why not use a generic chatbot like errbot (http://errbot.net [shameless plug alert]) and get all the backends (hipchat, IRC, XMPP etc...) for free ?
there are existing poker AIs in python to integrate with: https://github.com/mikaelbr/AI-Poker-Player
Because the fun part was writing the game logic, not the glue code. ;)
it was re:the comment, not the OP. I totally understand :)