here's how poker solvers could be holding back:
1) we offload thinking to a machine that isn’t thinking: it’s easy to forget we’re playing poker against other human beings. when i first dove deep into theory i would often think, “i’m at the top of my range here, i can’t fold!” but… our very best bluff catching hand is not a great bluff catcher against someone who hasn’t bluffed in 25 years. don’t lose sight of who we’re playing against.
2) gto vs exploit is NOT an either/or - it’s a continuum: the very best gto play is the very best exploit play and vice versa. if we lock a solver to give it some clues how our opponent is playing, the solver will be the best exploit player in the world.
3) we let ego get in the way. i’ve fallen into this trap countless times. as poker became my full time career part of my identity revolved around being known as a great poker player - which involved making a lot of “equilibrium approved” plays. being great at poker isn’t about being perceived as great - it’s about making the most $. don’t let perception at the table influence your decision making.
4) we use solvers as a crutch. i’ve been guilty of this countless times. after calling it off in a questionable spot we go home and plug the hand into a solver…and what do you know! our hand is a partial call! we played ok…in equilibrium…because our opponent big laramie (on his 4th corona) is definitely applying equilibrium strategy.
finally, a couple tips i’ve found helpful along the way:
don’t use solvers to spot check hands. instead, use them to build an anchor point of where baseline resides. what is the worst hand thats supposed to be bluffed here? what’s the best hand that’s supposed to be folded? if we know where baseline resides - we can quickly deduce if someone is under/over bluffing/calling/folding and effectively make exploits to make us $. making exploits without knowing baseline theory is just blindly swinging in the dark.
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in this video: marc goone and gethen jacobs discuss how gto pokers solvers are making you worse at poker.