Quote:
Originally Posted by scheier
True! But my point was that once there is a deviation from GTO by our opponent, it implies that there is a more EV+ way to exploit it than "just" playing GTO, and that is what we should consider maximizing EV, I think.
Also, there are situations, typically the push or shove situations, where a non-GTO opponent will not profit you as the pushing player, but profit the rest of the table (while you and villain lose chips compared to GTO, even if you're playing GTO, well especially if you keep playing GTO). Then again, you are entitled to be "the rest of the table" just as often as the rest of the other guys. But for example, if the most GTO-deviating player is one seat to your left and stacks are short, you better adapt your pushing range to his tendencies, otherwise you just don't get your due share of the chips.
Edit: with chips earlier I mean value
Edit2: if anybody wonders, Kill Everyone explains the concept above much better than I do
There is another (extreme) example of this from the top of my head. There are players who, after a preflop raise/call, flop b/c, turn b/c, river bet, will only raise your river bet with the stone nuts. If there has been raises in previous streets, this is even more likely in msmtt. If you still feel like you have to call the river raise with the appropriate percentage of your river betting range, you are just straight out losing money in situations like that, against a non-GTO opponent.
All this circles back to my first post that GTO is only really meaningful if you adapt your GTO to the opponent. If you play GTO like you should against a GTO machine, first you don't maximise your value (considering your opponents are not playing GTO), second you actually lose money in some spots.
If you consider this, you can come back to the initial OP argument and compromise by saying that adapting to your population, if you consider that it is simpler for you than to find the 43 out of 68 combos of hands from your range that you should call with to a raise in a very specific situation, is a very efficient way to play in today's game (msmtt). Ultimately, if you're getting really good at GTO AND reading your opponent, you absolutely need to pick 61 out of 68 combos against some opponents and 3 out of 68 combos against others... That's how you make money imo and that's why at high-level HU stakes, they analyse their opponents play and adapt their own. If they just play GTO, they're not really going to win anything, given the rake.
Well, that's my two cents.
Last edited by scheier; 03-06-2017 at 05:07 AM.