Articles

In this era of game theory and solvers and poker games running at a huge variety of…

16/06/2025 17 min. / 23 sec.

What Features of GTO Wizard Can Some Players Ignore?

Top GTO Wizard Features the Pros Prioritize (and What They Leave Out)

CASH, StraddleBy Andrew Brokos

In this roundtable series, I have been asking GTO Wizard content creators about some of the software’s…

09/06/2025 24 min. / 10 sec.

How To Prep Like a Pro for WSOP

Soft SkillsBy JonnyLaw

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is one of the most recognized tournament series in the world,…

20/05/2025 55 min. / 13 sec.

Cold-Calling in Straddle + Ante Games

In traditional no-limit Hold‘em cash games, calling an open-raise is rarely appealing unless you are in the…

19/05/2025 13 min. / 34 sec.

Roundtable: Aha! Moments in GTO Wizard

Understanding solver technology is very challenging. You not only have to grapple with the technology itself, which…

13/05/2025 26 min. / 57 sec.

Poker: The Battle for Information

Poker is sometimes described as a battle for information, and there is much truth in that. Deducing…

05/05/2025 16 min. / 48 sec.

How To Construct a Squeezing Range

CASH, StraddleBy Andrew Brokos

As is often the case with my articles for this blog, what I am writing today is…

28/04/2025 14 min. / 4 sec.

Opening From the Blinds in Straddle + Ante Games

Opening From the Blinds in Straddle + Ante Games No-limit Hold‘em has not traditionally been played with…

22/04/2025 14 min. / 8 sec.

When To Just Shove Post Flop in ICM Spots

When To Just Shove Post Flop in ICM Spots The general trend for bet sizing, when ICM…

15/04/2025 14 min. / 29 sec.

The Theory of Bounty Tournaments – Part 3: Key Calculations

MTT, PKO, TheoryBy Dr. K

Parts 1 and 2 in this bounty theory series describe how total risk premiums are lower across…

09/04/2025 12 min. / 25 sec.

The Learning System That Separates the Best From the Rest

TheoryBy Aidan Heberle

As an avid strategy game enthusiast, I’ve spent a large portion of my life trying to analyze…

02/04/2025 9 min. / 47 sec.

The Fish Were Right All Along

In a recent conversation with Andrew Brokos, he made the comment, “The fish were onto something,” when…

01/04/2025 12 min. / 37 sec.

How to Use Practice Mode in GTO Wizard to Improve Your Game

Soft SkillsBy JonnyLaw

GTO Wizard provides a wide variety of tools to help you become a better player, from perfecting…

25/03/2025 8 min. / 34 sec.

Should You Ever Bluff with a Pair?

CASH, TheoryBy Vanja

Turning a made hand into a bluff might initially sound counterintuitive. In the pre-solver days, holding a…

24/03/2025 21 min. / 18 sec.

ICM Strategy: Playing IP Against the Chip Leader on the Final Table

ICMBy Andrew Brokos

The good news is you’ve made the final table (FT). Better yet, you’ve made it with a…

18/03/2025 14 min. / 53 sec.

ICM Survival Guide: How To Play OOP vs. a Covering Stack at the Final Table

ICM, MTT, TheoryBy Andrew Brokos

Contesting a pot against a player who covers you at a final table (FT) is one of…

17/03/2025 16 min. / 26 sec.

We’re At The River. Our Hand Can’t Win. Now What?

TheoryBy Matt Hunt

You’re in a heads-up pot and you’ve made it to the river. Your opponent has check/called two…

11/03/2025 11 min. / 51 sec.

When Is Bluffing Profitable? The Key Factors You Need to Know

When is bluffing profitable? When you expect your opponent to fold! That’s not a joke, and I…

10/03/2025 22 min. / 22 sec.

Blockers & Unblockers: The Secret to Picking Great Bluffs

Blocker/unblocker was a concept my coach, Dara O’Kearney, showed me in relation to bluffs. It is one…

04/03/2025 15 min. / 28 sec.

The Art of Game Selection for MTTs: Finding Soft Fields & Extra Value

Game selection is not something immediately associated with tournaments because the seat draw is random. In a…

03/03/2025 13 min. / 39 sec.

How To Get the Most out of Your Hand Reviews

ICM, MTT, Soft SkillsBy Andrew Brokos

I don’t spend much of my study time checking whether specific hands I played are “solver-approved.” After…

25/02/2025 13 min. / 13 sec.

