People ask me all the time if they should play a GTO poker strategy at the micro stakes.
What is GTO poker strategy? GTO stands for Game Theory Optimal, and this is basically a poker strategy which aims to make you unexploitable and perfectly balanced in every situation possible by finding the perfect raising, betting, calling and folding frequencies.
Now the main problem with this strategy though is that in order to be effective GTO poker assumes that we are playing against sophisticated thinking opponents who are playing well balanced ranges and actively thinking about how to exploit you.
But anyone who has actually sat down and played in a micro stakes poker game lately (2NL to 50NL online, $1/$2 or $2/$5 live, low buy-in tournament), knows that this is simply not the case with the vast majority of your opponents.
It's actually the complete opposite in most cases!
But despite this, there are still legions of brainwashed low stakes poker players out there, struggling to win because of this bad poker advice.
GTO poker strategy is kind of like that annoying fad diet that just won't go away.
And sadly, I get the emails every single day from confused and desperate people telling me how much playing GTO poker strategy at the micro stakes is ruining their results.
So in this article I am going to finally dispel the myth once and for all that GTO poker is an effective strategy at the lower limits.
It simply isn't.
In fact, it is probably doing more harm to your results than you even imagined.
And more importantly, I will tell you what poker strategy you should actually be using instead in order to finally start winning consistently in small stakes poker games.
Alright, let's jump into it!
GTO Poker Strategy is Bad Advice for the Micros Stakes
Most people play poker at the micro stakes. These are just the facts. You can load up any online poker site right now and clearly see this for yourself.
Micro stakes poker by the way is roughly 2NL up to 50NL cash games online (1c/2c blinds to 25c/50c blinds), low stakes tourneys ($1, $2, $5 and $10 buy-in) and low stakes live cash games ($1/$2 and $2/$5). Basically, these are the lowest stakes games that are offered in casinos and by online poker sites.
In other words, these are the poker games that consistently have the most fish in them, total beginners and quite frankly some of the worst poker players on earth.
However, even these games have tightened up quite a bit in the last 5 to 10 years. It's no walk in the park anymore to beat the 10c/25c cash games online for example.
You need a solid TAG or LAG poker strategy and you need to be studying your game and your opponents away from the tables. You also need good tilt control and an effective table selection strategy.
So a lot of people who were formerly big winners in these games are now just marginal winners or break-even players these days.
A lot of them got left behind because they didn't improve their game and they are unwilling to put in the work that it takes to succeed in modern small stakes games.
And so this has got large amounts of them looking for that "magic pill" to finally start crushing these low stakes games again.
Enter GTO poker strategy. Every poker math nerd's fantasy.
This is a poker "system" which essentially tries to turn the game of poker into one big math equation and create "optimal" ranges for every situation.
Sounds good in theory right?
But of course poker isn't actually a game that is played in theory!
Poker is instead a game played in real time between real people, who at the micro stakes often make large fundamental mistakes, and base their decisions off of emotion or superstition instead of logic and mathematics.
In other words, trying to create a logically or mathematically sound system to beat players like this will always be flawed from the very outset.
This is why it is a much better idea to start using a good free poker HUD program and start learning how to read your opponents better instead.
Winning Poker at the Micros Stakes is All About Making Exploitative Adjustments
This is why the Exploitative poker strategy that I have been teaching to crush the micro stakes for 10+ years now on this website, in my poker books, and my YouTube poker videos will always be superior.
As someone who has some of the best results of all time in these micro stakes poker games online, I simply let my results speak for themselves.
And that is because my strategy is based on making real time adjustments versus players who are often not thinking logically or playing a mathematically sound game.
In fact, many of them aren't even paying any attention at all as I talk about in my latest video.
Instead, they are watching the football game, having a couple beers or chatting on the phone because they don't care about a $4.53 pot.
And whatever advanced poker strategy like GTO that you try to use against them, will simply fly right over their head and end up costing you money.
The correct way to beat a bunch of beginner level players players who make large fundamental mistakes and tilt like crazy is to tailor your decisions individually to each one of them.
It is to treat each opponent as a completely separate entity and find the best exploitative answer to the mistakes that they are making.
Let me give you an example:
As I talk about in The Micro Stakes Playbook, one of the absolute best postflop strategies to beat all the Nits at the micro stakes these days is to simply float them on the flop and then bet the turn.
Nits by the way are the really tight and bad regulars that you find in huge numbers in nearly all low stakes poker games these days, whether live or online.
