On Sun, 2013-03-31 at 10:21 +0200, Thys du Preez wrote:

> Dear Guys & Dolls,

>

>

>

> I am a Gnu fan but have one serious complaint: why cheat?



It sure looks like that, doesn't it?  When I play humans I'm often amazed at 
the long streaks of luck that occur.  But when I have a mysterious piece of 
software generating the rolls, it's natural to think something other than the 
dice gods are at work (especially since I wasn't accustomed to losing).  My own 
luck streaks were easily enough explained once I realized that GNUBG isn't 
totally sadistic and throws me a bone occasionally to keep me from suffering a 
stroke.



But there's a GREAT alternative - simply change the rolls you don't like.  Some 
people have a hard time doing this, but I'm convinced that it's clearly the 
best way to use a bot.  Let's say you've reached an interesting position and a 
joker essentially ends the game.  "Too bad - it would have been fun to play 
out" you think to yourself.


But not if you have a "no game-winning jokers" philosophy.  If you think the 
position is entertaining or instructive, just reroll the dice. It takes 
discipline to reject one's own good fortune, but it's easy to start out by 
letting your blood pressure tell you when to adjust the bot's dice (or even 
your own, should you roll a crushing anti-joker).  When I do, not only do I 
find the game more interesting but my control issues with the bot disappear.  
Plus I learn more and if the position is especially interesting, I save it and 
replay it later.



A word of warning though - the side effect is that you will make more mistakes 
than usual so the bot's rating of your game will decline and that will seem 
galling in light of your improved results.  So don't worry about your overall 
rating and just focus on understanding your errors.

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