Does EV assume anything about your opponents?

[Brewhaus]

I don't understand the attached image. Is it assuming you have no knowledge of how the other player plays? Is it assuming they know what they are doing and aren't going to risk going out on the bubble? What if you have the extreme and somehow the BB made it to this spot by seeing 100% of the flops. Does that change what you should do? I'm just trying to understand what these numbers (1.26%, 1.25%, 1.27%, 1.27%) mean exactly.

Thanks.

 

[Nafor]

Welcome to the forum Brewhaus,

The short answer to your question is no and yes.
You should always try to play in a way that your actions are profitable in the long run - meaning doing the math and making good decisions.
But that is not enough. The math doesn't take into account how your opponents play but you should. To put it simply - if you are a fish in a shark pool your game will always be -EV. But if you are the shark - then +++EV. So in that sense EV is more than just math.

 

[Collin Moshman]

Nice question Brewhaus.

These numbers are Nash equilibrium figures for what percent of the prize pool you will win/lose by shoving. This means that it assumes everyone is playing unexploitably, i.e., in a way where neither player can do better by further adjusting their ranges. When you're outside of quiz mode and using normal analysis you can over-ride and put in your own exploitive assumptions.

I hope that makes sense the way I've written it, feel free to post if not and I'm happy to elaborate on this!

 

[Brewhaus]

Thank you for the responses, I think I understand.