And the reason why this strategy works so well against most micro stakes Nits is because some of them have an absurdly large gap between their Flop CBet% and their Turn CBet%.
CBet% stands for continuation bet percentage by the way. This is when somebody raises before the flop and then "continues" the aggression with another bet on the flop, turn and possibly the river as well.
I show many examples in the book of players with a 30 point+ difference. For example continuation betting the flop 70% of the time but only following it up on the turn 40% of the time.
You can literally print money against these kinds of players (using an exploitative strategy) especially when you are in position.
Example Hand: NL10 Zoom 6-max
A Nit raises preflop from middle position.
You notice on your HUD that he has a 30+ point difference between Flop CBet% and Turn CBet%.
By the way, you don't have to be using a HUD to get this read. Many people play live poker or play online without a HUD.
If you are paying attention at the poker table (which is something that all good players do), then you would already have noticed this anyways.
A HUD simply helps by putting this information directly on your screen in an online poker game.
So you decide to call on the button with 8♥7♥
The flop comes: 2♣5♦T♠
The Nit CBets
You call
The turn comes: 4♣
The Nit checks
You should bet!
It is such easy money here to float the flop with literally any kind of equity at all (we have a backdoor straight draw in the example above).
And then we just wait for the Nit to give up on the turn, bet and take it down with 8 high. This is what winning poker looks like against bad unbalanced players at the micro stakes.
But if you run this hand through some sort of GTO "solver" or ask one of the so called GTO "experts" out there, they are probably going to suggest that you fold the flop way more often than I will.
And that is because GTO poker fails to make real time logical exploitative adjustments versus specific human players. It instead tries to wrap up everything for you in a cute little math equation with a bow on top.
Unfortunately, this is not how winning poker actually works in reality though. Real poker players and real poker pros already know this.
The optimal strategy in this specific hand, and versus this specific player, is actually to exploit the fundamental error they are making by floating the flop with an extremely wide range and then betting the turn when they check to you.
This is exactly how I created some of the highest winnings in online poker history at the micros by the way and made a 10+ year career out of this game.
The key to beating small stakes poker games is understanding the player type and then making real time logical exploitative adjustments versus them.
Because again, poker is a game that is played between real people in real time. GTO poker advocates simply do not understand this.
And at the micro stakes, many of your opponents make massive fundamental mistakes (like in the example above) and/or base their decisions on random emotions rather than logic or mathematics.
Also, when they go on tilt and start randomly bluffing you with any two cards, this is something that you learn how to deal with only from experience and understanding psychology.
For example, check out the section entitled "Fish Psychology" in my first book Crushing the Microstakes, for a detailed explanation of how to break down a bad player's mental state and decision making when they are on tilt.
This is the kind of stuff that you will never find in a GTO poker book and yet this is some of the most vitally important stuff for you to understand if you want to crush the micro stakes.
The "optimal" strategy to beat a fish on tilt simply can't be deduced from a GTO poker strategy or a GTO solver because they totally fail to understand the human side of the game.
And it is only when you actually get in there at the tables, get your hands dirty, and play a crazy amount of poker like me and most other pros, that you will fully understand this.
Are you struggling to beat low stakes poker games like 2NL, 5NL, 10NL, 25NL 6max, Zoom or full ring online, low buy-in tournaments or $1/$2, $2/$5 live?
Do you want a simple step by step exploitative strategy guide to show you exactly how to start winning consistently right now?
That is why I recently wrote this free little 57 page no BS guide to teach you exactly how to start crushing these games right now.
You will learn the exact exploitative poker strategies I have used as a 10+ year poker pro to consistently crush small stakes poker games.
Enter your details below and I will send my free poker cheat sheet to your email right now.
Alright, now before a bunch of angry GTO math nerds accuse me of being a "hater" in the comments, I do want to point out that GTO poker strategy is actually pretty effective once you reach mid stakes or high stakes.
In fact, in many high stakes poker games where you are playing against other world class professionals, I would argue that GTO is in fact the most optimal poker strategy.
And this is because the edges are so small in a game like this. Your opponents are making well balanced decisions in every situation and paying close attention to everything that you do.
In a poker game like this, it absolutely does make sense to look for GTO based strategies to find the mathematically superior play and try to be as unexploitable as possible yourself.
And this is why many top level players in a game like 500NL Zoom for example do a lot of work with GTO solvers away from the tables these days.
Here's the problem though.
How many people that are reading this article right now actually play a mid stakes poker game like 500NL Zoom or higher stakes regularly?
Well, I actually have a pretty good idea. It's about 2% of you.
