A recent poll found overwhelming support from players for the inclusion of facial recognition
One of the most difficult things to monitor when it comes to online gaming is the process of figuring out if, behind the screen, there is a real person playing, or something else. Online poker has been popular for a while now; still, one of the struggles it faces is people looking into running scams or taking advantage of the system by creating multiple accounts or even using bots to get a profit. Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to have a great solution for this issue that could change completely the way online poker is perceived with the use of facial recognition technology. A recent poll of poker players found tremendous support for this idea, and it will most likely find its way to online poker portals quickly.
An unofficial poll was conducted on Twitter to gauge what the response would be to introducing facial recognition in order for players to sit down at a virtual tournament table. Overall, much to the surprise of everyone, the idea found overwhelming success. Overall, the users seemed to agree with this new feature, and, of the 5,000 who responded, 85% were on board.
The idea of this facial recognition software can be taken further to tackle any idea of cheating the system. The use of bots, multi-accounting, and ghosting on the site are practices that can be easily eradicated with AI running scans not only when users are creating accounts but also in random points during a money tournament or while playing high-stake just to confirm the identity of the person playing. Like anything new, some users might be scared about all the control, but some others will appreciate the safe environment to play on.
AI could really enhance the confidence and boost the credibility of online poker and make it more attractive to those potential players in the years to come. In such a scene, future users that would like to join an online poker site will need to pass a facial recognition scanner to complete the process of signing up. This technology can also help with responsible gaming as it can help poker sites recognizing players that perhaps requested to be banned for gambling problems and end up creating multiple accounts with mixed information to be able to play.