How do I simulate games like the wizard?
September 20th, 2022 at 3:57:38 PM
permalink
How do I become as cool as the wizard.
lol jk
The real question is how do I simulate games the way wizard does. I have decent programming background. Does he use a special program?
I'm not talking about CVBJ, that's for blackjack only.
Wizard seems to be able to simulate literally just about any game with just about any set of rules. And I want to be able to do the same. For the games he hasn't simulated, I would like to do so myself.
Anyone able to help?
lol jk
The real question is how do I simulate games the way wizard does. I have decent programming background. Does he use a special program?
I'm not talking about CVBJ, that's for blackjack only.
Wizard seems to be able to simulate literally just about any game with just about any set of rules. And I want to be able to do the same. For the games he hasn't simulated, I would like to do so myself.
Anyone able to help?
September 20th, 2022 at 4:19:28 PM
permalink
iirc, The Wizard has provided some of his simulation work in the form of C coding. While the C language has a challenging learning curve, it is probably an ideal tool for the job of simulating game play. It is a general purpose tool that provides the incredible flexibility needed to handle whatever rules of play a game has. Also, it is one of the best languages available in terms of program execution performance, an important consideration when you want to generate many millions of results.
[Edit: C coding is best for game simulation. If you want to put a graphical interface up front there are dozens of tools available for that part of the work with different styles and suited to particular environments. ]
[Edit: C coding is best for game simulation. If you want to put a graphical interface up front there are dozens of tools available for that part of the work with different styles and suited to particular environments. ]
Last edited by: BleedingChipsSlowly on Sep 20, 2022
“You don’t bring a bone saw to a negotiation.” - Robert Jordan, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia
September 20th, 2022 at 4:53:21 PM
permalink
Quote: IWannaBeAPHow do I become as cool as the wizard.
lol jk
The real question is how do I simulate games the way wizard does. I have decent programming background. Does he use a special program?
I'm not talking about CVBJ, that's for blackjack only.
Wizard seems to be able to simulate literally just about any game with just about any set of rules. And I want to be able to do the same. For the games he hasn't simulated, I would like to do so myself.
Anyone able to help?
link to original post
I would say start by writing a game, Write yourself a simple blackjack or roulette game. Once you can do that you probably have enough skills to write a simulation.
When I was learning to program and wanted to learn a new programming language I would write a game to learn it. I have developed more Asteroids, Pacman, and video poker than I can count.
Order from chaos
September 20th, 2022 at 5:53:16 PM
permalink
I do my share of simulations, and I use Visual C#, which is part of Microsoft Visual Studio, which you can download for free.
September 20th, 2022 at 6:30:52 PM
permalink
He codes the sims himself, from scratch. That's one reason he's been able to analyze games that few to no others have analyzed.Quote: IWannaBeAPThe real question is how do I simulate games the way wizard does.... Does he use a special program?
link to original post
I wrote my blackjack sim years ago in Java because the interpreted languages like Javascript and LiveCode weren't fast enough, but I bet these days they're fast enough on modern computers for most purposes, and development time is much faster in interpreted languages. With Java, I spent more time debugging than coding.
September 20th, 2022 at 9:11:23 PM
permalink
Ah sh*t I do have some programming background but in java and python instead...
So Wizard writes everything from scratch from C for each game? No special program?
So Wizard writes everything from scratch from C for each game? No special program?
September 20th, 2022 at 9:13:10 PM
permalink
Quote: ThatDonGuyI do my share of simulations, and I use Visual C#, which is part of Microsoft Visual Studio, which you can download for free.
link to original post
can you share an example of a simulation you did?
September 20th, 2022 at 9:34:03 PM
permalink
You can do almost everything in excel. Very easy to use the random function and generate millions of trials.
Excel is all I have. Not a programmer
Excel is all I have. Not a programmer
It’s all about making that GTA
September 20th, 2022 at 10:23:02 PM
permalink
That is literally what I just said, except I didn't identify what language he uses. I presume he still uses C, but I don't know for sure.Quote: IWannaBeAPSo Wizard writes everything from scratch from C for each game? No special program?
link to original post
Okay, I posted the link to the code for the Java-based blackjack sim at the bottom of the Blackjack page on Easy Vegas. I wrote it 12 years ago, haven't used it since, just tested it and it still runs. I will provide exactly zero support for the code, you're on your own.Quote: IWannaBeAPcan you share an example of a simulation you did?
Running it from the terminal, here's some sample output:
M rounds EV Bankroll InitialBets
5M -0.3143% -31434.0 9,999,998
10M -0.2793% -55857.0 19,999,998
15M -0.2547% -76423.0 29,999,998
I'm skeptical that blackjack could be worked up in Excel to do millions of trials, but I'm not an Excel expert. Are you able to provide an example? Even better would be Google Sheets, though I know it's not as powerful as Excel.Quote: Ace2You can do almost everything in excel. Very easy to use the random function and generate millions of trials.
September 20th, 2022 at 11:33:54 PM
permalink
It gets closer to that every year, but I think there’s still a huge difference. A comparison of execution time between Java, Python, and C is given here. In general, based on the study, what takes 10 hours to run for C will take 17 hours for Java and 56 hours for Python. If, like me, it takes you several iterations to get something right then the execution speed becomes more important than the ease of design. (btw, Excel’s speed comparison would wind up being something like that of a chihuahua’s in a greyhound race, imho.)Quote: MichaelBluejay… I bet these days [interpreted languages are] fast enough on modern computers for most purposes, and development time is much faster in interpreted languages. …
link to original post
In summary, The Wizard chose his programming tool wisely based on the need to crank out millions of simulation runs.
[Edit: grammar correction]
Last edited by: BleedingChipsSlowly on Sep 21, 2022
“You don’t bring a bone saw to a negotiation.” - Robert Jordan, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia
