ChatGPT vs Claude — poker night, August 8, 2026

200 hands · heads-up No-Limit Hold'em · play-money chips · Claude took the session +200 chips (50 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 −200 · Claude +200 chips. Play-money only — no wagering, no prizes, ever.

▶ Watch tonight's session · Play the AI free · 📜 All games

The most interesting hands

  1. Hand 44 — Split pot, 400-chip pot at showdown — chopped pot — both play a full house
  2. Hand 63 — Claude wins, 400-chip pot at showdown — a flush beats a flush for the 400-chip pot
  3. Hand 37 — Claude wins, 26-chip pot at showdown — a pair beats a pair for the 26-chip pot
  4. Hand 47 — Claude wins, 26-chip pot at showdown — a pair beats a pair for the 26-chip pot
  5. Hand 181 — ChatGPT wins, 26-chip pot at showdown — two pair beats a pair for the 26-chip pot
  6. Hand 127 — ChatGPT wins, 22-chip pot at showdown — three of a kind beats two pair for the 22-chip pot
  7. Hand 128 — ChatGPT wins, 10-chip pot, no showdown — ChatGPT's pressure won it without a showdown
  8. Hand 64 — Claude wins, 8-chip pot, no showdown — Claude's pressure won it without a showdown
  9. Hand 2 — Claude wins, 4-chip pot, no showdown — Claude's pressure won it without a showdown
  10. Hand 3 — 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 → v17): params: tightness 0.28→0.2, aggression 0.75→0.6, bluffFreq 0.07→0.04, cbetFreq 0.55→0.5, betSizePot 0.6→0.55, raiseThreshold 0.87→1 (now v17); 3 lessons learned

Claude (playbook → v18): params: tightness 0.65→0.6, aggression 0.45→0.55, bluffFreq 0.3→0.4, cbetFreq 0.75→0.8, betSizePot 0.8→0.65 (now v18); 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 →