This is because I recently asked 1,124 people who regularly read my poker articles and blog posts what stakes they play.
The vast overwhelming majority of the respondents (around 98%), do not play at stakes this high on a regular basis.
Most people play at stakes much, much lower than this. And once again, this isn't exactly "breaking news" to anyone.
As I said off the top, the vast majority of people who play poker do not play high stakes or even mid stakes games for that matter, whether it's online poker or live poker.
And by far the easiest way to prove this is to just go open any online poker site right now and see it for yourself.
The most popular games will be $2, $5, $10 and $25 buy-in cash games along with tournaments and sit and gos with a $10 or less buy-in.
In fact, here is a snapshot right now as I type this of the mid stakes and high stakes poker tables at the most popular online poker site in the world:
It's a ghost town!
In fact, there is not even a single poker cash game actually running above $10/$20 right now at the most popular online poker site in the world.
Let that sink in for a second.
Everybody wants to study advanced high stakes GTO poker theory these days and yet absolutely nobody even plays these games!
And by comparison, here is a snapshot right now of just the $5 buy-in 6-max cash games, again at the most popular online poker site in the world:
As you can see, endless full and active poker tables to choose from!
This is probably why my little poker blog has exploded in popularity over the years. Because I am literally the only one out there who focuses on the games that you actually play in.
In fact, I believe that studying GTO poker strategy is possibly even harming your poker results at the micros and preventing you from becoming that consistent winner that you have always seen yourself as.
You should instead be learning the optimal exploitative counter strategies that have been proven again and again to produce the best results possible in low stakes poker games.
The correct way to beat a bunch of beginner level players players who make large fundamental mistakes and tilt like crazy is to tailor your decisions individually to each one of them.
It is to treat each opponent as a completely separate entity and find the best exploitative answer to the mistakes that they are making.
Let me give you an example:
As I talk about in The Micro Stakes Playbook, one of the absolute best postflop strategies to beat all the Nits at the micro stakes these days is to simply float them on the flop and then bet the turn.
Nits by the way are the really tight and bad regulars that you find in huge numbers in nearly all low stakes poker games these days, whether live or online.
And the reason why this strategy works so well against most micro stakes Nits is because some of them have an absurdly large gap between their Flop CBet% and their Turn CBet%.
CBet% stands for continuation bet percentage by the way. This is when somebody raises before the flop and then "continues" the aggression with another bet on the flop, turn and possibly the river as well.
I show many examples in the book of players with a 30 point+ difference. For example continuation betting the flop 70% of the time but only following it up on the turn 40% of the time.
You can literally print money against these kinds of players (using an exploitative strategy) especially when you are in position.
Example Hand: NL10 Zoom 6-max
A Nit raises preflop from middle position.
You notice on your HUD that he has a 30+ point difference between Flop CBet% and Turn CBet%.
By the way, you don't have to be using a HUD to get this read. Many people play live poker or play online without a HUD.
If you are paying attention at the poker table (which is something that all good players do), then you would already have noticed this anyways.
A HUD simply helps by putting this information directly on your screen in an online poker game.
So you decide to call on the button with 8♥7♥
The flop comes: 2♣5♦T♠
The Nit CBets
You call
The turn comes: 4♣
The Nit checks
You should bet!
It is such easy money here to float the flop with literally any kind of equity at all (we have a backdoor straight draw in the example above).
And then we just wait for the Nit to give up on the turn, bet and take it down with 8 high. This is what winning poker looks like against bad unbalanced players at the micro stakes.
But if you run this hand through some sort of GTO "solver" or ask one of the so called GTO "experts" out there, they are probably going to suggest that you fold the flop way more often than I will.
And that is because GTO poker fails to make real time logical exploitative adjustments versus specific human players. It instead tries to wrap up everything for you in a cute little math equation with a bow on top.
Unfortunately, this is not how winning poker actually works in reality though. Real poker players and real poker pros already know this.
The optimal strategy in this specific hand, and versus this specific player, is actually to exploit the fundamental error they are making by floating the flop with an extremely wide range and then betting the turn when they check to you.
This is exactly how I created some of the highest winnings in online poker history at the micros by the way and made a 10+ year career out of this game.
The key to beating small stakes poker games is understanding the player type and then making real time logical exploitative adjustments versus them.
Because again, poker is a game that is played between real people in real time. GTO poker advocates simply do not understand this.
And at the micro stakes, many of your opponents make massive fundamental mistakes (like in the example above) and/or base their decisions on random emotions rather than logic or mathematics.
