British online poker sites are attempting to stamp out the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by players who have designed software which can play online on its own.

Running a team of poker bots is certainly not encouraged by poker sites and it's often in a site's terms and conditions that you can't use software, bots, or AI, but some sites do not even mention it.

Full Tilt - one of the big online poker names says in its terms: "The use of artificial intelligence including, without limitation, 'robots' is strictly forbidden in connection with Full Tilt Poker. All actions taken in relation to Full Tilt Poker's games and tournaments must be executed personally by players through the user interface accessible by use of the game software."

 Dr Darse Billings, a consultant with the University of Alberta's poker research group is employed by Full Tilt as a technical games analyst. He's one of the few people in the world who's worked on developing champion-beating poker bots.

But Full Tilt also objects to the use of external poker analysis software, a standard approach by online players. If breaching terms and conditions is a crime, almost everyone's doing it. A bot master may have broken a contract with the site, but not any law.

Dai Davis, an IT specialist partner with solicitors Brooke North told the Guardian "It's by no means certain any crime is committed. And they'd have the greatest difficulty in trying to obtain a criminal conviction.”

The proof is in the pudding, according to Davis. These sites would be straight off to the Crown Prosecution Service if they could. Instead they kick people off their sites.

"It would be a crime if [the bot master] was, and I use the word reluctantly, hacking – trying to delve into the site to obtain data he hasn't got rights to use. If all he's doing is statistical analysis, he's entitled to do it." The bots our bot master deployed operated using a combination of probabilistic calculations with some stochastic search.

So can a site kick you off and keep your winnings? All poker sites reserve the right to do this if you contravene their terms and conditions. They can give you the boot, but only if their terms are properly applied, the player is bound by them and they are enforceable. Assuming these hurdles are satisfactorily completed, they can be enforced against him.

And can winnings be forfeited? Sites are bound to say you can't do lots of things, says Davis. "Ultimately, it's up to the courts. There is both European and English legislation, and you can't have unfair terms and conditions. Penalties aren't necessarily enforceable."So if you're smart enough and can stand the tedium, go ahead and fill your poker bots' pockets.”

At a time when online sites are working hard to sustain their levels of income the challenge presented by some users utilising Artificial intelligence will surely be met head on.

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