BOT FARM: How a Russian Bot Army Took Over Online Poker – The Untold Story of BF

In a world where online poker used to be about human wits and bluffing, a shadowy Russian operation emerged to change the game forever with the Russian Bot Farm with Online Poker Bots. Meet Bot Farm Corporation (BF Corp.) the Siberian braintrust that leveraged AI and game theory to dominate the virtual felt—and now threatens everything the poker world cherishes.

From Dorm Room to Bot Empire

Back in the early 2000s, as poker exploded online, a group of math-savvy students from Omsk—majors in math, physics, and economics—started experimenting with the game using dried pasta as chips and odds lessons from a lecturer. Within a couple of years, nearly 50 students were staying up late, honing poker strategies and teaching one another game theory around their dorm rooms

Bots That Blend In, Bots That Win

They merged with other technical groups and secured outside funding—including from a local real-estate mogul. The operation recruited a poker pro, Petr “Rus” Vlasenko, winner of the 2006 PartyPoker St. Petersburg Open. His mathematical approach to odds became the foundation for the team’s burgeoning bot software. ( Check The Video 2025 )

Liquidity or Deception? The Rise of Deeplay

BF Corp. later pivoted to serve poker operators themselves. Under the name “Deeplay,” they sold bots designed to populate tables and create “liquidity.” These bots could be tuned to let casual players win just enough to keep playing—boosting site revenue through rake Industry insiders confirmed that some poker platforms might look the other way if bots meant higher engagement and rake. As one executive put it, “You can’t run an online poker business without liquidity”—and bots deliver exactly that

The Gray Zone of Detection

The poker world has long tolerated botting in whispers, but few acknowledged its scale—until this Bloomberg expose. Recognizing bots publicly risks scaring off casual players, the lifeblood of online poker, so many operators remain silent And yet, detecting bots is incredibly challenging. Top platforms deploy integrity teams and sophisticated behavior analysis, but bots adapt fast. Telltale patterns take many hands to detect, and burner accounts vanish as quickly as they appear

A Threat or a Game-Changer?

For purists, bots erode what made poker exciting—the mix of psychology, luck, and the unknown. Chris Moneymaker, whose 2003 WSOP win sparked the poker boom, warned that AI and bots could eventually “kill the whole online poker world” But BF Corp. claims a different aim: to “save” online poker. By offering controlled bot competition, they argue, casual players might enjoy fairer, more consistent experiences .In effect, bots become part of the game’s DNA—like a viral agent woven into its genome

What Every Player Should Know

• Bots are here, and they’re intelligent. They mimic humans—and win.

• It’s hard to detect them. Even expert teams need thousands of hands to confirm.

• Some sites may rely on them for liquidity. Growth and rake sometimes outweigh fairness.

• The future is murky. Will bots vanish? Get regulated? Become standard? The poker ecosystem is in flux.