The Art of Turn Probing: Exploiting Checked Flops

After calling a 3-bet as the out of position (OOP) player, you should expect to see a…

24/02/2025 11 min. / 22 sec.

How To Respond to Large Preflop Raises in Poker

Solver-derived preflop charts for both cash games and tournaments have historically assumed small raises on the part…

17/02/2025 14 min. / 9 sec.

Mastering Postflop ICM: Avoid These Common Mistakes

The new postflop ICM feature from GTO Wizard is a game changer. Previous incarnations of postflop ICM…

11/02/2025 19 min. / 12 sec.

What Happens When Playing Chip EV and ICM Is Significant

Just how costly is it to play a Chip EV style when ICM is significant? We always…

10/02/2025 15 min. / 46 sec.

How To Become a Winning Poker Player in 2025 – Part 2

Welcome back to part 2 of our series on how to become a winning poker player in…

04/02/2025 13 min. / 28 sec.

How To Become a Winning Poker Player in 2025 – Part 1

I fell in love with the game of poker when I saw the best players outplay their…

03/02/2025 20 min. / 50 sec.

IP 4-Betting in Deep-Stacked Cash Games

4-betting in position (IP) is a totally different phenomenon from 4-betting out of position (OOP). 4-betting reduces…

28/01/2025 14 min. / 58 sec.

OOP 4-Betting in Deep-Stacked Cash Games

4-bet pots (4BP) can be scary because the stakes are high, but with 100bb stacks, they are…

27/01/2025 11 min. / 26 sec.

Fixing a Poker Leak Part 2: The Mental Game

In the first part of my series on fixing leaks, I looked at the many technical ways…

21/01/2025 12 min. / 14 sec.

Fixing a Poker Leak Part 1: Spotting and Correcting Errors

In this two-part series, I am going to look at how we can identify and fix leaks…

20/01/2025 17 min. / 11 sec.

How Significant Is ICM After Late Registering a Tournament?

How Significant Is ICM During Late Registration?

One of the many valuable aspects of GTO Wizard’s new postflop ICM feature is that we can…

14/01/2025 15 min. / 57 sec.

The Many Faces of Balance in Poker

When you think of balance in poker, what comes to mind? Most likely, you were introduced to…

13/01/2025 12 min. / 30 sec.

Unwrapping GTO Wizard’s Hidden Gems for 2025

A new year is upon us, which is classically the time that most people start thinking about…

07/01/2025 28 min. / 10 sec.

The Theory of Bounty Tournaments – Part 2: ICM and Equity Drops

PKO, TheoryBy Dr. K

In part 1 of “Introduction to Bounty Theory,” we analyzed how the structures of bounty tournament prize…

30/12/2024 13 min. / 48 sec.

The Theory of Bounty Tournaments – Part 1: Prize Pool Fundamentals

PKO, TheoryBy Dr. K

Bounties are a significant new variable to take into account when studying tournament theory and ICM. This…

23/12/2024 14 min. / 41 sec.

Responding to Donk-Bets at Final Tables

It’s scary to contest a pot against a covering stack when you have a high risk premium,…

17/12/2024 11 min. / 55 sec.

Donk-Betting As the Covering Stack in MTTs

Tournament poker generally incentivizes stack preservation and more conservative play than cash game poker, and this is…

16/12/2024 15 min. / 30 sec.

Dominate the River in 3-Bet Pots OOP

CASH, TheoryBy Vanja

Playing the river may seem scary. Pots, on average, have been swelling up big time at this…

10/12/2024 22 min. / 6 sec.

Exploiting BBs Who Never Donk-Bet

Exploit, MTT, TheoryBy Andrew Brokos

In a single-raised pot (SRP), a BB caller should almost always check when out of position (OOP)…

09/12/2024 14 min. / 28 sec.

Picking the Right Semi-Bluffs

CASH, TheoryBy Aidan Heberle

As I often like to remind readers, I am not a professional poker player; I am just…

03/12/2024 14 min. / 18 sec.

Playing Calls From the Button in Cash Games

When first beginning to study cash game poker strategy, there is a common refrain that you might…

02/12/2024 8 min. / 42 sec.

