ACR Poker, formerly Americas Cardroom, issued a poker bot challenge. They promised to give a $100,000 reward to anyone who can produce and operate a working bot on its platform. Thus, it was ACR’s way to prove it is one of the best online poker websites today.
A 2+2 forum post said an invincible bot had been using ACR and won every time. Thus, ACR Poker gave out the six-figure challenge.
According to gambling industry news reports, regulated poker sites are not immune to security breaches. It was revealed last week that a GGPoker account could see the equity while hands were in progress, giving the player almost superuser-level control. The online poker giant banned the account of a 2+2 forum user who brought attention to the scam.
Such things do indeed occur, even on sites that most gamers trust. While sites like GGPoker have had security concerns, ACR Poker, part of the Winning Poker Network, has had recurring security issues that pale in contrast. Following several hours of public relations missteps and dubious choices, the corporation ended the challenge on January 5.
ACR’s Poker Bot Challenge
According to gambling news reports, one of the few alternatives available in most US states is ACR Poker. Also, it is a favorite among American poker players. Unfortunately, ACR is unregulated in the US, and the site functions in a gray market, so playing there is not prohibited according to federal legislation.
Chris Moneymaker and Ebony Kenney, two ACR Pros, addressed social media reports on January 5 and admitted that the site had received criticism. Kenney said that ACR Pros secretly did all they could to defend poker players.
This is what the site had to say: “To the first individual that can develop a bot, have it function on WPN for 5,000 hands, and show us $100,000 and a job.” Around 12 hours later, news broke that gamers allegedly used bots to hunt out the $100,000 reward. Previous comments had implied that no real botters should bother with it, with the logic being that the $100,000 reward would not even come close to covering the potential earnings for anyone with a functional bot.
Following this, ACR clarified the Challenge later that day, stating that nobody has “finished” it at present. The Bot Challenge was announced to have ended after this explanation, which lasted just over half a day. Their original goal was to “test the strength of their security mechanisms” and “showcase the improvements achieved by their game integrity team.” Still, they used the opportunity to apologize for the Bot Challenge after receiving “overwhelming comments” against it.