888poker Seizes $300K from Bots and Reimburses Players

888poker has a simple message to send bot accounts, and that is that they simply have no place on one of the most prominent online poker networks. The company said that it has been able to seize more than $300,000 in funds operated by poker accounts that used bots or AI software in order to increase or automate their chances of success.

Bots Come Under Heavy Fire on 888poker

The numbers apply to 2021, which is the biggest bounty for the platform to date and exemplifies 888poker’s commitment to ensuring that bots are no longer part of the experience. The company is confident that it can repeat that achievement and further discourage bot accounts from ever showing their nose on 888poker.

According to the company’s own account, it has already seized $80,858 in the first five months of the year from a total of 1,390 accounts. The company has been able to reimburse players who have been impacted by those bots, i.e. lost money to them. This exemplifies how 888poker remains committed to doing right by its customers even if it’s after the fact.

Botting has been a known and painful problem to address on poker platforms. The simple truth is that without substantial investment and improvement of poker algorithms, getting rid of bots would be near impossible. Community feedback and engagement are just as important. This is why 888poker is putting down the money to make sure that it has the technical capabilities to solve the problem once and for all.

The company has procured the services of some of the best online and live poker players who are able to analyze behavior in real-time and assess when someone is a bot and when a real person is. This is boosting the AI capabilities as well, ensuring that consumers on the platform are protected.

Company Working Actively to Address Botting

888poker group manager Matan Krakow said that the company’s efforts to restrict the accessibility of bots have been mounting over the past months. The ultimate goal, Krakow said, is to make sure that players enjoy a safe and level playing field across the board. An investment in detection capabilities is part of this process, the executive explained.

He commended players for providing information and feedback about suspicious accounts, which has been a very helpful tool in addressing the bigger problem that is finding out fraudulent accounts.