I'm just curious as to why he chooses the smaller c-bet of 23% over a more standard 33% c-bet in single raised pots when the pot on the flop is already incredibly small given the pre-flop min raise IP/BB call or even a more standard 3x SB open/BB call situation? I'm wondering if this is just to challenge players to hit their MDF on the flop who haven't studied how to play against it? At first glance it seems like when we bet 23% we just make the pot so incredibly tiny that 33% should be good enough to get the job done.

Is there anyone with some insight on this strategy? He's often doing it BvB after opening the small blind and big blind calls where he's OOP - so this really doesn't make much sense to me when he's OOP in a small pot. He's also routinely doing this in 3-bet pots which makes a lot more sense because he can still get stacks in on the turn/river with bigger bets.

Thanks!

what if it was the highest EV strategy?

But if you read my post, I'm asking why this strategy is preferred over other sizings on certain textures? Not if it's high EV or if it's the highest EV strategy (are you sure it is?). If Baron is using it, I'm pretty sure it has it's merits so that's not really my question. I have no proof myself of it being the highest EV strategy, but if it is, why would it be higher than a standard smaller c-bet size?

How small do you go before you are sacrificing too much of the pot when we have hands we want to value bet? If we are going from 33% to 23% because we are gaining EV somehow (why?), why not keep moving down to 20%, 18%, 10%, etc.? What I'm asking is if anyone has any insight into why he's using the size he's using compared to a larger majority of players who are going 33% pot/50% or 66% pot/check.

Thanks in advance!

because the sum of the payouts on every leaf on the game tree is higher with one strategy than with another

not trying to be overly snarky, but your question is basically like asking "why is raising ATs utg profitable"

This could turn into an argument pretty quickly and I don't want it to go that way. I am asking for the reasons behind the bet size preference. I am not asking you if he thinks it's the highest EV option. He obviously thinks it's the highest EV option if he's making the bet because that's the point of poker. If the answer I got every time I asked a poker question was to do it because it was the highest EV decision in the game tree, I would never learn how to actually develop solid strategies based on the factors present in the hand and would be stuck memorizing a bunch of spots which is the opposite of what I'm trying to do here.

Your answer is analogous to a football coach telling his players to just make the right play because it's the best play you can make without explaining when and why to do it.

My guess: I'm pretty sure he's doing it because it's harder to meet MDF for players who haven't studied PIO grids/strategy against that sizing compared to 33%/50% bet sizings which most mid-high stakes pro's have memorized. There are multiple flops he's choosing 23% over 33% on where if you run the sim in PIO, which he is obviously using, it doesn't show that using a smaller bet size is higher EV and in the cases I've run it shows it being worse - so I'm not sure where your proof is on that other than the fact that he's doing it (which doesn't help me understand why). I was hoping to get some better insight into this other than someone just telling me it's higher EV (which I assumed already, yet was proven wrong in PIO). Also, the sky is blue. I was really hoping some better players would chime in with something to confirm/deny what I'm largely taking a guess at and to add a little more to my understanding of the game.

It is??

Possibly a population tendency where people don't defend enough against this sizing or something like that.

I am not a better player by the way.

There is no optimal strategy for c-betting. At least it's very far from being figured out. He c-bets this amount based on his range and how he plays it on later streets. He probably figured close to GTO strategy with this sizing that, in his opinion, is better than other GTO strategies with other sizings. There is really nothing magical about it, it's just a huge amount of studying off the tables analyzing best player tendencies and using software for most possible spots.

All the sizing plans have extremely similar EVs.

What's not extremely similar is how well people will play vs the different plans.

Say everyone bets 33%. Then also everyone will play reasonably vs 33%. Now say you are the "only" person betting 23%. There is no way everyone will play reasonably vs 23%.

This goes much deeper than the flop sizing of course. The whole
tree afterwards is different.

Ideally you're always a step ahead and know your special plans inside out and people's common mis-adjustments. In 2015/2016 the 'Russian bot style' with tiny 3bets worked out pretty well for example.

The highest EV is likely
1) Using different sizes on different boards
2) Using different sizes at the same time on any given board

Thereby it's very unlikely 23% cbet across the board is the highest EV strategy out there.

sure, but he might feel it's the most actionable strategy. don't you think that's most likely? i think the idea that he's doing it exploitively isn't too plausible since he's been cbetting in the quarter pot range for a like year and a half; it's awfully hard for me to imagine the best players in the world haven't figured out how to play pretty damn well against it... it's barely different than a third pot bet anyway. plus, in my experience pio frequently recommends quarter pot bets in single bet-size situations, which makes the "he thinks it's theoretically best" take more viable.

oops i meant to edit that but forgot and now i can't anymore.

i meant "he might feel it's the most theoretically strong strategy that is also actionable"

makes sense cause jordan > pippen and no player today bets 33% other than like marc gasol or boris diaw whereas lebron 23% all day long

The answer is very simple:

#SIMS

I had extensive HH on this bot/player running at nearly 500k when this bot/player was losing all round for year upon year and I would take his money with no remorse.

Now again the strange fact is along with some others is how this less than mediocre player is now crushing..the truth is this along with software assistance and a god mode account on Jokerstars this bot/player is gold and thus is beat on any other site and in any other game so now you have to beat the god mode and the software playing this bot/player at NLHE this is nothing to do with skill lets call it a tech edge.

Let me add the truest indicator is this bot/player cannot play any other form of poker, the best players I know can play all forms of poker with murderous intent across all sites.