Also, when they go on tilt and start randomly bluffing you with any two cards, this is something that you learn how to deal with only from experience and understanding psychology.
For example, check out the section entitled "Fish Psychology" in my first book Crushing the Microstakes, for a detailed explanation of how to break down a bad player's mental state and decision making when they are on tilt.
This is the kind of stuff that you will never find in a GTO poker book and yet this is some of the most vitally important stuff for you to understand if you want to crush the micro stakes.
The "optimal" strategy to beat a fish on tilt simply can't be deduced from a GTO poker strategy or a GTO solver because they totally fail to understand the human side of the game.
And it is only when you actually get in there at the tables, get your hands dirty, and play a crazy amount of poker like me and most other pros, that you will fully understand this.
Stop Wasting Your Time Studying GTO Poker Strategy: Learn What Actually Works Instead
Are you struggling to beat low stakes poker games like 2NL, 5NL, 10NL, 25NL 6max, Zoom or full ring online, low buy-in tournaments or $1/$2, $2/$5 live?
Do you want a simple step by step exploitative strategy guide to show you exactly how to start winning consistently right now?
That is why I recently wrote this free little 57 page no BS guide to teach you exactly how to start crushing these games right now.
You will learn the exact exploitative poker strategies I have used as a 10+ year poker pro to consistently crush small stakes poker games.
Enter your details below and I will send my free poker cheat sheet to your email right now.
GTO Poker Strategy is a Good Strategy for Mid Stakes and High Stakes
Alright, now before a bunch of angry GTO math nerds accuse me of being a "hater" in the comments, I do want to point out that GTO poker strategy is actually pretty effective once you reach mid stakes or high stakes.
In fact, in many high stakes poker games where you are playing against other world class professionals, I would argue that GTO is in fact the most optimal poker strategy.
And this is because the edges are so small in a game like this. Your opponents are making well balanced decisions in every situation and paying close attention to everything that you do.
In a poker game like this, it absolutely does make sense to look for GTO based strategies to find the mathematically superior play and try to be as unexploitable as possible yourself.
And this is why many top level players in a game like 500NL Zoom for example do a lot of work with GTO solvers away from the tables these days.
Here's the problem though.
How many people that are reading this article right now actually play a mid stakes poker game like 500NL Zoom or higher stakes regularly?
Well, I actually have a pretty good idea. It's about 2% of you.
This is because I recently asked 1,124 people who regularly read my poker articles and blog posts what stakes they play.
The vast overwhelming majority of the respondents (around 98%), do not play at stakes this high on a regular basis.
Most people play at stakes much, much lower than this. And once again, this isn't exactly "breaking news" to anyone.
As I said off the top, the vast majority of people who play poker do not play high stakes or even mid stakes games for that matter, whether it's online poker or live poker.
And by far the easiest way to prove this is to just go open any online poker site right now and see it for yourself.
The most popular games will be $2, $5, $10 and $25 buy-in cash games along with tournaments and sit and gos with a $10 or less buy-in.
In fact, here is a snapshot right now as I type this of the mid stakes and high stakes poker tables at the most popular online poker site in the world:
It's a ghost town!
In fact, there is not even a single poker cash game actually running above $10/$20 right now at the most popular online poker site in the world.
Let that sink in for a second.
Everybody wants to study advanced high stakes GTO poker theory these days and yet absolutely nobody even plays these games!
And by comparison, here is a snapshot right now of just the $5 buy-in 6-max cash games, again at the most popular online poker site in the world:
As you can see, endless full and active poker tables to choose from!
This is probably why my little poker blog has exploded in popularity over the years. Because I am literally the only one out there who focuses on the games that you actually play in.
GTO Poker Strategy is Preventing You From Winning Consistently
In fact, I believe that studying GTO poker strategy is possibly even harming your poker results at the micros and preventing you from becoming that consistent winner that you have always seen yourself as.
You should instead be learning the optimal exploitative counter strategies that have been proven again and again to produce the best results possible in low stakes poker games.
And of course avoid making all the rookie mistakes like playing bad poker hands, as I discuss in my latest video.
So for example, you can still find insane Nits at NL2 online these days who literally play less than 10% of their hands and fold their blinds 90%+ of the time.
Check out my ultimate guide to beating NL2 by the way right here.
You should be raising their blinds with ANY two cards if it is folded to you on the button or in the small blind.
I even have an entire video series of me playing NL2 for 6 hours, 6max, Zoom and Full Ring, smashing the Nits, raising their blinds endlessly and putting them all on tilt.
This is precisely how I created some of the highest winnings of all time in these games.
