Quote:
Originally Posted by venice10
If you're asking a question in the BQ forum, most likely you're not at that stage yet. You probably have some leaks and would be better to avoid tables that have that many tough players.
^ Quoting for emphasis. ^
Don't get too hung up on "intimidating theories". You don't need to do any heavy mathematics. You just need to learn some concepts that will make you a tougher opponent that makes money from your opponents' mistakes. If you play a solid game, but your opponents are way out of line, either by being too aggressive/bluffy or too passive/stationy, you'll automatically make money by being "average".
The main concepts of optimal play are actually fairly straightforward:
* Play a solid pre-flop range (not too loose, not too tight).
* Aim to balance your post-flop betting/raising ranges in a somewhat polarized manner (by choosing good combos to semi-bluff with in spots where you also have value combos), and by not bloating the pot when it doesn't benefit you.
* Understand showdown value and equity realization. Those terms might sound intimidating to a newbie, but basically mean "If you only have a medium strength hand, try and get it to showdown cheaply, by checking and calling [bluffcatching], not betting and raising". If you have a very bad hand that is unlikely to win at showdown or have a +EV (semi-)bluffing opportunity, look to cut your losses early on by check-folding.
To some degree those last two points are summed up in an old cliché that I think even Doyle Brunson used: "Big hand => big pot, small hand => small pot."
If you play your hands according to relative hand strength, you won't be too far out of line with whatever the GTO solution is in a particular post-flop spot.
Janda's first book is great for developing a
range-based (instead of
hand-based) strategy. You can gloss over most of the equations in it, and shouldn't take his pre-flop ranges literally. His brand new book might be even better. If you want a one-stop video course to a pseudo GTO strategy, then Upswing's Post-Flop Engine or something like Tadas Peckaitis' MyPokerCoaching videos are pretty good. RunItOnce is another option once you've found the trainers that suit your needs.
If you want to practice your play, a training bot like PokerSnowie is good. If you want to find near-optimal solutions to specific spots, then software like PioSolver or GTORangebuilder is the next step. (If you're playing shortstack tourneys instead, then pre-flop push/fold solutions can be found with ICMIzer, HRC or SitnGoWiz).
Good luck!