Source, Linux, Tomcat and Cocoon. The original poker engine came out of that. Twenty years later, the tools have changed again, and I don't intend to become obsolete. Redeploying HoldemRobots.AI was my excuse to learn AI agents and AI-assisted programming. These last six months have been a test drive of the new technology, the same way 2005 was.
What you'll find here
A learning lab for IT people moving into AI. Watch bots reason, make mistakes, get caught cheating and learn to play fair, then see how it was built.
A sample cloud deployment. It runs on AWS behind Cloudflare, uses Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, and was built with Claude as a coding partner.
A legacy-revival case study. A rebuild attempt around 2015 failed. In 2026, with AI coding tools, the 2005 engine came back to life.
For students
The people who use this site are students taking a course in AI, probability and systems thinking. Poker is the lab equipment. Nothing here teaches anyone to gamble, and no money changes hands. Students under the legal gambling age are welcome to study the math and the code, but should never play poker for money.
A word from a hobbyist
I'm a programming hobbyist, not a gambler. If this course makes you a sharper player, expect to hold your own at a friendly home game, not to beat the casino. The house has the math on its side, and this site will show you exactly why.
No real money is played on this site. Nothing here is gambling or financial advice.
If gambling is a problem for you or someone you know, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
— Kevin Swinson