But a GTO based poker strategy will often fail to recognize this.
And so you have tons of beginners studying GTO button raising ranges, and losing tons of money because they are not opening a wide enough range versus these specific players.
Or how about when one of these micro stakes Nits raises you on the turn after you double barrel them? Again, GTO poker strategy fails to understand that this is literally the nuts 100% of the time.
And so you should be folding your top pair or overpair literally every single time in these situations as I have discussed many times on this blog, in my books and YouTube videos.
But your GTO "solver" or GTO "coach" simply won't understand this. And that is because this requires loads of real experience playing with these specific player types to truly understand.
Honestly, I could go on and on.
The staggered preflop bet sizing strategy that I used for many years at NL2 (and revealed in my first book) to crush these games for the highest winnings in history, is probably the best example ever of how an exploitative strategy is superior to a GTO strategy at these stakes.
Look guys, once you successfully move up to mid stakes or high stakes games and start playing against high level, world class opponents who are studying every aspect of your game, yes you need to learn GTO.
But if you currently play in small stakes games, online or live, versus the legions of low level thinking beginner players, using a GTO poker strategy is probably hurting your results more than you know.
There is one final reason why I will quit the game of poker before wasting tons of my time (and money) studying GTO though.
And this is more important than anything.
The Real Reason Why Studying GTO Poker Strategy is Actually a Complete Waste of Your Time
There is actually a real absurdity of studying GTO poker strategy though for years and years on end and investing thousands of dollars in some cases into this training.
And that is, you are completely missing the entire point of the game!
In order to make lots of money in poker, all you actually have to do is play with people who play really, really bad. That's literally how you make a ton of money from poker in a nutshell.
The end.
This is literally all I do these days and all I have ever done to be honest. Anybody who reads this poker blog regularly already knows that.
I don't care about bracelets, fame, trophies or what anybody thinks about my "poker skills." I got into this game to make the most money, period.
By the way, I discuss this in much more detail in my new Elite Poker University training.
Learn EXACTLY how to start crushing small and mid stakes poker games, play semi-pro or even full time pro. Use my proven elite poker strategies to start winning fast.
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And the most effective way to accomplish that goal is by consistently playing against really, really bad poker players.
Me recently crushing some fish with a view
This is like going to a party or a club that is 80% guys and trying to pick up women. Or wasting a bunch of time and money studying some lame "pickup artist" nonsense on the internet.
No smart guy would ever do this.
They would just go find the private party or club instead that is full of hot women and only a couple other guys are there.
All you gotta do is just stand there, and have the most basic social skills, and you are probably going to get laid.
It's the exact same thing in poker!
I would rather quit the game altogether than waste years of my life, and money in expensive training, studying complex theories to try and beat a bunch of other world class pros.
What's the point other than to massage your own ego?
No, I will just go find the games full of rich Chinese businessmen or other whales and use the most basic poker strategies on earth to take their money.
This is what smart poker players are doing in today's games.
And if you actually want to make a ton of money in poker and be super successful in this game, then what you should be studying is the art of game selection.
Game selection is actually the #1 poker "skill" to have in 2021, not spending stupid amounts of time studying some complicated GTO math "system" and "solvers."
And all the pros and the biggest winners have already known this for years, though they will never tell you.
As I always say:
Watch what they DO, not what they say.
Look at the games they are playing in. Apps that are full of fish, lesser known soft online sites, private games, live games against huge Chinese whales in Macau and so on.
It's all about game selection, not GTO.
Time is Your Most Valuable Asset in Life (GTO is -EV)
And the biggest reason why studying GTO is the worst poker advice I ever heard should actually be the most obvious one.
It is an enormous waste of your time!
Time is the only asset in life that money can't buy and you can never get it back either. And I do not take this lightly at all.
As I mentioned in my 10 years as a pro post, I got into this game make the money and get out. I didn't get into this game to sink my life into it.
So I personally do not have the time to be spending hundreds, if not thousands of hours, studying complex GTO math, so that I might improve marginally at a card game where the top poker pros in the world rarely make more than low 7 figures per year in income on average (and most typical pros make low 6 figures per year, if that).
When I could be spending this time instead building more businesses, or making more investment decisions that have a far higher income ceiling, 8 figures per year, 9 figures or more.
I also travel a ton as anyone who follows me on Instagram knows. And I also value my time spent with family and friends much more than success in this card game.
So overall, the opportunity cost for me of studying GTO is just way too high.
There are too many other things that I could be using this time for which will produce far greater financial rewards and far greater life satisfaction as well.
