Poker Tips For Success #4: Mastering Advanced GTO Concepts

Nothing is as important as learning and realizing how to implement game theory optimal play in your games, without this knowledge you will have little chances to reach long-term success.

The Best Use of Game Theory Optimal Play

You need to learn hand rankings, rules and even Texas Hold’em poker etiquette among other things to become a solid player.  Game Theory Optimal (GTO) is a well-known, but little understood, poker strategy topic. I want to make sure you know this concept before covering the strategy. GTO concepts are at the center of all winning approaches.

You may be familiar with the idea that you need to balance your ranges and develop an unexploitable strategy. However, many miss the most important part – that GTO strategy is only used as your starting point or when you are playing against outstanding opponents.

Advanced Implementation

If you stick to this strategy against weaker players, you will be leaving a ton of money at the table. Unfortunately, many players fail to realize how to get the most out of it. I was struggling with this for a long time as well. I was so obsessed with learning to balance my ranges in every possible scenario that I failed to realize that the money is in an entirely different spot. So let me explain what you need to do to make the most money at the tables and how you can implement it right away.

First, you have to learn game theory optimal strategies. The primary goal of that strategy is to understand how perfect play looks to see what mistakes your opponents are making. So if you know that according to the ideal approach your opponent should bet on the river only 10% of his range, and he ends up betting 30% of the time, you can easily exploit that by bluff-catching more of your strong hands and even raising as a bluff a lot. In this case, your opponent will have to fold most of his range. The beauty of this concept is when you know what mistakes your opponents are making; it becomes effortless to exploit them.

Adjusting When Needed

All of the best players in the world only use GTO strategies and balance their ranges against resilient players. In all other cases, they play an exploitative approach and attack mistakes that they notice. After I realized this strategy, I almost doubled my win rate in the next month. After learning how to deal with experienced players, my frustration went away. Moreover, I started crushing recreational players and punishing them for all the mistakes that they make.

Summing It Up

Learning GTO is not an easy task, but it is entirely worth it to devote some time to this topic. You will see the dividends very fast. If you are not sure how to proceed with learning, I highly recommend my FREE poker webinar where I share my experiences in the games and show how hundreds of my students are crushing it today. If you enjoy and find it useful, check out the premium poker training courses!

Almost every successful player is implementing the GTO strategy to identify mistakes in their opponent’s play and exploit it later on. Do the same, and you will reach tremendous results even in today’s environment.

If you missed any of the other tips in this poker success series you can find them here:

– Part 1 of our Poker Series: Poker Tip #1 | Identifying Strengths and Choosing the Best Format
– Part 2 of our Poker Series: Poker Tip #2 | Choosing Where to Play
– Part 3 of our Poker Series: Poker Tip #3 | Building your Edge with the Right Poker Tools
– Part 5 of our Poker Series:Poker Tip #5 | Learning the Right Strategy