PokerProbot Wins Las Vegas Tourney

Robot wins Robot Tournament but looses to human...

Hoosier's robot is royal flush of poker world
By Bonnie Britton

Hilton Givens is flush with success after winning the 2005 World Poker Robot Championship in Las Vegas.

The 37-year-old car salesman and software developer from Lafayette also is $100,000 richer.

He was one of six invited contestants from around the world who took part in the competition. The "players" (software programs that play independently of their owners) are named Benbot, BlackShark, Catfish, gobot, HoldemMemory and PokerProbot (Givens' entry).

After his money match, it was on to an exhibition match "against the University of Alberta, Canada, with 14 years of poker research and supposedly the world's best robot (Poki-X), and I beat them," Givens said Monday.

Finally, Givens and his PokerProbot competed in a machine vs. man match with Phil Laak, a big-time human poker player nicknamed the Unabomber because he wears sunglasses and a hooded sweatshirt at the table.

"At the half break, we were seesawing back and forth. It took him about four hours to beat me."

Hoosier's robot is royal flush of poker world

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