AI in online poker has two different roles: players may use software to make or advise on decisions, while poker operators may use AI to look for suspicious play. Major rooms including PokerStars, Paf, and GGPoker prohibit bots and forms of real-time assistance, but rules differ by operator. A system’s ability to play well does not mean a player may use it at a real-money table.
What “AI in online poker” means
The term covers several different tools, and their use is not treated alike. A program may act as a player, calculate a strategy, advise a person during a hand, or help someone study away from a table. Poker rooms set boundaries based on what a tool does and when it is used.
- Automated play: software takes some or all actions in place of a human.
- Real-time assistance: a tool analyzes the current game and recommends an action or bet size.
- Off-table study: a person reviews strategy or past hands outside a live game.
- Operator integrity systems: a poker room analyzes play data to identify activity it considers suspicious.
These categories can overlap. A solver, chart, HUD, or AI assistant may be restricted if it informs decisions during play, even if a person clicks the buttons.
Can you use an AI tool or solver while playing?
Do not assume a tool is allowed because it does not act automatically. The operator’s current rules govern, and the policies below illustrate how broadly some rooms restrict assistance during play. The linked operator policies were reviewed for this article on October 8, 2026; check the policy for your own room, location, and game format before using any tool.
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| Operator | What its published policy says |
|---|---|
| PokerStars | Prohibits tools that play without human intervention or reduce the human role in choosing an action or bet size. It also prohibits real-time advice based on the current game state, AI models used to get advice about what to do at a table, and in-game tools such as advanced equity or strategy calculations and GTO solutions. PokerStars states: “A human must decide what action to take and the exact relative size of any bet or raise.” PokerStars prohibited-tools policy. |
| Paf | Says AI programs and other software or hardware may not make game decisions or take actions on its site, whether acting independently or under human supervision. Its policy also addresses real-time advice, collecting player data beyond personal observations, and assistance to evade fraud detection. Paf Poker Policy. |
| GGPoker | Lists real-time assistance, fully or partly automated bots, solvers, charts, and HUDs among tools that aid actions or influence gameplay decisions and are prohibited. GGPoker Security and Ecology Policy. |
This is not a universal rulebook for every poker site. A tool’s label is less important than its function, whether it is used during a live game, and what the relevant operator permits. A HUD or reference tool, for example, should not be presumed acceptable simply because another room allows it.
What can you use for study away from a table?
Off-table learning is different from live decision assistance, but the distinction does not make every study tool permissible in every context. ACR says educational books and training programs about complex strategy are acceptable when they are not used during actual play. PokerStars separately prohibits tools designed to make reference material easier to consult during gameplay. See ACR Poker’s policies and the PokerStars prohibited-tools policy.
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Use books or training material for study away from a game, and check your room’s rules before bringing any chart, database, solver, HUD, or AI assistant into a live session. A resource that is permitted for learning may still be prohibited when it helps you make a current-hand decision.
How do poker sites use AI to look for bots or collusion?
PokerStars says it uses proprietary AI tools and machine-learning systems to analyze hand histories and other data points, with real-time monitoring and alerts. It describes looking for patterns outside the norm and then starting investigations. That is the operator’s account of its own integrity program, not evidence that every site uses the same approach. PokerStars Game Integrity FAQ.
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PokerStars also says it finds “as much as 95%” of cases proactively in a given month. This is a PokerStars-reported figure; the FAQ does not state a year or provide enough methodology to independently assess it. It is not an industry-wide detection rate.
A statistical flag is not, by itself, proof that a player cheated. PokerStars describes investigations after suspicious patterns are flagged, but its cited FAQ does not publish enough detail to assess false-positive rates or reproduce the reported figure.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What poker AI research shows—and what it does not
A 2026 arXiv preprint introduces PokerSkill, a framework whose authors describe it as training-free and solver-free, and reports tests against a GTO benchmark and Slumbot. The paper is evidence that researchers are developing systems for poker play in specific test settings; it does not establish that a consumer tool is reliable, profitable, or allowed by an online room. PokerSkill preprint.
Results against a benchmark or bot answer a technical question about performance under the study’s conditions. They do not answer the separate questions of whether a tool complies with a site’s rules, whether its use is lawful in a player’s jurisdiction, or whether it will be detected. Earlier poker AI research has also focused on imperfect-information reasoning and strategy computation; that does not mean every poker format is “solved.”
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Online-room policies and live-tournament rules are separate
Online poker policies apply to play on a particular operator’s platform. Tournament organizers can set different rules for in-person events. The Poker Tournament Directors Association’s 2026 rules prohibit wearable devices and other technology capable of covert recording, communication, or external assistance, “including AI agents,” at the table unless the tournament director specifically authorizes them. Poker TDA Rules.
That tournament rule is not an online poker policy or a statement of the law in every jurisdiction. Legal questions depend on where a player is located and the applicable rules; the cited operator policies establish what those operators say is permitted, not a universal legal standard.
Quick Recap
How to check whether a poker tool is allowed
- Identify what it does. Does it make decisions, execute actions, calculate strategy for the current hand, display advice, collect other players’ data, or simply support off-table study?
- Check when you would use it. A study resource used away from a table may be treated differently from the same material consulted during a hand.
- Read the current rules for your room. Search the operator’s official prohibited-tools, security, or poker-policy page. Do not transfer one site’s allowance or ban to another.
- Check the relevant format and location. Tournament rules and online-room terms are separate, and the rules that apply can depend on the event, operator, and jurisdiction.
- If the policy is unclear, do not use the tool during play until the operator clarifies it. A tool’s marketing description or research benchmark does not override the room’s terms.
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