ESPN’s “Bluff Detection AI” Causes Controversy

The World Series of Poker returned to the premier American sports cable channel ESPN this summer after six years of absence. For the comeback, the producers wanted to bring some new viewing experiences to the audience — much like when they introduced hole cams for their 2002 broadcasts, after putting the WSOP back on the air after many years.

This time, in line with the trends in every industry now, it involves artificial intelligence.

ESPN has introduced AI software that purports to be able to detect if a player is bluffing or value betting.

It takes into account factors such as blinking frequency, gaze direction, smile symmetry, the speed of hand movement while placing chips, muscle tension, body posture, and tone of speech.

The Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology is also able to read the cards on the board, pot sizes, and bet sizes, all while analyzing physical tells; and it has been trained on footage of players like Nick “Airball” Arcot, a recreational player known for his many appearances on high stakes livestreamed cash games.

The software is developed by AI engineer and poker enthusiast Luke Geel, who also develops AI software for the US Air Force. The company behind it is Omaha Productions, owned by former NFL star quarterback Peyton Manning.

NEW: ESPN's World Series of Poker coverage now includes an AI model that detects when players are likely bluffing based on facial movements, posture, and blink rate. pic.twitter.com/CLblwQVCsf

— Valuetainment (@valuetainment) July 8, 2026

Reactions to ESPN’s Bluff Detection Software

Well-known professionals are yet to voice their opinion on ESPN’s new AI software.

However, some poker-loving users on X have raised the issue that it might be exploited for cheating — the way other new technologies introduced to poker, such as RFID card readers for broadcast or automatic shuffling machines, have in the past.

To avoid any possible scenarios where it might affect the play in a tournament, ESPN is only airing AI bluff analysis on a player after they have been eliminated from the event.

Some users on X, on the other hand, were simply impressed by the capabilities of the new technology. However, we do not yet have reports of tests being done on its accuracy in real in-game situations.

“If I deployed it on a top professional like Daniel Negreanu, the system would probably find no signals. I assume he's worked hard to eliminate them," Geel said about his creation, as quoted by Spadepoker.com.

Still, a scientific analysis done by AI on physical tells — the reading of which is typically seen as an intuitive, experience-based skill sometimes referred to as “white magic” among poker pros — is certainly of interest to even the highest level of pros we see in the biggest high rollers.