Bringing It All Together: PKO Review

PKO, TheoryBy JonnyLaw

Throughout the past year, our writers have presented nine unique articles and videos outlining how and when…

25/11/2024 14 min. / 55 sec.

What Factors Impact Ranges the Most in PKOs?

PKO, TheoryBy JonnyLaw

In our article “How Does ICM Impact PKO Strategy?“, we contrasted how PKO and Classic preflop strategies…

18/11/2024 15 min. / 0 sec.

How Do Bounties Impact Our Flop Ranges When Covering?

PKO vs Classic: Postflop Play

In our previous articles comparing PKO and Classic tournaments, we reviewed how to adapt our preflop strategy…

12/11/2024 16 min. / 43 sec.

How Do Bounties Impact Our Flop Ranges When Covering?

The previous articles in our PKO series showed how preflop ranges that are adjusted for bounties vary…

11/11/2024 17 min. / 0 sec.

Short Stack Stealing on the Bubble

Open-raising on the bubble into players who cover you is scary. Savvy opponents will recognize how dangerous…

05/11/2024 17 min. / 43 sec.

Maximizing Monsters in Deep-Stacked Scenarios

Why did Dracula quit the game when Wolfman insisted on a mandatory straddle? — Why? — Unlike…

04/11/2024 12 min. / 0 sec.

Confronting Monsters Under the Bed in Poker

CASH, MTT, Soft SkillsBy Andrew Brokos

Do you hide from things that go bump in the night? Does the sight of a monotone…

29/10/2024 13 min. / 27 sec.

Bullying the Blinds With Continuation Bets

A big stack in No Limit Hold‘em does not always carry a license to steal. In a…

28/10/2024 14 min. / 41 sec.

A Comprehensive Guide to Playing Satelites

One of the most important inventions in poker that contributed to the growth of the game was…

22/10/2024 16 min. / 53 sec.

A Comprehensive Guide to Playing Mystery Bounties

MTT, PKOBy Barry Carter

The Mystery Bounty format looked like a novelty event at first, but swiftly became a mainstay of…

21/10/2024 15 min. / 52 sec.

Leading Hands That Should Check-Call

ExploitBy Barry Carter

The most consistent leak I have encountered live and online, and at a variety of stakes, is…

15/10/2024 13 min. / 38 sec.

Mastering Turn Play in 3-Bet Pots OOP

Playing the flop OOP in a 3-bet pot can be challenging. Turn play, however, is what gets…

14/10/2024 20 min. / 58 sec.

PKO Versus Classic: Responding to 3-Bets

One of the keys to adapting to new game formats, such as Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournaments, is…

08/10/2024 18 min. / 16 sec.

PKO Versus Classic: Responding to a Preflop Open

One of the keys to adapting to new game formats, such as Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournaments, is…

07/10/2024 15 min. / 24 sec.

Preflop Range Morphology

Exploit, TheoryBy Barry Carter

Morphology in poker is the study of shapes/forms of ranges. This domain of poker study is particularly…

01/10/2024 15 min. / 26 sec.

The Five Imbalances of Exploitative Poker

One of the great modern debates in poker is GTO vs Exploitative strategy. It can be a…

30/09/2024 23 min. / 48 sec.

PKO Versus Classic: Preflop RFI Range Comparisons

MTT, PKOBy JonnyLaw

One of the keys to adapting to new game formats, such as Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournaments, is…

23/09/2024 10 min. / 4 sec.

Why So Much? An Exploration of Larger-Than-Geometric Bet Sizing

Via toy games, it is easy to demonstrate that a player betting a perfectly polarized range maximizes…

16/09/2024 15 min. / 29 sec.

Slow-Playing

ICM, TheoryBy Andrew Brokos

Slow-playing, like running a big bluff or making a heroic call, feels great when it works. It…

09/09/2024 16 min. / 17 sec.

MDF vs ICM: Rethinking Bluffing & Defense Strategies in MTTs

Minimum Defense Frequency (MDF) is, strictly speaking, the calling (and/or raising) frequency that makes your opponent’s 0%…

02/09/2024 11 min. / 42 sec.

The Magic of Equity Buckets

MTT, Soft SkillsBy JonnyLaw

One of the most daunting aspects of learning the modern game of poker, especially with solver technology,…

26/08/2024 19 min. / 18 sec.

