SpinGPT: A Large-Language-Model Approach to Playing Poker Correctly

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2509.22387v1
• Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:15:44 GMT
• Title: SpinGPT: A Large-Language-Model Approach to Playing Poker Correctly
• Authors: Narada Maugin, Tristan Cazenave,
• Abstract summary: We present SpinGPT, the first Large Language Models tailored to Spin & Go, a popular three-player online poker format.<n>Our results show that SpinGPT matches the solver's actions in 78% of decisions (tolerant accuracy)<n>These results suggest that LLMs could be a new way to deal with multi-player imperfect-information games like poker.
• Score: 2.5788559173418357
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: The Counterfactual Regret Minimization (CFR) algorithm and its variants have enabled the development of pokerbots capable of beating the best human players in heads-up (1v1) cash games and competing with them in six-player formats. However, CFR's computational complexity rises exponentially with the number of players. Furthermore, in games with three or more players, following Nash equilibrium no longer guarantees a non-losing outcome. These limitations, along with others, significantly restrict the applicability of CFR to the most popular formats: tournaments. Motivated by the recent success of Large Language Models (LLM) in chess and Diplomacy, we present SpinGPT, the first LLM tailored to Spin & Go, a popular three-player online poker format. SpinGPT is trained in two stages: (1) Supervised Fine-Tuning on 320k high-stakes expert decisions; (2) Reinforcement Learning on 270k solver-generated hands. Our results show that SpinGPT matches the solver's actions in 78% of decisions (tolerant accuracy). With a simple deep-stack heuristic, it achieves 13.4 +/- 12.9 BB/100 versus Slumbot in heads-up over 30,000 hands (95% CI). These results suggest that LLMs could be a new way to deal with multi-player imperfect-information games like poker.

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