The game of poker constantly evolves. The difference between how people play and think about poker now and how they did thirty years ago is tremendous. There were many breakthroughs in the history of how poker “should be played correctly,” but none as significant as incorporating game theory (GTO) into the game we all love.
Optimal poker strategy starts with game theory
Let’s start by explaining this critical term. Game theory is a branch of mathematics that studies interactions between the participants of the competition in specific settings. It’s widely used to examine what are the optimal choices in many theoretical and real-world scenarios. Game theory has a long history, but its development started at the beginning of the XIX century and lasted to this day.
Game theory is used to solve many theoretical and practical mathematical problems. As its name suggests, it also applies to different kinds of games. And poker is one of them. Why did it take so long to apply the game theory assumptions to poker? Because poker is an extremely complex game with imperfect information (as you do not know your opponent’s cards and what community cards will hit the felt), and it requires a lot of computing power to calculate the optimal strategy to follow.
Game theory optimal strategy (or GTO, as the poker community loves to call it) assumes that you play in such a way that, over a big enough sample, you would be unexploitable, meaning you won’t lose to your opponent, no matter what they do.
GTO poker strategy is growing in popularity
And rightfully so, as it’s mathematically proven to be the go-to strategy. There are a few caveats to GTO poker, though.
Perfect poker strategy is tough to replicate
In fact, it’s impossible for a human being to flawlessly follow the GTO guidelines in most situations. Poker hands include so many variables (i.e. hand ranges, stack sizes, bet sizes) that our brains can only recreate the so-called perfect strategy in a limited number of scenarios.
An unexploitable strategy is not always the most profitable one
To craft a GTO solution to a particular hand or situation, you need to make certain assumptions. If those assumptions do not reflect what players in your poker games might actually be doing, the strategy you come up with, while good, won’t be perfect.
Due to its complexity, GTO strategy guidelines might be misleading
The optimal strategy based on GTO is probably the most powerful tool in a modern poker player’s arsenal. However, it requires you to have a very good understanding of the poker game itself and knowledge of what you are trying to achieve at every street of the hand. The complexity mentioned makes it easy to focus on the wrong calculation details.
We can pursue the optimal strategy due to the existence of solvers – the holy grail of poker software
What are poker solvers? They are the most recent and powerful poker software ever created. Solvers are powerful calculators that generate all possible moves in a hand until they come up with an unexploitable strategy.
Their power comes with a cost, as solvers need a lot of computing power. While the basic poker spots are calculated in a matter of minutes, the most complex can take up to several hours. Generally speaking, the results are worth the wait. The solver revolutionized how the game of poker is being played, and nowadays, almost all elite poker players use solvers in their study. Before the invention of this powerful tool, the poker community had to rely on its own intuition and experience to decide the optimal play in certain situations. Now, we can prove it or disprove it with the actual calculations.
Does it mean that GTO poker strategy solved poker?
No, we’re not there yet. While solvers are really good with heads-up situations and are very useful for studying this version of the game, they are still not that efficient in three-or-more-handed spots. Every additional player enlarges the game tree exponentially, adding another bunch of details to calculate.
Bear in mind, however, that most hands are played, or at least are supposed to be played, heads-up. This is the sole reason why GTO solvers are so popular and essential in 2024 poker and beyond.
How does a solver work in practice?
It will differ for different tools, but the main idea is the same for every software. In a nutshell, you have to input your range and your opponent’s range, input stack sizes, and set the possible sizings you would like to see in the hand. The solver will consider all that data and calculate the GTO play on every street of the hand. Be aware that the more data you provide, the more it will take to calculate the GTO strategy.
In practice, the solvers are quite complex tools to use, as changing your assumptions partly may greatly change the outcomes of solutions. All of that may sound terrifying, but you shouldn’t be afraid.
We’re pretty good at using solvers at Smart Spin, and we will happily teach you how to do so. We’re more than just a poker training site; check out our offer and see for yourself.
How to get the most out of using solvers?
The first thing to consider is whether you have a general idea of how poker should be played and some experience with the poker tools in general. If you meet these two conditions, you’re likely to be able to use solvers to your advantage.
The key to getting better in poker is to spot a pattern in similar situations. While you won’t be able to calculate every hand you’ll ever play, you’ll soon be able to spot resemblances on particular board structures. Solvers are great for suggesting how often you should bet on certain boards or how broad your value betting range should be.
Let’s use an example. Let’s assume you’d like to analyze a few dozen of the hands you played as a UTG raiser vs. opponents on the big blind on the 15BB stack size. After running some simulations, you’ll likely notice at which boards c-betting your whole range is the way to go. At the same time, you’ll likely find out what sizing has the biggest expected value. The best part is that you can put almost any position and stack size into this example. Quite cool, isn’t it?
Game theory optimal vs. exploitative strategy
So, should you follow the solvers’ output blindly? Probably not. Remember that poker is a game played between humans. Unless you’re a high-stakes regular, nine out of ten times, your particular opponent will play differently from what the GTO solutions would advise.
Does it mean that solvers’ results are useless at lower stakes? Definitely not. Most tools have a nodelocking mode. It allows you to force certain changes (like the use of different sizing or different action) into the hand. After you do so, the solver adjusts the results of calculations and, at the same time, adjusts strategy. It’s a great way to reflect how the lower-stakes population, full of recreational players, play.
Also, keep in mind that even without adjusting the strategy, solvers’ output will help you to identify your range in certain situations, what are the best bluff catchers, and when it’s possible to have more bluffs than your opponents expect.
Since the solvers were invented, there’s been an ongoing debate. Which is better: a GTO approach or an exploitative strategy? There’s no easy and obvious answer, but in general, taking advantage of both approaches is the best solution.
The GTO influence changed how we play poker forever
Whether you are into cash games, tournaments, or Spins, we’re sure that – used correctly – solvers will help to develop your game. We know that using solvers can be frightening, but don’t be afraid. We’re here to help.
Smart Spin is one of the best poker schools out there. We’ve trained hundreds of professional players, and to this day, our community is one of the smartest out there. Join us and see for yourself!