Preflop Strategy in Straddled Pots

CASH, Straddle, TheoryBy Andrew Brokos

Many games allow “straddles,” where a player who is not in the blinds voluntarily posts a blind…

19/08/2024 14 min. / 54 sec.

The 5 Levels of Trainer Mastery for MTTs

Studying poker can be a challenge to both new and seasoned players. Tournament poker, in particular, presents…

12/08/2024 19 min. / 38 sec.

4-Bet Pots OOP as the Preflop Caller

CASHBy Aidan Heberle

4-bet pots are often uncomfortable to play. Some of the reasons include: — A lot of chips…

05/08/2024 7 min. / 46 sec.

Bounty Models Explained: Solving Knockout Tournaments

ICM, MTT, PKO, TheoryBy Tombos21

We’ve just rolled out a revolutionary update! You can now find optimal postflop ICM strategies tailored for…

29/07/2024 12 min. / 59 sec.

Theoretical Breakthroughs in ICM

ICM, MTT, TheoryBy Tombos21

Today, we’ll share one of the most significant theoretical breakthroughs in tournament poker since the invention of…

29/07/2024 11 min. / 12 sec.

The Limitations of Nash Equilibrium in ICM Spots

ICM, TheoryBy Tombos21

In the complex world of poker tournaments, the Independent Chip Model (ICM) plays a pivotal role in…

29/07/2024 24 min. / 58 sec.

Rake & Rakeback Explained: Optimize Your Poker Earnings

Rake is one of the main things that allows poker to distinguish itself as a skill game…

23/07/2024 15 min. / 34 sec.

From Gutshots to Airballs: Choosing Your Bluffs

Whenever you’re running a bluff, it’s reassuring to have a backup plan like some draw equity that…

22/07/2024 21 min. / 39 sec.

Crush 3-Bet Pots OOP in Cash Games

Did you know that 3-bet pots out of position (OOP) as the preflop aggressor make up roughly…

16/07/2024 16 min. / 36 sec.

The Math of Multi-Street Bluffs

Bluffing is a fundamental skill in poker, blending deception with strategic calculation to sway the outcomes of…

15/07/2024 14 min. / 40 sec.

The Mechanics of C-Bet Sizing

What factors influence c-bet sizing on the flop? Is it fold equity, SPR, draw equity, polarity, protection,…

09/07/2024 19 min. / 15 sec.

Poker Insurance: Reducing Variance or Wasting Money?

Variance is what makes poker great. Without it, recreational players would not keep playing. Most players say…

08/07/2024 16 min. / 16 sec.

Money Bubble vs Final Table Bubble

Is one bubble the same as another? Should we play more conservatively on the money bubble of…

02/07/2024 14 min. / 39 sec.

Responding to 3-Bets From Covering Stacks at the Final Table

Facing 3-Bets From Covering Stacks at the Final Table

The last thing you want when you have a nice stack at the final table of an…

01/07/2024 12 min. / 31 sec.

How Does Poker Staking Work? An Exploration of Staking in Poker

Poker Staking Essentials

One of the great ‘through the looking glass’ moments for any poker player is when they learn…

25/06/2024 20 min. / 26 sec.

More Cognitive Biases (Holding You Back) That Harm Your Poker Study

A Poker Player’s Guide to Conquering Cognitive Biases – Part 2

CASH, Soft SkillsBy Madmanslime

In the past, I’ve written about gambling biases that can affect how you play and how confirmation…

24/06/2024 15 min. / 36 sec.

The 5 Levels of Trainer Mastery for Cash Games

We’ve created over 40 custom drills for this article! Though all drills are accessible through the article,…

17/06/2024 14 min. / 11 sec.

How To Review ICM Preflop Ranges

CASH, ExploitBy Sotirios Liakos

In a sense, tournaments could be considered the more complex format compared to cash games. The case…

11/06/2024 16 min. / 20 sec.

Calling Down Over-Bluffed Lines in Lower Limits

If you are playing low stakes, chances are you have a plummeting red line in your tracker’s…

10/06/2024 24 min. / 43 sec.

The Gambler’s Fallacy and Other Poker Myths Debunked

A Poker Player’s Guide to Conquering Cognitive Biases – Part 1

In my article on confirmation bias, I mentioned that there are many cognitive biases and fallacies that…

04/06/2024 18 min. / 27 sec.