Like orders of magnitude greater life satisfaction and wealth creation.
But hey that's just me!
You can make that decision for yourself if the time investment for studying GTO poker math is worth it or not for you.
Final Thoughts
So is GTO poker strategy a good strategy for the micro stakes games?
Honestly, it's not. I can't lie.
In fact, Phil Ivey even discusses this in more detail in his new advanced poker training program.
And he's won more than $50,000,000 playing poker online and live. Enough said!
In fact, part of me absolutely loves the fact that many of the poker "gurus" out there keep preaching it as the ultimate way to beat these games.
Because for people like me who actually play at these stakes quite a bit, it helps keep these games super soft.
The "optimal" way to beat players who make large fundamental mistakes and base many of their decisions on emotion rather than logic or mathematics is to find the most profitable exploitative counter strategy.
Proponents of GTO poker strategy simply do not understand this. Nor do they understand the human element of the game such as how to deal with a fish on tilt.
Because again, this is something that you can only learn through direct experience and playing an absolutely crazy amount of poker like me.
At it's core, GTO poker strategy fails to understand that poker is a game played between human beings who often make large glaring fundamental mistakes that are entirely devoid of logic or reason.
Humans also frequently go on tilt and often make wild hare brained bluffs that are based solely on emotions like anger and frustration.
You don't need to "balance" anything versus players like this or become "unexploitable" versus them. This is completely ridiculous.
You simply need to make the most obvious exploitative play instead as I have discussed for 10+ years now on this blog, in my books and my videos.
And this is something that all the biggest winners in small stakes poker games already know. Exploitative poker strategy is simply far superior to GTO at these limits.
While it does make sense to start incorporating some GTO poker strategy into your game once you start playing against world class professionals at mid stakes or high stakes, it is often a bad strategy against the low level amateurs that you will find in most small stakes poker games.
But at the end of the day there is a complete absurdity to studying GTO anyways, because it basically means you are playing in terrible games, full of good players.
A smart poker player will just improve his game selection skills instead and use the most basic poker strategies on earth, to win far more money, against really bad players.
If you want to learn the exploitative poker strategy that I have used to consistently smash the micro stakes as a 10+ year poker pro, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
Let me know in the comments below what you think of GTO poker strategy. Have you ever tried it before?
In fact, part of me absolutely loves the fact that many of the poker "gurus" out there keep preaching it as the ultimate way to beat these games.
Because for people like me who actually play at these stakes quite a bit, it helps keep these games super soft.
The "optimal" way to beat players who make large fundamental mistakes and base many of their decisions on emotion rather than logic or mathematics is to find the most profitable exploitative counter strategy.
Proponents of GTO poker strategy simply do not understand this. Nor do they understand the human element of the game such as how to deal with a fish on tilt.
Because again, this is something that you can only learn through direct experience and playing an absolutely crazy amount of poker like me.
At it's core, GTO poker strategy fails to understand that poker is a game played between human beings who often make large glaring fundamental mistakes that are entirely devoid of logic or reason.
Humans also frequently go on tilt and often make wild hare brained bluffs that are based solely on emotions like anger and frustration.
You don't need to "balance" anything versus players like this or become "unexploitable" versus them. This is completely ridiculous.
You simply need to make the most obvious exploitative play instead as I have discussed for 10+ years now on this blog, in my books and my videos.
And this is something that all the biggest winners in small stakes poker games already know. Exploitative poker strategy is simply far superior to GTO at these limits.
While it does make sense to start incorporating some GTO poker strategy into your game once you start playing against world class professionals at mid stakes or high stakes, it is often a bad strategy against the low level amateurs that you will find in most small stakes poker games.
But at the end of the day there is a complete absurdity to studying GTO anyways, because it basically means you are playing in terrible games, full of good players.
A smart poker player will just improve his game selection skills instead and use the most basic poker strategies on earth, to win far more money, against really bad players.
If you want to learn the exploitative poker strategy that I have used to consistently smash the micro stakes as a 10+ year poker pro, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
---
Let me know in the comments below what you think of GTO poker strategy. Have you ever tried it before?
This might be the best article you have ever written. I have been saying the same thing for years. I spend all my time these days looking for the fish. Studying GTO no thanks lol.
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks TJ!
DeleteIt's true, among actual pros, people who play this game for a living, I don't know anybody who spends much time studying GTO.
