I really love the way poker is right now. Because of solvers and tools things have changed so much. 5 years ago people would play and just assume they played pretty good. The only time you would make a mistake in your mind would be when you misjudge your opponents range – \u201cHe won\u2019t bet this sizing with X\u201d but has X kind of thing. Now with solvers there is so much \u201cunnatural\u201d strategy, lots of \u201cthin value raising\u201d, \u201cprotection raising\u201d, \u201cblock betting\u201d, \u201cblocker bluffing\u201d, \u201cmaking indifferent\u201d etc. Thus when playing it\u2019s very easy to make the wrong assumption about our own range, thinking we should be aggressive or passive with a certain combo or levelling ourselves into assuming that x or y is standard. What this leads to is reg vs reg very often both not understanding their own range and thus both butchering the hand.<\/p>\n
An example would be I work on playing btn vs bb 30bbs deep and see that on J62 I should be raising J5 vs a cbet, in game 12 tables later beep beep my turn. Ok J96 this guy cbet from the hijac and it\u2019s 55bbs deep I have JT, sure must be a slam dunk x\/r right? Well hmm, beep, beep, ok whatever, raise. What sizing? He bet bigger than what I studied in Pio, ok 3x can\u2019t be too bad. He calls. Ok J963 great turn, hmmm how much did pio bet on the turn? But wait spr was different ok erm beep beep beep, yeh half pot seems ok, he calls again? Wow. Ok J9633 ok yeh wtf do I do? Beep beep I remember pio sometimes likes to \u201cblocker bet\u201d but is this good? I have a Ten that blocks his draws, oh but it blocks his best bluff catcher that I beat, beep beep, 10, 9, 8, ok ok whatever let\u2019s \u201cblocker\u201d alright he goes all in?? Can I just call the flop again? Ok whatever I\u2019ll mark it and \u201csolve it\u201d later. What it leads to though is lots of reg vs reg aggression and fun pots that keep you excited and intrigued during every session.<\/p>\n
So, one of the problem is with solvers is that it\u2019s absolutely impossible to play tonnes of tables and play close to optimal on them all, since decisions are so complex and ranges interact on such a complex level that once you combine these with ICM and during the next two weeks also bounties then literally nobody will ever be close to playing perfectly. Even if you get a super complex flop decision right and also get a really tough turn decision right, you still have to get the river decision correct or the flop raise straight away becomes -ev since it\u2019s only good if you play the whole hand well. This is especially true as later streets will see bigger bets going in, thus really impacting your win rate in the hand.<\/p>\n
So what we will see is a mash up of everybody attempting to play correctly by applying concepts that often are applicable for other situations they\u2019ve studied but aren\u2019t necessarily like this. That leads to a mental state where you are either 1) too under confident in yourself because of bad variance, 2) over confident in yourself because of running good. Running good isn\u2019t necessarily winning tournaments or winning a big bounty but it can be in decision making too. You could half pot that JT on the river, get called by AK and be like yesssssssssss I am the greatest, I understand this pio solver stuff great. I am sims. I am math. I am pio. Or you could also get called and be super unsure of yourself in your session, have a negative emotional spike and doubt your next \u201csolver weighted assumption\u201d decision.<\/p>\n
What usually happens is I play a session, I have anywhere from absolutely no idea what to do to \u201cI think this is right\u201d in 20+ spots and I try to \u201csolve\u201d them afterwards. Then, I don\u2019t get into the exact same spot again for 2 weeks in which that time I have \u201csolved\u201d 10×20 other spots and when I get the J93 again I can\u2019t remember what the result was again because I\u2019ve done so much in the middle.<\/p>\n
What I\u2019m trying to get at is to try and \u201cwork smart, not hard\u201d. Trying too hard sometimes isn\u2019t the answer, simplifying things is really crucial but giving yourself a break is even more important . Perhaps most importantly to me is just because your opponent made a play you know is bad, don\u2019t just throw him into a category of bad reg or post the hand to friends or smirk\/laugh etc. Creating negative energy around yourself or it being natural to look down on people because of a mistake is a very dangerous mindset to be in and a really poor habit to have. Remember that you also will make mistakes every day you play. If you approach your competition with a little sympathy and empathy then in the long run you\u2019ll be a lot happier.<\/p>\n
Good luck on (and off) the felt!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Solvers and “Unnatural Strategy” I really love the way poker is right now. Because of solvers and tools things have changed so much. 5 years ago people would play and just assume they played pretty good. The only time you would make a mistake in your mind would be when you misjudge your opponents range<\/p>\n