GTO vs Exploitative Play

xOneCoolHandx

xOneCoolHandx

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I am interested in learning where everyone here falls in the debate over GTO vs Exploitative play. Now I know that no human can play a perfect GTO strategy, but with putting in work off the felt, you can come pretty close. So, before people fire off on that tangent, the debate is not whether GTO can be achieved, it is which strategy is the best at what level.

Personally, I play a mixed strategy. I start with a baseline GTO while I evaluate the other players at my table and look for leaks and spots that I can exploit. I find at the lower levels, it is much harder to play pure GTO because the opponents are (for the most part) SOOOO bad (there are some very good players there too, but few and far between). You would think that a GTO strategy would be great at this level, but I find that it's hard to play GTO when the pther players either 1. Don't have a clue what you...or they...are doing and are calling off 4-bet all ins with 53o or 2. They play so obvious that you have to take a straightforward approach and 3. You see so many leaks from other players that NOT playing exploitively leaves a whole lot of chips on the table. At higher levels, I tend to stick to try to play as close to GTO as I can, but there are still leaks that you find and can go after.

I would like everyone else's opinions on this. Do you see the same things at the tables? What strategy do you prefer?
 
Syltan

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How many people have so many opinions, I tend to exploit poker. . Progress does not stand still. I think in the end the GTO will win this eternal dispute.


I am interested in learning where everyone here falls in the debate over GTO vs Exploitative play. Now I know that no human can play a perfect GTO strategy, but with putting in work off the felt, you can come pretty close. So, before people fire off on that tangent, the debate is not whether GTO can be achieved, it is which strategy is the best at what level.

Personally, I play a mixed strategy. I start with a baseline GTO while I evaluate the other players at my table and look for leaks and spots that I can exploit. I find at the lower levels, it is much harder to play pure GTO because the opponents are (for the most part) SOOOO bad (there are some very good players there too, but few and far between). You would think that a GTO strategy would be great at this level, but I find that it's hard to play GTO when the pther players either 1. Don't have a clue what you...or they...are doing and are calling off 4-bet all ins with 53o or 2. They play so obvious that you have to take a straightforward approach and 3. You see so many leaks from other players that NOT playing exploitively leaves a whole lot of chips on the table. At higher levels, I tend to stick to try to play as close to GTO as I can, but there are still leaks that you find and can go after.

I would like everyone else's opinions on this. Do you see the same things at the tables? What strategy do you prefer?
 
D

DS3

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Interesting question.

For the lasts several years the poker commentariat has been claiming GTO will take over and dominate poker (from various podcasters to players such as Dominik Nitsche) Yet, it hasn't and I do not believe it will.

Everyone should try to learn from as many sources as are of interest to them - some will suit an exploitative style and others a more GTO style. However, I think it is of more benefit to understand what makes you tick as a player than trying to shoehorn yourself into a specific style.

A mix of playing styles within a players arsenal would be the most advantageous...but players such as Bryn Kenney underline the fact this is not even necessary if you possess as much natural talent as he does. And...my own theory is rather than a specific type of game, we will continue to see players go on extended heaters when they personally peak... as the likes of Fedor Holtz, Justin Bonomo, Bryn Kenney and now Sam Soverel have done
 
JJP

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I think it depends on the level of your opponents. In a game vs some better opponents I think a GTO strategy begins to become optimal bc your opponents wont be making many mistakes.

I however play mostly micro stakes / free games and I think exploitative is more optimal for the stakes I play daily.

There is benefit to learning and understanding both espeically if you plan to move up in stakes at any point to mid to high stakes games
 
Misaki

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and what limits do you play? because most of the time on lower limits than nl500 zoom you should play more exploitavely than not. Reason is that people have still many leaks. The key is to find them. And that started to be harder during last years. People are more awareness, because even players on nl25 work with solvers. And that started to be really sick. It makes game harder but regs on lower limits by working with solvers create yourself other leaks. They bet a lot 1/3 with their entire range but still most of them have no idea how to defend that range on different board structures vs a check/raise. Same goes with a caller. They know they should check/call wider vs 1/3 cbet but still they probably miss many combinations or they call too much and not check/raise enough. So it makes more space to exploit them. It's just example but I hope you will understand what I mean.
It's nice to work with solvers, because it clearly makes you a better poker player, your level of thinking is just better, you understand better ranges etc. but playing gto isn't always the most +ev decision as you can make if you play low/mid limits.
Everything it's about adjust. Because no one will exploit you as much as people think if you won't be balanced in many spots, situations. What sense to play gto if someone calls too much, folds too much, doesn't check/raise too much etc. etc. ? and there are thousands players on low/mid stakes players who still have that leaks. It's ok to play some gto with low sample, but with some info it's always better to make some adjustments in your strategy. But that of course requires a lot of skills and understanding a game and your opponents. So exploitative play will be always better. But working with solvers can be your vacuum to understand how to react in particular situations if you have no idea how to use leaks in strategy of your opponent.
 
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ninjareal

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haha some of this just sounds like scifi to me , in the end doesn't it just come down to "does rival have the hand or not" ?? decide and act :)
.
a side joke - if rival plays bottom of his range and flop is low range cards, does that make it top of his range ? :p
 
Norman Vasquez

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By definition, gto strategy is the strategy that will give you the best win rate with out considering the opponent’s strategy. So if you have enough data to study opponents, then you will know their strategy, and in that case you need To develop a exploitive strategy.
 
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