For pros it's always been the same. Find the games full of bad players and print money. That's always been my strategy too :)
I am playing at Zoom and needed to learn over many years, especially how to play after seeing the flop. I totally agree with this article. Abuse the nits, make your range wider against them, float and raise them all the time, but just make it the other way against loose fish, only value bet them, even don't make a bet with just a draw. While I sometimes steal with any two against a real nit, I only raise with premium hands against a fish. It's that easy. No GTO-balancing needed.
DeleteLearn to love the Fold-Button in marginal spots against the fish, especially when you are out of position. I even don't want close situations vs them in those situations. Abuse the nits, even raise them with speculative hands, use your stats against them. And against fish, with second pair or better: Bet, Bet, Bet. Mark the players. I mark them with colours at Pokerstars. Look at their stats. And don't bother to much to play "GTO". Just play, what is the best strategy against each single player. THIS helped me much. AND: If you are unsure about a (even preflop) hand, especially when you are out of position in the blinds: Just fold!
Hi,
DeleteI know you didnt ask me but since im traveling to turkey tomorrow (to play fulltime) let me give you my advice:
First, you can play on ggpoker if you live in turkey. Because a lot of streamers are pushing this network, and ggpoker is allowed to play in a lot of countries like israel the tables are super soft.
Second, if you wanna stick with wpn heres what to do:
Download / buy hand historys played on wpn nl25 and import them into h2n
Now you gotta do a mass-playerpool data analysis in order to find put leaks/ spots where the unknown, average villain is explotiable. I cant Tell you how in this tiny blogpost but i suggest searching on youtube for it (deathstar hud range research)
Sorry but this is the worst article you’ve ever written. Saying you should start learning gto only if you reach the mid stakes will make you never understand the fundamental baseline you need to have to survive in these games. Also, gto IS actually maximally exploiting human players...wait? It only spits out strategies that are perfectly balanced and always assumes you play against thinking opponents right? Totally wrong. Anyone who has ever used the nodelock function in sovers to change villains strategy in a practical matter knows that the solver is capable of showing your ways to exploit the player types you named above in insane ways. Yes i aggree that playing strict gto is not the best strategy to apply at the micros BUT instead we can learn from the solvers in order to maximize profit. Also, what you and most people dont get about gto is that its actually a defense way to play poker. gto always ensures, that no matter what your opponents are gonna do, as long as you stick to the “optimal” response gto suggests he is never able to get more money out of you then he deserves in EV.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that no limit holdem has not been solved yet and any GTO suggestion is not actually a GTO. That's why I would rather say playing as balanced as possible...
DeleteUnderstanding "GTO" is essential but mostly application of it is not practical. For example says for a particular river that you should bet 33% of the time and 2/3 of your bets should be value bet while 1 of them must be a bluff, so that what your opponent does will become indifferent. How can you practically use this in 6-Max ? I really do not get it.
Nathan, what's your approach in Zoom Tables ? For example, in NL 10 Blitz Poker on WPN, there is no HUD which means you can not play any exploitative style. Is it better to play completely ABC poker in these games or just try to emulate "GTO" ?
DeleteAbout game selection: Unfortunately, government restrictions prevent most of us from playing in 888 or Stars. On other networks, table selection is really limited. I live in Turkey, I get up 3.30 am every morning for playing NL25 on WPN to have the most table available. But even then only 7-8 6max tables are open.. So there is no practical way of game selection if you do not play on Stars or 888. There are some other more crowded networks but this time they do not permit HUD, which again stops you table select.
1)First of all, an actual GTO for No Limit Holden does not simply exist as the games has not been solved yet. While GTO so called "solvers" might be efficient in heads-up tables, no limit holdem is just too complex in multi way pots etc. I mean even if you learn a GTO poker from a software, it is not going to be a GTO style at all.
ReplyDelete2) I am introduced to poker with you material and I have been following you since the beginning. I showed a great success in the beginning and moved up to NL10. Then I got poisoned by this GTO way of thinking and I struggled for 2 complete years.
3) Now I am winning big again in NL25. What I am doing is I am not defining an exact way of play.If my opponent is a fish in that particular spot, I take exploitative lines. If my opponent is well balanced reg, then I adjust accordingly and play in a more balanced way: 3betting with suited connectors etc.
4)Please do not feel like there is correct way of playing poker.This thought costed me years and thousands of dollars. For example I knew folding 89s was the optimal play in that particular spot but I always 3bet or 4bet just for the sake of being balanced or for playing GTO etc. I even felt bad when I took an exploitative line and won money just because "this was not correct poker".