Exploiting Cold Callers Who Stab Too Much

In single-raised pots (SRPs) between an in position (IP) raiser and an out of position (OOP) caller,…

03/06/2024 14 min. / 0 sec.

Using the 80/20 Rule in Poker

CASH, ExploitBy Aidan Heberle

The Pareto principle, or the ‘80/20 Rule’, is an economic theory that, when you learn about it,…

28/05/2024 12 min. / 18 sec.

Turning the Tables: How To Exploit Aggressive Opponents When They Check

Attacking Aggressive Opponents When They Check Back Flop

Playing out of position (OOP) is hard. Playing out of position against an aggressive opponent is even…

27/05/2024 12 min. / 5 sec.

Buying the Showdown

Exploit, TheoryBy Andrew Brokos

This article was inspired by Mark, who submitted a question to my podcast about a concept he…

21/05/2024 9 min. / 14 sec.

Barreling as IP Cold-Caller

You cold-called a preflop raise. That’s scary. You bet into a check from the preflop raiser, which…

20/05/2024 11 min. / 2 sec.

How Confirmation Bias Impacts Poker Study

There are a great number of cognitive biases, mental models, and heuristics that I plan on writing…

13/05/2024 14 min. / 4 sec.

A Champion’s Guide to Knockout Poker Formats

MTT, PKOBy JonnyLaw

If you’ve opened any online poker client recently you will have seen an explosion of Knockout (KO)…

07/05/2024 15 min. / 51 sec.

Pushing Equity With Small Bets

One of the most memorable pieces of poker wisdom I ever received came from my long-time podcast…

06/05/2024 13 min. / 22 sec.

Turn Check-Raise Heuristics

MTT, TheoryBy Matt Hunt

Dealing with turn aggression is an area many players find difficult, which is an excellent reason to…

30/04/2024 22 min. / 17 sec.

Aggaregate Flop Strategy: SB C-Betting in SRP

Aggregate Flop Strategy: SB C-Betting in SRP

CASH, TheoryBy David Chen

Continuation betting from the SB does not follow the usual patterns for out of position (OOP) c-betting…

29/04/2024 19 min. / 1 sec.

The Power of the Hypergeometric Bet

What size should we bet with our value and bluffs? When our range is perfectly polarized (with…

23/04/2024 7 min. / 58 sec.

The Limits of Nodelocking

Exploit, MTTBy Barry Carter

GTO Wizard’s nodelocking feature is where the theory meets the practical; you can study how to play…

22/04/2024 13 min. / 29 sec.

Limp-Called Pot as BB

My favorite way to study with GTO Wizard is to approach it experimentally, using the scientific method…

16/04/2024 11 min. / 42 sec.

Why Not Shove?

Exploit, MTTBy Barry Carter

You’re in the money in an MTT but still a long way from the final table. The…

15/04/2024 9 min. / 32 sec.

What We Can Learn From Outlier Hands

The worst way to use a tool like GTO Wizard is to simply ‘line-check’ how your specific…

09/04/2024 14 min. / 26 sec.

Building Exploits From Showdown

CASH, ExploitBy Darren Wee

Understanding how and when to exploit opponents at a live poker table is a delicate affair. It’s…

08/04/2024 13 min. / 30 sec.

Navigating Nasty Rivers Out of Position

Playing out of position (OOP) is hard. It’s fundamentally disadvantageous to act on each street without knowing…

26/03/2024 14 min. / 20 sec.

Crack the Shell of Nut Draw Strategy

Nut draws hold obvious appeal as betting and raising candidates. They benefit from fold equity, sometimes even…

25/03/2024 10 min. / 1 sec.

Preflop Raise Sizing: Examining 2 Key Factors

Soft SkillsBy Andrew Brokos

It amazes me that, after nearly twenty years of playing no-limit hold ‘em professionally, I still haven’t…

19/03/2024 10 min. / 31 sec.

How to Handle Loose-Passive Limpers

ExploitBy Andrew Brokos

Solver charts and presolved solutions do not offer much in the way of explicit guidance for responding…

18/03/2024 12 min. / 33 sec.

Top 5 Mistakes in Spin & Gos

SpinBy Beldarion

As a Spin and Go poker coach, I regularly encounter common mistakes that players make, affecting their…

12/03/2024 9 min. / 36 sec.

