GTO Explained in Under 10 Minutes

If you play poker, you've probably heard of GTO, but what is it exactly? Watch this video to find out.

[Cowtymsmiesznego]

I tend to distinguish between 3 approaches to poker strategy:
- "true GTO" or "mathematical GTO" - we would make no assumptions about ranges or sizings and play a Nash equilibrium strategy starting from pre-flop. This is provably unbeatable in a 2-player scenario (although not guaranteed to make money), but funnily enough, it could be -EV in a multi-player scenario, if more than 1 other player is *not* playing the equilibrium strategy. This approach is being somewhat explored with "pre-flop solves" but generally it's intractable with our current software and computing power.
- "practical GTO" - we take a post-flop heads-up scenario with a bunch of assumptions such as - what the ranges of both players are, what bet sizings they will use, maybe what the rake is. Then, we calculate the best mixed strategy to be taken across the flop, turn, and river and use it as the "baseline strategy" for our decisions & analysis, or just try to religiously play it. "Best" here is interpreted in the game-theoretical sense (it's the Nash equilibrium strategy of this post-flop sub-game that follows our assumptions). This approach is what most players mean when they run solves and say they "study GTO" and/or attempt to play it. Its advantage is that you can come up with a strong, EV-maximizing strategy, while only making a few assumptions about your opponent's play.
- "exploitative play" - we will take any poker spot and make as many assumptions as we can. Those will be at the very be least what our opponent's range is in this spot, but very likely also how they're going to play specific hands in that range (including what sizings they would use in which scenarios), how they will react to our play, and might be as specific as to what exact hand they are holding in a particular situation. Things like live reads can influence our assumptions in this approach. This approach is what most players mean when they say they are "playing exploitative poker". Its advantage is that, if your assumptions are correct, you can generate much more EV than if you avoided those assumptions in the first place aiming for a "practical GTO" strategy.

Neither the "practical GTO" nor the "exploitative play" approach can be formally optimal (in the sense of being a game-theoretical solution to poker) - as both of them make assumptions. And both of them use elements of game theory and probability to decide on strategy. Note that there one could even see a tiny overlap between the two - an exploitative player, given a complete black box of an opponent would have to resort to looking for a "GTO" strategy - as they wouldn't be able to make any assumptions.

Indeed, most players do something in between the two - you will struggle to find "GTO" advocates that never made any additional, "exploitative" assumptions, just like you will struggle to find "exploit" advocates that will try to guess their opponent's exact hand and strategy in every scenario. And indeed, in this video FE didn't actually technically commit to either of the approaches - while the concepts he described are vital for the "practical GTO" approach, they could also be utilized by an "exploitative" player.

A disconnect between the two groups arises because proponents tend to disagree on the set of assumptions they should be making (my intuition, as decribed above, is that "GTO" players try to make as few as possible, while "exploitative" players try to make as many as they can). But I think that even the most diehard "exploitative" player would agree that their strategy doesn't require guessing their opponent's exact holding every hand. And simialrly, I think even the most diehard "GTO" player would agree that if you had an omniscient oracle (a.k.a. Mike Postle) that would "guess" it for you, it would be optimal to use that information to your advantage.

[jakepokervegas]

How this channel does not have 1MM subs? All the videos are so well done. I know it takes countless hours to make each one, but the final result is impeccable! Thank you!

[LevelofClarity]

Excellent explanation. This really distills everything down into the most critical component parts of GTO theory. Still the best poker strategy channel on YouTube.

[Jazz_Handz]

No lie, I’ve been playing poker damn near my entire life (30+ years). I go in spurts where I don’t play for years and I came out of a dry spell recently. Last time I played heavy was a few years ago and I had a hard time grasping GTO. This video knocked it out of the park. It’s essentially the basic strategy of poker I’ve been playing my whole life but “solved”. I’ve been overthinking it and it’s caused a lot more unforced errors and leaks but this really solidified that my overall skills and techniques weren’t necessarily flawed we just had to put in the newest update. Thank you :).

Edit: you got my subscription

[julio]

it's amazing how you externalize all of this poker concepts and theory with such a comfortable tone, keep the good work up!

[beanedtea]

When you play against idiots its almost impossible to bluff because they always just call you anyways.

[cypherchaos]

Been subbed for a minute, finally getting to actually delve into your in depth analyses. Thank you! Liking each one as I watch!

[bappo]

It is mind blowing how much you simplified GTO

[ryanjones]

Great introduction. I grind low limits, and let me tell you, the average player that only watched this video and applied the basic concepts would improve their game dramatically. Where I get lost in all the GTO information out there is how to study it to keep improving my game. I suppose that I will end up subscribing to GTOX to do that.

[luzid.vision]

Talking about probability with some fancy confusing screenshots of some weird software in the background, amazing.

[wendellcook]

Love the visuals and the concise explanations. Thanks for all your effort.

[mig]

Thought I had OK GTO knowledge till I did several hundred GTO simulation hands and my score came down from a 94% high to 58%.
My confidence...

[AclibButLikeTheRealOne]

Its 1 am and I gotta get up at 6am. Time to learn GTO.

[Tom_Bee_]

"some of them might not even have graduated highschool"

I took that as a personal attack. Ouch 😂😂😂

[PrimeTerrific]

The goal of "GTO" as we know it is NOT to maximize chips. When people say GTO they mean replicating the Nash equilibrium strategy, which is not he EV Maximizing strategy (exploitative).

You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you are going to claim GTO is playing the Nash equilibrium and the holy grail of poker, don't turn around and then try and claim it's the same as the chip maximizing strategy, it's NOT!!!

[donmasacre]

This is one of the best content in all the internet about GTO

[JohnSmith-nxzj]

A GTO strategy does not necessarily “maximise chips” in each situation unless your opponent is also playing a GTO strategy.

A simple example of this is rock paper scissors. The GTO strategy is simply to use each possible play with a 1/3 probability. This strategy is unexploitable. But if you know your opponent plays rock 2/3 of the time then the optimal strategy is just to always play paper.

[jonnyhatter]

elegant and simple. Keep this nerdy shit coming, meng!

[treynolfi]

great breakdown. you distilled it down to the main ideas but made it natural to follow

[Larry]

This is a phenomenal write-up. A book on a similar topic had a revolutionary impact on me. "Game Theory and the Pursuit of Algorithmic Fairness" by Jack Frostwell