4) We tend to exaggerate everything. We should play a balanced game, that's OK. But being paranoid about this is just another think. Do you really think your 8 tabling opponents pay attention if you 3bet bluff with 34s ? Or do you really think they pay attention if you semi bluff raised the flop ?
5)Answer to above question: Yes, some of them. And I am one of them. But then do no t mess with those kind of players. I personally do not. In NL25 there are always well balanced players like myself and I prefer not to involve many huge pots against them. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE MORE PROFITABLE SPOTS. Let it go.
Excellent article, but be careful not to push your dating analogy too far! Private parties are, by definition, private... and a club that was "...full of hot women and only a couple other guys..." would quickly go broke! Just saying, before anyone gets their hopes up!
ReplyDeleteI do not this will many friends at some coaching sites out there. Also so much info is rehash of same info. Have a bullet available for use? al
ReplyDeleteThat flop flat example cracked me up, at least you could have put a heart on the flop lol.
ReplyDeleteHello there Nathan how you doing? Thanks a lot for this awesome article it really changed my life.
ReplyDeleteHey man, I know I cannot reproduce your article in another place, because of the authoral rights, however, I would like to kindly ask you, if I can quote and review this article at CardsChat.com. If the answer is yes, let me be clear that I will never copy and paste the whole article.
I will quote and review according to my low experience and seek for other players advice. If the answer is not no problem whatsoever. Thanks master!
Regards;
Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa
Hi Carlos,
DeleteI am glad you enjoyed this article. Yes, you can quote and review this article. Thanks!
I read this while I pooped
ReplyDeleteAgreed if you want to be stuck playing 5nl or 2 5 live while grinding out a mediocre win rate in full bum hunt mode then this approach is 100% for you. Since the author has been somehow playing micros without moving up for over 10 years he has a true testament to the value of his approach and I beleive him.
ReplyDeletePoker has always been lousy with fads. There is nothing new about "GTO": it's been around ever since the mid-60s (if not earlier) and was mentioned in the 1965 flick _The Cincinnati Kid_. What everyone who thinks this is something grand and glorious misses is that GTO is defensive in nature. It's your fallback position when you and your opponents get into the endless leveling wars of "I know he knows I know he knows, &c". It's how to hold your own if you get invited to play Super Duper Mega Poker After Dark with all the Pros.
ReplyDeleteAgainst your typical recreational players, watch, observe, see what they're doing wrong and take advantage of them.
God, where to start๐ Poker is such an amazing game.. Theories, opinions, styles of play and players etc. Bottom line though? if you want to winning cash on lower stakes then right table selection is your priority. Online or live I need just bit of time to figure out who Is who at the table and then try to play against their weaknesses. Studying poker is great as you can always learn a thing or two and use it in your games, sure, but I also fully agree with Nathan that at the micros all you need to do is choosing right games/opponents... If you struggling just change the table and try again instead of letting your ego to take over. Simple.. (well not always ๐). Sometimes I also think that we forgetting about importance of old lady luck.Or maybe wo don't like to talk about luck in poker? In the very long run making right decisions will turn out to be profitable OK, but sometimes u just need that bit of luck don't you?
ReplyDeleteGood flop,even better turn or river, opponent on tilt etc.. All I am a bit ashamed to admit it but few of my biggest wins in poker came after I actually made a bad calls and gambled instead of playing ... Luck....
I will obviously try to not repeat those calls next time as discipline is very important in poker. As important as learning from your mistakes. Also in my eyes good fold is worth lot more than a hero call. Good luck at the tables people ✌️
Hi, Nathan! Is it still possibleto beat online poker in 2020? Maybe u are preparing a post about it? Thank U!
ReplyDeleteHey Mr. Belarus,
DeleteI think it is but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to be among the best. My big post on how to beat online poker in 2020 will be published in a few days just before the new year.
So look out for that.
Also, I have already written a post talking about if poker is still profitable these days which you can find right here:
https://www.blackrain79.com/2017/10/is-poker-still-profitable.html
I think you are partially right. GTO isn't necessary. However there will be times when you encounter regs at all stakes and having at least a basic understanding of GTO will take you a long way in helping defend yourself against them. I Will echo what others have said that knowing the fundamental strategic mechanics if the game will help you understand exploitative play better. Furthermore, concepts like giving your opponent bad odds to a draw using the minimum necessary bet size are a mathematical concept that will make you money in the long run. My approach was to learn the gto basics and then look at your material.
Deleteahahaa you are the best, really!! ----- >I don't care about bracelets, fame, trophies or what anybody thinks about my "poker skills." I got into this game to make the most money, period.
ReplyDelete