A balance for play, not withdrawal
Hoot currently uses free practice chips. They have no monetary value, and balances or winnings cannot be withdrawn as money. This applies to public and private tables.
Amounts on the table describe bets and balances inside the game. They are not cash earnings or an offer to deposit money. Social reactions, including the money icon, do not transfer chips to another player.
Some participants are house bots
Automated accounts may participate in practice games. A player’s details disclose their house-bot status. An avatar or a name alone does not establish that an account is a person.
These accounts use poker decision logic and may use the JEV AI service to select among a defined set of legal choices. If a suitable response is not available in time, the system falls back to local playing logic.
What information can a bot use?
Bot decisions use their own hole cards and public game information, such as the board, bets and visible stacks. Other players’ hidden cards and the order of future cards are not decision inputs.
The AI service does not invent unrestricted wagers. It selects from options allowed by the game state, and the server enforces the game rules. Changing bot difficulty does not grant access to opposing hole cards.
| Information | Used in the bot’s decision? |
|---|---|
| Its own hole cards | Yes |
| Public board, bets and stacks | Yes |
| An opponent’s unrevealed cards | No |
| The order of future cards | No |
Harder does not mean a fixed outcome
Bot difficulty levels can be adjusted by the game operator. A harder level changes estimation and choice, not the rules or information boundary. There is no promised bot win rate or claim that bots are unbeatable.
Losing several hands or seeing an unusual bot call does not by itself demonstrate knowledge of hidden cards. To understand a situation, review the decisions, amounts and information available at the time rather than the outcome alone.
What do we expect from players?
Keep hidden cards private while a hand is active. Do not cooperate with another player to share secret information or target someone at the table. This also applies when playing with friends at a private table.
Do not share your password or account access codes. Send a friend the table invitation, not your account credentials. If discussing a hand, keep the information needed to explain it without publishing access details or other players’ personal information.
A preview or invitation is not a live game
Prospective private-game previews are illustrative. Their displayed pot values are not live game data and do not guarantee an amount or a number of participants.
Joining the Whale Club invitation list expresses interest in a future game. It does not reserve a seat or guarantee a game at a particular time. Creating a table for your friends is a separate, working flow inside the game.
Common questions
Can a bot see my cards?
An opponent’s hidden cards are not included in its decision inputs. It uses its own cards and public information such as the board, bets and stacks.
Does Hoot use AI?
Yes. JEV can select among defined legal choices for house bots, alongside local poker logic that provides a fallback. This does not change the bots’ information boundary.
Does the money reaction send money or chips?
No. Like the other reactions, it is a social response only and transfers neither money nor chips between players.
Is this page an independent audit certificate?
No. It explains current product behavior and playing boundaries. It is not an accreditation or an audit report issued by an independent party.
Rules and references
These references explain general poker rules. Hoot’s current product details are described in our fair-play guide.