Best programming language to use to analyze card-based games?
July 13th, 2015 at 6:47:55 PM
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I have an actuarial background with all of the accompanying semi-competent software skills of SQL/Excel/VBA, and would like to use/expand these technical skills to start learning how to program games. At this point, I can't really wrap my head around how I would analyze a game without a simple brute-force approach. Are there better programming languages/ information that can get me started in the right direction with analyzing these games myself?
July 13th, 2015 at 7:04:18 PM
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If you use C++ you'd be able to avail yourself of the years of work that's gone into open-source poker analysis.
I've been meaning to learn R but haven't gotten around to it. Perhaps someone who knows it can say whether it would be a better choice for poker-type analysis.
I've been meaning to learn R but haven't gotten around to it. Perhaps someone who knows it can say whether it would be a better choice for poker-type analysis.
"In my own case, when it seemed to me after a long illness that death was close at hand, I found no little solace in playing constantly at dice."
-- Girolamo Cardano, 1563
July 13th, 2015 at 7:17:26 PM
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I am assuming you have a Windows-based computer?
Since you know VBA, you should be able to pick up "regular" Visual Basic easily. Microsoft lets you download Visual Basic Express for free. I use Visual C# Express (which is pretty much the same thing, but closer to C than BASIC) myself.
Of course, the problem isn't learning the language; it's figuring out just what you want to calculate.
What type of game are you trying to analyze? I have a feeling you will discover that brute force is the only way to do it in a number of cases - and, in fact, it may be easier to just plug numbers and formulas into an Excel spreadsheet than to try to write a program to figure it out.
Since you know VBA, you should be able to pick up "regular" Visual Basic easily. Microsoft lets you download Visual Basic Express for free. I use Visual C# Express (which is pretty much the same thing, but closer to C than BASIC) myself.
Of course, the problem isn't learning the language; it's figuring out just what you want to calculate.
What type of game are you trying to analyze? I have a feeling you will discover that brute force is the only way to do it in a number of cases - and, in fact, it may be easier to just plug numbers and formulas into an Excel spreadsheet than to try to write a program to figure it out.
July 14th, 2015 at 10:56:05 AM
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When I started being AP, I started analysing games in excel using various aproximations techniques.
For example I analysed BJ Basic Strategy using Infinite deck analysis (ie each rank probability remains 1/13).
Of course, Excel can get you so far.
So next I taught myself VBA in Excel (without ever having any formal programming study) to do more.
I concetrated to learn programming methods that are relevant to analyse games.
It is possible to analyse games in VBA.
From what I read it is not the best language to use.
The approach I used was Brute Force BUT also looking for shortcuts.
For example in BJ, there is no need to differentiate suits and can treat all 10s equally.
So say in 6 decks BJ, you consider just 10 ranks with each having 24 cards and the 10s having 96 cards.
For example I analysed BJ Basic Strategy using Infinite deck analysis (ie each rank probability remains 1/13).
Of course, Excel can get you so far.
So next I taught myself VBA in Excel (without ever having any formal programming study) to do more.
I concetrated to learn programming methods that are relevant to analyse games.
It is possible to analyse games in VBA.
From what I read it is not the best language to use.
The approach I used was Brute Force BUT also looking for shortcuts.
For example in BJ, there is no need to differentiate suits and can treat all 10s equally.
So say in 6 decks BJ, you consider just 10 ranks with each having 24 cards and the 10s having 96 cards.
July 14th, 2015 at 10:56:08 AM
permalink
When I started being AP, I started analysing games in excel using various aproximations techniques.
For example I analysed BJ Basic Strategy using Infinite deck analysis (ie each rank probability remains 1/13).
Of course, Excel can get you so far.
So next I taught myself VBA in Excel (without ever having any formal programming study) to do more.
I concetrated to learn programming methods that are relevant to analyse games.
It is possible to analyse games in VBA.
From what I read it is not the best language to use.
The approach I used was Brute Force BUT also looking for shortcuts.
For example in BJ, there is no need to differentiate suits and can treat all 10s equally.
So say in 6 decks BJ, you consider just 10 ranks with each having 24 cards and the 10s having 96 cards.
For example I analysed BJ Basic Strategy using Infinite deck analysis (ie each rank probability remains 1/13).
Of course, Excel can get you so far.
So next I taught myself VBA in Excel (without ever having any formal programming study) to do more.
I concetrated to learn programming methods that are relevant to analyse games.
It is possible to analyse games in VBA.
From what I read it is not the best language to use.
The approach I used was Brute Force BUT also looking for shortcuts.
For example in BJ, there is no need to differentiate suits and can treat all 10s equally.
So say in 6 decks BJ, you consider just 10 ranks with each having 24 cards and the 10s having 96 cards.
