An opponent that's always on
Real hands, any time. Showdown plays the other seats like an opponent rather than a script. It bluffs. It folds when the spot is bad. No waiting for a table and nothing at stake.
Showdown AI
Meet Showdown, the AI across the table
Showdown deals your practice hands and plays the opponents. Every decision you make gets a grade based on what it was actually worth. It's built on the science that beat professional players, and you can train against it in short daily sessions.
Runs on SHOWDOWN 1.0
That's the plate from the app. It names the engine version you're playing. When the number goes up, the game across the table got smarter.
What Showdown does for your game
The brain that plays the hand against you is the same one that grades it. Max coaches from its numbers.
A grade on every decision
Win or lose the pot, Showdown tells you whether the play was right. Every choice gets scored by expected value, the same math pros use to judge their own game.
Coaching in plain English
Max reads Showdown's numbers and tells you what mattered: position, stack depth, the board. You get the why behind the grade.
Named for poker's truth moment
A showdown is when the cards flip and the hand settles. No more stories, just who had what. That's what this engine does to your decisions: it shows what they were actually worth, even when the pot went the other way.
What's a showdown in poker? →
Built on the science that beat the pros
In 2019, an AI called Pluribus did something poker players thought was decades away: it beat top professionals at six-max no-limit hold'em. Showdown is built on that same approach, paired with our own GTO engine. The tech that played poker at a superhuman level is now pointed at your training.
That history is why the grades mean something: the engine handing them out can actually play.
Max coaches. Showdown deals.
Max isn't the AI you're playing against. He's your coach. He reads Showdown's numbers from your corner and explains the spot in plain English. The one across the table is Showdown.
When Showdown gets stronger, Max's advice gets sharper too.
It keeps getting better
You've watched AI models leap from version to version. Showdown improves the same way, with regular retraining that sharpens how it plays and how it grades. The version in the app (Showdown 1.0 today) is the build you're practicing against right now.
When the number goes up, the opponents play sharper and the grading gets more precise. Your streaks and XP carry straight through. A new version changes the engine. Your record stays yours.
Questions about Showdown
What is Showdown?
Showdown is the poker AI inside Poker Skill. It plays the opponents you practice against and grades every decision you make by expected value. The coaching feedback runs on its numbers too. It comes from the same family of techniques as the AIs that beat professional players.
Why should I trust its grades?
Showdown scores decisions by expected value: what a play earns on average, whether or not it happened to win the pot. That's how serious players study their own game. A good call that lost is still a good call, and Showdown says so.
Am I playing against Max?
No. Max is your coach. The hands you play are dealt and played by Showdown, and Max stays in your corner explaining what its numbers mean for your game.
What does "Runs on Showdown 1.0" mean in the app?
It's the version of the engine you're practicing against. When a new version ships, the number in the app changes. Sharper opponents, more precise grading.
What happens to my progress when a new version ships?
It stays. Your streaks, your XP, everything you've earned is untouched. A new version swaps the engine and nothing else.
What is the product context?
Poker Skill is a training app. Showdown is there to make you a better player by grading poker decisions and explaining the next concept to study.
Keep learning
Poker training app
See how lessons, puzzles, and feedback fit together into daily practice.
Learn poker appNew to poker? Start from rules and hand rankings into your first decisions.
Showdown, the poker termThe truth moment the engine is named for: cards flip, the hand settles.
Expected value (EV)The math Showdown grades you with, explained with poker examples.
Poker decision practicePractice focused hand spots with feedback before you move to harder lessons.
Poker Skill FAQProduct questions, account details, and app basics.
Practice this next
Take a seat against Showdown
Open Poker Skill and play a practice hand. Showdown grades it and shows you the why.