Exploitative vs GTO play

hurtadoak

hurtadoak

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This is something I have been thinking a lot about it.

I was just playing a HU match against an apparent reg.

After playing around a 100 hands fairlly standardish with normal size cbets that fluctate a bit in size depending on the board. I decided to randomly increase the size to 95% on a dry board, and followed up with big turn bet and bombed the river , both bricks.

I did this because I though this opponent would interpet the sizing change for strength and perhaps make a biggish fold. The idea was to get him to think I was thinking his calling frequency on the flop was not dependent on my size and thus I would only cbet big and barrel through with made hand.

Thus I gave up some information about my hand (something was clearly up) but I did so as a fake tell inorder to exploit what I thought he would be thinking. The risk of course is that he goes to the next level.

Then 60 hands later I might increase the size again either again as a bluff or this time for value if I thought he now would interpet it differently.

Obviously I can come up with tons of other spots where one could use a potentially exploitative play in order to level your opponent into a wrong decision. Basically make more decisions based on psychology rather then GTO math.

I have feeling getting plays like this to work is what seperates a slightly winning grinder to huge winner and is what makes extremly high level poker very hard to teach.

The alternative is to strive for balanced unexploitable play against tough players and look only to exploit fish and weaker regulars. I definitely need to work on both aspects of the game but does anybody have any thoughts or advice on this topic?:)
 
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MstrBlast3r

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The biggest problem I think you have when trying to make exploitive(is that even a word) plays is whether or not your opponent is actually paying attention enough to realize the shift. A good reg I would guess is going to pick up on it but will also understand what is happening. A bad rec is bad by definition and you probably don't need to get that creative because they won't notice anyway. I consider myself a decent rec player and I don't know that I would pick up the change in style 60 hands after you had done it. I would be focusing on the best play in the current situation.

Also to be fair I have not played any pure heads up poker in quite sometime so HU players may be more in tune with what you are doing.
 
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AviCKter

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What was the basis of your deviation? What read did you have on the opponent that made you think that your deviation was more profitable? And how did you balance once you made your play? How wide was your range?

Generally speaking, in HUs I don't deviate from GTO unless I think I can do better by going exploitative.
 
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AlexTheOwl

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I decided to randomly increase the size to 95% on a dry board, and followed up with big turn bet and bombed the river , both bricks.

Conditions can be good or bad for three-barrel bluffs. They are expensive when they fail. It's not a great idea to randomly choose a hand for a three-barrel bluff.

The idea was to get him to think I was thinking his calling frequency on the flop was not dependent on my size and thus I would only cbet big and barrel through with made hand.

It took me a long time to understand this thought, and I'm still not sure that I understand it completely.

I think what it amounts to is that you want your opponent to think you are willing to bet big with big hands?

What your opponent actually thinks will depend on whether he sees your cards. He'll think you had a big hand if he folds and you don't show the bluff. Otherwise he'll think that you are capable of big bluffs. So you are making him think something, but you only have partial control over what it will be.

Then 60 hands later I might increase the size again either again as a bluff or this time for value if I thought he now would interpet it differently.

I agree with Mstr above that 60 hands later, your opponent is not likely to be thinking of this hand, if he even noticed it the first time.

But let's say your opponent remembers it well. You say your plan is to either extract extra value or bluff again. Your don't mention how you will choose between these alternatives.

If you are trying to extract maximum value in this future hand, you would like your opponent to think you are bluffing. It would be helpful if he has seen you bluff before.
If you are bluffing in this future hand, you would like your opponent to think you are trying to extract maximum value. It would be helpful if he has never seen you bluff.



Overall it sounds like you may be overthinking this a bit. Carefully observe your opponent, gather evidence of their weaknesses, and take advantage.

Does your opponent call too much? Exploit him by betting big on all streets.

Does your opponent fold too much? Exploit him by bluffing so that you can win chips, not with the purpose of doing something else later.

Did your opponent recently find out you were bluffing, and is he likely to overreact to that information? Exploit him by betting big the next time you have a real hand.
 
TeUnit

TeUnit

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I like your thinking, you do one thing and once the villan figures it out, you can do the same thing with a different type of hand. If you keep doing this and mixing up your playing style it becomes very difficult to play. Just remember though you dont want to value own or math pone yourself - ie if you diverge your sizing too much you get into the situations where he will only call if he has you beat or he has to call with any 2 because of the odds.
 
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