Java Programming

Hi!

I'm fairly new to the whole Java programming scene, but I've gotten some experience through my university classes and various textbooks. Now I feel like trying something a bit more interesting: programming an application basically functions as a card game (with one human player and two or more AI players for instance).Now, I realize this may be a way too ambitious project, but I want to try none the less. I've been doing some reading on the subject of AI programming and found something about a neuron based apporach to the problem (where one stores the AI's memory in an arraylist), and I wonder if anyone had some pointers to either:

a) Some more material on the subject of AI programming in Java
b) Some hints or tips to offer (or even snippets of code) on how to program this sort of application.

Thanks in advance! :)