Richard J. Edwards
NA
The author is a biologist with undergraduate and graduate degrees from Huter College, NY and Georgia State University, Atlanta GA respectively.
Since his graduate degree training included Computer Programming, he was selected to join the team the U.S. Government had created from it's employees, to computerize all facilities in The Veterans Administration Hospitals. This was the early 1980's, and needless to say, no private company could do it. Being a Medical Technologist, He labored as a Laboratory Coordinator with the team that successfully computerized the medical laboratories.
So he caught the bug and thought that he could write a program to play the game of poker. Needless to say "The lab ain't no poker table". The main problem was time and lack of poker-playing experience at the big boy's level. So he had to wait until retiring. Then he worked 16 hours a day, 3 months on, 3 months off (which included many trips to Vegas). Now here we are. You be the judge.
It is very difficult to explain why we are still using playing cards with human dealers holding and passing them to each player just as was done centuries ago. The process is cumbersome, expensive for casinos and difficult to control in today's fast-paced society. Low-stakes poker is becomming a thing of the past in most of the big casinos. The games are still stimulating, entertaining and rewarding; but the old ways are primitive. Attempts at automation so far leave a lot te be desired. To be in the twenty-first century, the computer program must operate as a dealer does now, with a deck just like a deck we use today, with conventional random deals, and be able to read the hands made from random deals. No output should be pre-set by the program. No download from game program should be required at player's end. A well designed revolutionary computer program running a table (table here also means a number of connected players anywhere) is now possible when Edwards' algorithm controls it. Ideally, card games should be played at automated game tables.
*Patent pending
