New software deciphers your poker fingerprint

Researchers at the University of Buffalo, New York, have developed software that follows online poker players and examines their play style.

Using a range of criteria, such as speed of play, size and frequency of bets and how often a player folds or raises, the software builds a profile of the poker player.  In theory, it can then recognize the same player when he or she returns to play on the site.  In essence, these scientists have created the equivalent of a poker fingerprint.

The software was originally developed in an attempt to stop scammers who steal players’ identities and then empty their accounts.  The fraudsters obtain the player’s details by sending a fake email, play from the victim’s account and lose all their money to an accomplice, playing on another account.  

Other scams involve bots, which play automatically, to steal money from legitimate players.

The new poker fingerprint software will be able to tell if a human is playing, or if it is an automatic play scam. 

By confirming the player’s identity, the site can also check that the real account holder is playing.  This could also be useful in tournaments to prevent ghosting â€" when a player sells his account to a better player, or when multiple players collaborate on one account. 

While upgrading security is of paramount importance, this technology could also be used in other ways, for example to help beat your opponent by studying his habits.

The program analyses play for an hour and can then identify 80% of players.  A higher rate of accuracy would result from more time to study the player.

However, good poker players know that predictability is the enemy.  New and less experienced players most likely have a routine and do follow trends which can be spotted by the poker software.  Experienced and successful players try to be as unpredictable as possible in order to win, therefore the software would find it hard to identify them.

So while you might think that playing online poker is totally anonymous, beware â€" someone could be watching your every move.