An Introduction to Spin & Gos

SpinBy Beldarion

I was playing Tournaments for the first decade of my career. But after my first child was…

11/03/2024 6 min. / 27 sec.

Relationships and Poker

In my more than 15 years of poker coaching, I’ve helped hundreds of clients improve their check-raising,…

05/03/2024 14 min. / 8 sec.

Do Multiple Sizes Matter?

Should I work out the other tools or just stick to the crowbar? Solver results can appear…

04/03/2024 12 min. / 20 sec.

The Science of Learning Applied to GTO Wizard

The way we were taught to study in schools was flawed and has negatively impacted our study…

27/02/2024 19 min. / 13 sec.

Check-Raising a Single Pair

In this article, I will address a question raised by Twitter/X user ’Matt Riley’, who asks, “In…

26/02/2024 9 min. / 34 sec.

The Turn Probe Bet

CASHBy Darren Wee

Imagine yourself defending as the BB caller vs BTN preflop raiser in a 100bb cash game pot.…

20/02/2024 16 min. / 50 sec.

When To Encourage Multiway Pots in PKOs

PKOBy Barry Carter

I was recently shown this fascinating PKO hand from the GTO Wizard PKO library. Somebody asked me…

19/02/2024 12 min. / 48 sec.

Protect Equity and Prosper

When we think about the best hands to bet in a given situation, we tend to consider…

13/02/2024 11 min. / 53 sec.

Do Solvers Have Targets?

Targeting has long been a staple of exploitative poker thinking. When you’re value betting against a predictable…

12/02/2024 8 min. / 42 sec.

Disciplining Big Blind in Limped Pots

When the BTN open-limps off a short stack, the postflop play against the BB should resemble that…

08/02/2024 10 min. / 13 sec.

I’d Rather Be Drawing

Which is the better hand on a K♥8♦5♦ flop: K♠T♣ or 7♥6♥? OK, I’ll admit I didn’t…

06/02/2024 9 min. / 34 sec.

The Curious Case of Open-Limping Buttons

Before the advent of solvers, open-limping was considered the province of passive, gambley recreational players who just…

05/02/2024 10 min. / 41 sec.

Cleaning Out Sticky IP Callers

A “sticky” player on your left, one who calls your preflop raises too often and doesn’t give…

30/01/2024 12 min. / 53 sec.

Defending Against Tiny 3-Bets

Tournament poker is about precision. Cash games, where stacks typically run into the hundreds of big blinds,…

29/01/2024 10 min. / 35 sec.

Heads up! Exploiting SB’s Preflop Mistakes

Exploit, MTTBy JonnyLaw

Heads up (HU) tournament play presents unique challenges to the average player. Many tournament players, particularly those…

23/01/2024 8 min. / 28 sec.

C-Betting As the OOP Preflop Raiser

CASHBy Darren Wee

Position is an extremely valuable advantage in poker. Most players would describe the comfort zone as being…

22/01/2024 15 min. / 6 sec.

Overchoice: Making Sense of Multiple Sizings

Solver solutions with multiple bet sizes often involve a lot of mixing between those sizes, thereby blurring…

16/01/2024 10 min. / 6 sec.

Exploiting Opponents Who Won't Check-Raise River

River Refinements: When Your Opponent Won’t Check-Raise

One of the biggest strategic differences between playing in versus out of position involves betting frequency and…

15/01/2024 9 min. / 45 sec.

Turn Barreling in 3-Bet Pots

There are two articles on the GTO Wizard blog that make good prerequisites to this piece: Principles…

09/01/2024 9 min. / 46 sec.

The Right Way To Think About Protection

TheoryBy David Chen

Suppose Paul the Protector is in a 200bb cash game and opens A♠A♣ in the SB. The…

08/01/2024 8 min. / 19 sec.

The Importance of Board Coverage

Exploit, MTTBy Barry Carter

The first public version of the GTO Wizard announced AI upgrade already has some useful features to…

05/01/2024 11 min. / 33 sec.

How To Adjust When Villain Has No Bluffs

“They always have it!” is a common, semi-joking expression in poker to describe the tendency of a…

02/01/2024 8 min. / 23 sec.

Adjusting on Later Streets After Exploiting Flop

The key to exploiting opponents profitably is knowing when to stop. I’m not referring to how often…

29/12/2023 9 min. / 42 sec.

