The Human Element

We've played a computer in heads-up Texas Hold 'em at a casino a few times. Sometimes we've won. Sometimes we've lost. But imagine having to take on three computers at once.

The Texas Hold 'em table at the family-friendly game site Pogo.com is set up that way. Unless you're a member, you sit down to play for free against "Computer 2", "Computer 3" and "Computer 4." If you fold, the computers take on each other like an old Japanese monster movie - and they're programmed to be aggressive at times, with pre-flop raises and bluffing pushes.

It took us four tries to figure out a winning formula against these guys.... uh, machines.... and Saturday night it worked. By ignoring the prodding voice who says, "Let's play some poker!" we were able to knock out #2 and #4 at the same time with an all-in bet - then eliminate #3 on the fifth round of blinds with a full house.

For doing all that, we won.... 60 tokens, which we could use if we had a paid membership. That's not exactly what we're looking for online these days.

For one thing, how can you talk about the things of Christ with a computer? Even God realized this long ago....

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil.... - Hebrews 2:14

Verse 11 makes clear this is talking about Jesus - the God-Being who created humanity:

He is the image of the invisible God.... For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. - Colossians 1:15-16

Jesus created human beings. Then He came to Earth to "share in their humanity." Why would a God-Being lower Himself and do such a thing?

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

Jesus the Son lived a perfect, sin-free life to defeat Satan the devil, and open the way for us to have eternal life with Him. You don't have to become a mechanized "bot" to do that, either. It starts with confessing how human you are, repenting of your sins and turning to God's way of living.

Jesus shared Himself and went "all in" for you. Are you willing to respond to that love, and do the same thing toward Him?

AI v. A-J

Long before people played poker against each other on computers, people were playing against.... well, computers.

We did it in college (or perhaps it was some other card game) against a primitive 64k computer like a Commodore. We've also done it in recent years at a casino in Kansas City - where a computerized Texas Hold 'em game was programmed so well that it cost us some money.

Now researchers in Canada and the Czech Republic say they've developed the "DeepStack" program - artificial intelligence that can beat the best in a heads-up no-limit poker game. In fact, it won most of the time against 11 poker pros over a total of 12,000 games.

Developers say the program succeeds by "learning" from past games to figure out "intuition" for playing future hands. In other words, DeepStack seems to learn from its mistakes.... very well. How good are you at doing that? Not simply at the poker table, but in other aspects of your life?

If you make the same mistake several times in poker, it could be due to bad reads or a lack of good thinking. If you do it in your everyday actions, you may have a bad habit that needs breaking.

As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. - Proverbs 26:11

Tough words - but Biblical words. It's far better to change your thinking and not make the same mistake twice. If you need help with that, may we make an unusual suggestion?

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. - James 1:5

God wants you to be wise, not foolish. And beyond that, He wants you to ask for His wisdom....

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. - I Corinthians 1:25

You can grow in that wisdom by consulting God's book of wisdom on a regular basis. It can lead to the greatest victory of all....

...From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. - II Timothy 3:15

We're not guaranteeing you'll beat DeepStack. But if you learn from your mistakes and grow in knowledge of how to play the game - in poker or otherwise - you could wind up with a "deep stack" of blessings.

Man Vs. Machine: Drugged Up

When a weekend road trip to see family members puts you only a couple of miles from a casino, it's only natural for us to pay it a visit.  So this morning, while many people slept in or went to church, we went to Hollywood Casino.

One stop was the heads-up Texas Hold 'em computer machine. We've played it before - sometimes for nice gains, other times for big losses.

BLINDS: 1/2

IN THE POCKET: K-2 of hearts

We put a $20 bill in the machine to get started.  After a couple of bad deals, we're starting with $15. The machine likes to raise pre-flop, perhaps to scare opponents off.  In this case, we dare to call a raise to 4.  We don't use "K-2," but we sometimes play it.

ON THE FLOP: 2-A-K

If this is "slot machine" poker, two pair might as well be a jackpot.  We check - and sure enough, the machine bets $2. We raise in this minimum-raise format, and in seconds we're all in for $11. (We tried to insert another $20 to heighten the stakes, but could not.)

ON THE TURN: 10

The computer shows A-7!  Our two pair beats its one.

ON THR RIVER: 6

The gamble pays off, and we're up $26.

But K-2 came again on the next hand, and we should have realized what was coming. We hurt ourselves by pressing the "bet/raise" button when we meant to call - and we wound up with nothing, while the computer made a 6-high straight.  We should have left well enough alone, as we wound up losing $17.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Before the computer challenge, we sat down for blackjack with a real dealer.  Only three players were at the table at 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday - but the player across from us was in a gambling mood.

"Can I play your poker?" he asked us.  It took three times for us to understand what he meant.  The table had a small circle for placing bets in "three-card poker."  If your first two cards and the dealer's "up card" complete a poker hand such as a straight or flush, you get paid 9:1.

That man turned our spot into a jackpot a couple of times, while we chose to keep it vacant.  The man was kind enough to let us keep $5 of his $45 gain.

What an unusual way to practice giving -- doing it without our fully realizing what was happening.  But consider this verse:

All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing. - Proverbs 21:26

Admittedly taking this verse a bit out of context, the man across the table "craved for more" - seeking gain so much that he entered our "turf" and made money from it!  We gave him the opportunity to do it.  Then he gave us an 11-percent share of his winnings.

Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. - Psalm 112:5-6

We'll claim this as a promise from God, and try to be just in our conduct at the table - no matter where that table might be.

The Self-Taught Life

When it comes to poker, do you think you've seen it all?  Do you dare to think you know it all?

There's a computer in Canada which programmers say knows more than you.  And here's the more amazing thing - they say the computer taught itself how to play Texas Hold 'em.

This announcement, for some reason, is not in CardPlayer magazine.  It's in Science.  An online summary indicates this ultimate poker "bot" called Cepheus went through "24 trillion simulated poker hands per second for two months" to develop a winning strategy.  By comparison, some human players do well in a tournament to see 10 hands in a 20-minute blind period.

We couldn't get the playing part of Cepheus to work on two different computers.  But its "pre-flop strategy" in heads-up Texas Hold 'em strikes us as odd.  For instance, it raises with J-4 unsuited practically every time.  So it's an aggressive bot -- yet the programmers tell us it's liable to win most of the time.

We'd stop here and open the blog for comments. Are you a "self-taught" poker player like this?  If so, has it worked for you?

But we'd go farther -- and ask if you're "self-taught" on the bigger things of life.  Have you learned on your own what's going to happen after your life is over?  Or whether there's a God?

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. - I Corinthians 2:11

 

If God is a mystery to you, perhaps God is closing your eyes to it for now.  But if you're reading this and you're ready to know more, we don't think the self-taught approach will work.  You're going to need help.

"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. - I Corinthians 2:16

The search for the mind of God starts with reading the Bible -- slowly, not being afraid to ask questions along the way. Ask them to God in prayer. And if you know someone who's already a believer in God and Jesus Christ, ask them for guidance in areas which seem puzzling.

Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who seeks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. - Matthew 7:7-8

We're willing to help if you have questions; leave a comment and an e-mail address if you wish.  May God help you learn the deep things, of this life and the next -- even if it doesn't come at a rate of 24 trillion points per second.