[tommo]

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There exists a rule based strategy...

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I hate to nitpick, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think OP was talking about a static rule-based strategy. That's what most people are referring to when they talk about rule-based strategy.

I suppose if you "roll out" by brute force every possible playing style and have an if-then clause to every situation, you could have a rule-based strategy... But otherwise, it's a decision-based strategy using mostly heuristics.

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Yep you're right. However, I've been reading that Nash Equilibrium business and it seems like there actually should be a static rule based strategy that would be impossible to beat. Although it wouldn't be optimum against most players.