How accurate is GTO?

[Murph1969]

I know it’s the optimal way to play against optimal players, but how good is it against the average low stakes human? I believe the shoving ranges, for example, are much looser than real players.

 

[Nafor]

Following GTO against calling stations/bad players would probably end badly. Against decent player GTO might work to some extent.
Make a note of your opponent's tendencies and use exploitative techniques if they seem to be more useful.

 

[IanP304]

I think GTO should only be used as a baseline strategy and we should always be able to adapt our strategy accordingly based on the players at the table.

 

[Luvepoker]

I think GTO is accurate to be honest But the flaw of it is it assumes you're playing against someone who i is playing GTO perfectly as well. I personally think GTO is a great tool, but we must adjust to the players who we are against. If you dent and just play GTO strategy you probably will lose more often than not.

 

[rastapapolos]

For me adaptation is the key, I have some basics about GTO and it helps sometimes in some spots especially if the guy is playing GTO also. But when facing a whale or a calling station it won't help, I have to have a real hand against them.

 

[TeUnit]

To me GTO is ok, but you really should be trying to exploit players first who have holes in their game. I feel like you are value poning yourself when you dont take advantage of easily exploitable situations.

 

[JappsPK]

An exploiter can exploit more the explored, if you dont exploit and only use GTO you're not exploiting the best potential of your hand.

 

[Matt_Burns88]

I believe GTO is a misnomer. Originally, it was referred to simply as "Game Theory" and then somewhere along the line it accrued the "Optimal", which I think is bullshit. A more accurate name would be GTE or Game Theory Equilibrium. Because that is what game theory is, right? It is the equilibrium where if two perfectly balanced players played each other, GTO is what their strategy would look like to make sure that they are totally unexploitable. Over a big enough sample size, both players would eventually end up totally even (of course, in reality this won't actually happen because variance is a bitch).
So from a perfectly balanced point of view, yes GTO is perfect. But, the thing is, NO ONE is playing perfectly balanced, GTO strategies, even the elite, top level high rollers.
When your opponent deviates from GTO, you should adapt to exploit those deviations. This is easier said than done at the top level, because everyone is aiming to play GTO, so it is difficult to spot the minor deviations, but at the low and micro stakes, a lot of players have not even heard of GTO, let alone know what it looks like or how to implement it, so in this case, while playing GTO will be profitable, exploiting your opponents many, many mistakes, will be far more profitable.
The thing is, before you figure out how you're supposed to deviate from GTO, you need to know what the equilibrium play is in the first place.