C-Betting IP vs Passive Poker Players

A preflop raiser enjoys a significant range advantage over a BB caller, enabling them to continuation bet…

26/12/2023 12 min. / 6 sec.

C-Betting Against ICM Preflop Ranges

You raise from early position (EP) in a multi-table tournament and the BB calls. Both of you…

19/12/2023 8 min. / 1 sec.

The Art of Bluff Catching

Bluff catching—calling a bet with a modest hand which you expect to win only if your opponent…

18/12/2023 17 min. / 49 sec.

Exploiting Excessive C-Betting by IP

Exploit, TheoryBy JonnyLaw

On some flops, it is simply not possible for the preflop raiser to continuation bet too often.…

12/12/2023 9 min. / 49 sec.

Is Limping Pimping?

In a past Discord post, one of our members noted that an upside of implementing a limping…

08/12/2023 12 min. / 23 sec.

Exploiting Excessive C-Betting by OOP

A preflop raiser who continuation bets too often is always a potential target for exploitation, but the…

07/12/2023 10 min. / 42 sec.

Preflop Button Mastery in PKOs

CASH, TheoryBy Darren Wee

Playing from the Button presents many unique opportunities in any tournament format, especially in PKOs. Apart from…

05/12/2023 6 min. / 49 sec.

The Worst Turn Card

Greetings from GTO land. In today’s article, we will use the Turn Reports feature to gain a…

28/11/2023 18 min. / 37 sec.

Navigating Range Disadvantage as the 3-Bettor

CASHBy Darren Wee

Picture this: We’re playing a NL500 6-max cash game, and we’ve won a few pots, now sitting…

27/11/2023 11 min. / 24 sec.

Mastering Three-Bet Pots In Position in MTTs

Playing in position against a three-better is a lesson in playing to your advantages. As the defending…

21/11/2023 12 min. / 42 sec.

Mastering Three-Bet Pots Out of Position in MTTs

Three-bet pots are scary. Playing out of position is scary. Put them together, and you’ve got many…

20/11/2023 11 min. / 19 sec.

The Greatest Final Table in Triton History

MTTBy Tombos21

Today, we’ll examine one of the most epic final table battles I’ve ever witnessed! Our adventure begins…

17/11/2023 6 min. / 11 sec.

Mastering Thin Value Bets in Checked-Down Pots

Valuing your hand appropriately—determining whether it’s strong enough to value bet or so weak you should consider…

14/11/2023 14 min. / 3 sec.

Maximizing Value on Monotone Flops

Monotone flops tend to provoke great anxiety among poker players. It’s easy to imagine that your opponent…

30/10/2023 15 min. / 42 sec.

How to Defend Against Turn Donk Bets

Responding effectively to donk bets on the turn is tricky;, there’s no getting around that. It’s one…

26/10/2023 7 min. / 58 sec.

When It’s Time for DJ Donkey to Turn the Tables

How and Why You Should Use Turn Donk Bets

MTT, TheoryBy Barry Carter

Donk betting–taking the betting lead away from the previous street’s aggressor–on the flop is rarely correct and…

24/10/2023 10 min. / 55 sec.

How Stack Sizes Change Your Range

In this series, we have looked at factors that can influence ranges in otherwise identical scenarios. As…

16/10/2023 11 min. / 25 sec.

How to Leverage GTO Wizard’s EV Comparison Tool

With the advent of solvers, some troubling new turns of phrase have entered the poker lexicon. In…

03/10/2023 12 min. / 51 sec.

Should You Ever Cold Call a 3-Bet?

When there’s been a raise and re-raise before the action is on you, you will have to…

02/10/2023 14 min. / 33 sec.

When ICM Breaks Down

If you have read my previous GTO Wizard articles and my books, you’ll know I am a…

26/09/2023 13 min. / 53 sec.

When Is It Correct To Fold AA Preflop?

One of the criticisms of ICM is that it is boring and robotic. In my opinion, nothing…

25/09/2023 14 min. / 7 sec.

OOP C-betting vs Loose Cold-callers

In a previous GTO Wizard article, I asserted that “Playing against an in-position cold-caller is dramatically different–and…

21/09/2023 9 min. / 20 sec.

Short-Stacked Play in MTTs

Playing a short stack well is an essential tournament skill. It is extremely rare to win a…

18/09/2023 10 min. / 19 sec.

