BOOK 2 · FRONT OF THE BOOK

Then and Now

Twenty years apart, the same promise.

Left: the original HoldemRobots banner. "Battle the Bots! Build Your Skills! Texas Hold'em Online Training!" Right: the heads-up AI table, game 990544, hand 4. Above the felt, the AI's own reason for its last bet.

The banner on the left promised three things: battle the bots, build your skills, train online. The robots behind it back then rolled dice for their moves, and a few of them could see the cards they were never dealt. It took Book 1 to catch them and make the table honest.

The table on the right keeps the same promise with a different kind of opponent. It plays by the same rules, sees only its own cards, and writes down why it made every move.

This book is about the twenty years in between, squeezed into three steps anyone can take: play the robots, build your own, and then sit down with an AI and teach it what you've learned. The slogan had it right all along.

Build'em! Battle'em! & Play'em!

HoldemRobots, about 2006

The 2006 banner is from Kevin's original HoldemRobots web art. The 2026 screenshot is game 990544 on the public heads-up AI table, October 2026. The dice-rolling and cheating robots are the story of Book 1, Parts 1 and 2.