I saw in a different forum a computer-guy mentioning that he LOVES piosolver, but doesn't know anything about poker. Seemed slightly odd, but I don't know anything about computers, and CMU build a $10MM machine to play heads up, so who knows.

I've been wondering what would happen if instead of going by the old fashioned approach to learning poker (like not having a clue, talking with friends, slowly figuring out how the game flows and works, using a desktop calculator) if a beginner studied a solver diligently, what would you expect to happen?

They wouldn't be able to interpret what it's telling you correctly and they'd lose more than if they just plodded along regardless

If a beginner just memorized a set of (good) solutions, they would probably be overwhelmed in a lot of spots and would definitely fail to adapt successfully in real games. If the beginner was making their own solutions, they would probably make solutions with some fundamental mistakes that could actively harm their game, too.

I think this touches on the crux of the issue. Poker is so compex that it is impractical for a human to memorize all the scenerios that they will encounter. A solver can do it because a solver can calculate and retain solutions for a practically unlimited number of scenerios. A human cannot.

Without an understanding of the game, a human cannot adapt rigid strategies to meet new situations. If you don't really get the fundamentals of poker, you can see patterns that make two seemingly different situations functionally equivalent.

I think that highly depends on the type of poker game.

I would agree for a 100BB+ cash game, at least somewhat disagree for a 20BB cash game and totally disagree for tournaments with 10BB starting stacks or all-in or fold tournaments.

Only possible if also allowed to play. There is no way on earth a total beginner understands what lines are even possible and for what reasons so until he sees them in real gameplay there is no point in button clicking a solver.

Depends how intelligent they are.

The question is how many hands that total beginner needs to understand those things.

Somebody could sit down at a table, watch 5 hands of play while waiting for the BB and start crushing immediately.

It's also important to note that people learn very differently. For the majority of players, only reading poker books without ever playing does very little. For others, that might be all they need to know. Obviously not really comparable, but there are stories about an autistic boy who memorized several chess books and was able to beat his peers immediately even though they had years of experience.

For a 20BB heads-up game, memorizing a couple thousand common spots might already get you pretty far.

Lol

in your dreams