Quote:
Originally Posted by Checkov
What does solvers mean as it relates to poker, and how recent was this development to the game of hold'em?
They are complicated pieces of software that appeared about three or four years ago. They work on similar principles to chess engines. That is to say, they number-crunch through all the possible "moves" at a particular point in the game, consider the responses to those moves, and ultimately come to a decision about the line that has the highest expectation for each hand in a range, given the assumption that the opponent will also try to maximize EV.
As an example, if you input a range for each player and a board on the river, a solver can calculate which hands make the most money as value-bets, which combos are the best bluffs, and which hands should be checked.
Confusingly, solvers frequently recommend a mixed strategy, such that they will suggest sometimes betting hand XX, and sometimes checking it. By doing everything at the correct frequencies, you reach a Nash Equilibrium or "game theory optimal" solution.
