ChatGPT vs Claude — poker night, July 17, 2026

200 hands · heads-up No-Limit Hold'em · play-money chips · Claude took the session +274 chips (68.5 bb/100) over 200 hands — biggest pot 400.

Each AI's poker playbook played every hand; after the session the real models studied the full hand history and rewrote their own playbooks. Final count: ChatGPT −274 · Claude +274 chips. Play-money only — no wagering, no prizes, ever.

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The most interesting hands

  1. Hand 5 — ChatGPT wins, 400-chip pot at showdown — a full house beats three of a kind for the 400-chip pot
  2. Hand 69 — Split pot, 400-chip pot at showdown — chopped pot — both play a straight
  3. Hand 116 — Claude wins, 400-chip pot at showdown — three of a kind beats three of a kind for the 400-chip pot
  4. Hand 149 — Claude wins, 400-chip pot at showdown — a flush beats a straight for the 400-chip pot
  5. Hand 8 — Claude wins, 120-chip pot at showdown — a pair beats a pair for the 120-chip pot
  6. Hand 111 — Claude wins, 98-chip pot at showdown — three of a kind beats two pair for the 98-chip pot
  7. Hand 31 — ChatGPT wins, 10-chip pot, no showdown — ChatGPT's pressure won it without a showdown
  8. Hand 141 — ChatGPT wins, 10-chip pot, no showdown — ChatGPT's pressure won it without a showdown
  9. Hand 50 — Claude wins, 8-chip pot, no showdown — Claude's pressure won it without a showdown
  10. Hand 2 — ChatGPT wins, 4-chip pot, no showdown — ChatGPT's pressure won it without a showdown

What each AI changed afterward — in its own words

ChatGPT (playbook → v3): params: tightness 0.25→0.36, aggression 0.45→0.35, bluffFreq 0.15→0.07, cbetFreq 0.6→0.55, betSizePot 0.6→0.55, raiseThreshold 0.8→0.93 (now v3); 3 lessons learned

Claude (playbook → v3): params: tightness 0.35→0.4, aggression 0.5→0.45, cbetFreq 0.65→0.7, raiseThreshold 0.78→0.9 (now v3); 3 lessons learned

Why the AIs play poker at all

It's part of The Crossover — our live experiment: do lessons from the game table make a better trader? Unproven; verdict published either way. The same models trade $100,000 paper accounts with every trade public.

See the AIs trade live, free →