The Biggest Poker Scam in History of Poker

24 Mar 2025

Beginner

This material is for beginner players

We expose the biggest poker scam in history as we dive deep In the shadows of Siberia, where a massive poker bot empire known as Bot Farm Corporation rose to power, outsmarting even the best human players.

In the high-stakes world of online poker, Feruell has earned a reputation as one of the most formidable players. Known for his icy demeanor during games, he wasn't afraid to speak his mind in poker forums, often calling out what he saw as nonsense in the community. In 2013, a player by the name of Vyacheslav Karpov caught his attention. Karpov was notorious for his wild stories in Russian poker forums, boasting about card tricks he had learned from gypsies. 

Unable to hold back, Feruell entered the chatroom and accused Karpov of spinning fairy tales. He declared that Karpov did not know how to play poker, setting off a public feud. Karpov responded with a bold challenge, a heads-up match in Limit Texas Hold'em, which was Feruell's speciality. 

Known as the King of Limit, Feruell confidently accepted the duel set to take place on PokerStars. However, what seemed like a surefire victory for Feruell turned into a nightmare. Pot after pot went to Karpov, and after 400 hands, Feruell found himself down $20,000. 

While he couldn't prove it, he suspected Karpov had employed a poker bot, a software that had been evolving for decades but had recently become sophisticated enough to challenge even top human players. As Feruell reflected on his loss to Karpov, he realized he might have been one of the first top-tier players to fall victim to this new breed of poker bot, a sign that the game he loved was rapidly evolving for better or worse. 

Meanwhile, whispers in the poker community pointed to massive bot farms in places like Siberia, where programmers were developing sophisticated software to beat human competitors. One such operation, known as Bot Farm Corporation, was rumored to function like an international corporation complete with training programs and an HR department. 

Fueled by the poker boom and low local wages, these collectives trained tirelessly, substituting human players with AI systems that could play millions of hands and optimize strategies faster than any human being.

By 2012, the group had built what was likely the world's most advanced poker-playing software. They entered the annual computer poker competition under the name Neo Poker Lab, competing against leading research hubs like Carnegie Mellon and the University of Alberta. Neo placed in several categories and won the heads-up contest, pushing the vaunted Alberta bot into second place. 

Despite their success, the group's attempt to commercialize their technology failed. By 2015, University of Alberta announced that their bot, Cepheus, had solved two-player Limit Hold'em, claiming it was unbeatable. Reading the news from Russia, the Omsk crew was a little annoyed that they never got a rematch. But they had long since stopped bothering with scientific posturing. Poker isn't really poker without money at stake, and the Russian bot farmers knew that better than anyone. 

Before the development of Cepheus, poker sites did not take the threat of botting too seriously. By 2015, websites began adopting more sophisticated security measures to detect and ban bots, even though using software to play poker was more about cheating than breaking the law. 

Poker sites quickly adapted, forbidding bots in their terms of use and shutting down accounts suspected of using them. But identifying bots wasn't easy. The top professional players played nearly perfect, so filtering for win rates or play styles wasn't always enough. Early bot detection methods involved monitoring chat boxes and tracking cursor movements, but this only pushed bot developers to adapt. 

This led poker sites to dig deeper, analyzing gameplay patterns to spot anomalies. In Omsk, Russia, where a large-scale botting operation was thriving, this increased scrutiny became a problem. To counteract this, the group began outsourcing bot operations to partners who would pay for access to the sophisticated bot software known internally as the brain. These partners functioned like franchisees, setting up offices, hiring employees, and recruiting real people to open clean accounts for the bots to use. 

Bot Farm Corporation's bots could be operated fully automatically or with human assistance to avoid detection. This strategy worked well in online poker tournaments, where players might be asked to verify their identities via video. When caught, farms could shut down and restart under new identities. 

Leaked internal chats from the corporation revealed the vast scope of this operation, with over 600 operators running bot accounts across the globe. Many of the initial partners were Russian poker players or bloggers who had heard about the Bot Farm Corporation and had a loyal online following to supply clean accounts. Among them was Vyacheslav Karpov, a formidable rival of Feruell. 

Karpov's operation was so extensive that Bot Farm Corporation classified him as a premium user, granting him access to the advanced software known as the brain during his 2013 showdown against Feruell. 

By 2018, Bot Farm Corporation shifted strategies again, opting to sell their software as an app rather than working directly with partners. This allowed the group to focus on developing better AI without worrying about constant detection from poker sites. Some partners even turned into distributors, spreading the software far and wide under brands like NZT Poker, which boasted tens of thousands of users. 

Meanwhile, the poker industry faced a dilemma. While players hated bots, poker sites benefited from the liquidity they provided. Bots keep games running around the clock, ensuring there are always tables to join. 

Alex Scott, president of the World Poker Tour, noted that while sites have rules against bots, they have little incentive to crack down on them as long as they keep generating revenue through rake. Recognizing this opportunity, in 2020, Bot Farm Corporation launched a company called DeepPlay that claimed to provide AI-powered solutions for a range of industries distancing itself from its roots in the Siberian poker bot empire. Their bots were used by online poker clubs to keep tables active, and the company even offered anti-bot security services to protect these clubs from competitors. 

Former employees revealed that DeepPlay bots were sometimes set to play poorly, ensuring that human players won enough to keep them engaged. DeepPlay would either charge a fee for this technology or take a share of the increased revenue. It remains unclear whether any of DeepPlay's clients were aware they were dealing with an offshoot of one of the largest cheating operations in poker history. 

When asked about the ethics, one executive described it as a complicated question, acknowledging that other platforms also used bots. The top five poker sites either denied any connection to this practice, declined to comment, or did not respond at all. 

For the average poker player, there’s no longer any certainty about whether their online opponent is human or machine. Even on the biggest platforms, game security is far from foolproof. “This is an arms race against highly motivated individuals”, — PokerStars noted in a 2023 blog post.

At a recent tournament with a $12.5 million prize pool on the Winning Poker Network, the second-place finisher was disqualified mid-event on suspicion of botting. It was a stark reminder that AI-driven cheating remains a serious threat to the game.

Yet, despite their reputation as poker’s most notorious cheaters, the leaders of the Bot Farm Corporation have begun exploring ways to reshape the game’s future. In 2023, a group of former members, calling themselves the Neo-Pokerists, came forward with a bold vision. They argued that online poker, in its current state, was unsustainable. Too many pros and bots were battling over a dwindling pool of casual players, driving them away from the game.

Their proposed solution? A matchmaking system that pairs players of similar skill levels, ensuring fair competition. Ironically, the same group that once built one of the most sophisticated cheating operations in history now claims to have the key to saving poker.

Whether the poker world will embrace this vision remains to be seen. But one thing is clear — the war between humans and poker machines is far from over.