When To Ladder in Tournaments

In my last two articles, I wrote about the effect field size and payout structure have on…

12/09/2023 16 min. / 26 sec.

How Payout Structures Impact ICM

Last time we discussed the ICM considerations in game selection, we looked at field size, which has…

11/09/2023 14 min. / 29 sec.

C-Betting IP in 3-Bet Pots

When you three-bet before the flop and the original raiser calls from out of position, you have…

05/09/2023 10 min. / 7 sec.

C-Betting OOP in 3-Bet Pots

Continuation betting from out of position can be a dicey proposition in single-raised pots. Cold calling ranges…

04/09/2023 7 min. / 15 sec.

Dynamic Sizing: A GTO Breakthrough

Dynamic Sizing is a revolutionary new poker algorithm that automatically simplifies your strategy with the highest EV…

21/08/2023 9 min. / 29 sec.

Dynamic Sizing Benchmarks

Dynamic Sizing is a revolutionary new poker algorithm that automatically simplifies your strategy with the highest EV…

21/08/2023 9 min. / 3 sec.

Understanding The Impact Of Field Size On ICM In Poker

When people talk about game selection in multi-table tournaments (MTTs), they invariably talk about the number of…

15/08/2023 11 min. / 42 sec.

Defending vs BB Check-Raise on Paired Flops

This is a companion piece to Attacking Paired Flops from the BB; you will get more out…

14/08/2023 14 min. / 54 sec.

Mastering PKO Final Tables

ICM, PKOBy JonnyLaw

Final tables can be the most exciting and rewarding phase of a tournament, and being able to…

08/08/2023 13 min. / 33 sec.

Attacking Paired Flops From the BB

Paired flops present unique challenges to both a preflop raiser and a BB caller. The difficulty of…

01/08/2023 9 min. / 54 sec.

KK vs QQ vs JJ at the Final Two Tables of the WSOP Main Event

KK vs QQ vs JJ at WSOP Main Event

With only fourteen players remaining in the 2023 WSOP Main Event and blinds of 400K/800K/800K, Joshua Payne…

25/07/2023 9 min. / 40 sec.

Responding to BB Squeezes

You open raise, someone calls, and the BB squeezes. How should you construct your strategy? Once there…

24/07/2023 10 min. / 35 sec.

Crushing a Top HUNL Poker Bot

TheoryBy GTO Wizard

In 2022, Philippe Beardsell and Marc-Antoine Provost, a team of Canadian programmers from Quebec, developed the most…

19/07/2023 6 min. / 7 sec.

GTO Wizard AI Explained

TheoryBy GTO Wizard

We are excited to introduce GTO Wizard AI, formerly known as Ruse, the world’s best and fastest…

19/07/2023 5 min. / 42 sec.

How Accurate Are GTO Wizard's Solutions?

GTO Wizard AI Benchmarks

TheoryBy GTO Wizard

GTO Wizard has combined the power of artificial intelligence with traditional solving methods to bring you high-quality…

19/07/2023 9 min. / 51 sec.

Table Management in PKOs

PKOBy Barry Carter

Perhaps the most important strategic consideration in Progressive Knockout Tournaments (PKOs) is making sure you cover your…

11/07/2023 14 min. / 17 sec.

Overcalling From the BB

MTT, TheoryBy Barry Carter

In poker, overcalling refers to calling a bet or raise after another player has also called. Should…

05/07/2023 11 min. / 52 sec.

Understanding Which Mistakes Cost You the Most Money

I am fortunate enough to have worked for many years with the mental game coach Jared Tendler,…

03/07/2023 17 min. / 41 sec.

Overbetting The Flop in Cash Games

CASHBy Madmanslime

Although most commonly analyzed on turns and rivers, flop overbetting can be a devastating weapon that generates…

27/06/2023 8 min. / 48 sec.

Using New Skills at the Poker Table

How many times has it happened to you that you make a mistake only to realize immediately…

26/06/2023 12 min. / 0 sec.

Flatting Ace-X Hands Shortstacked

Playing out of position is tricky, but it’s an essential part of tournament play. With so much…

20/06/2023 7 min. / 24 sec.

Playing Limped Pots as the BB in MTTs

Success as the BB in limped pots begins before the flop. The BB’s equilibrium strategy at all…

19/06/2023 8 min. / 28 sec.

The Absurd Game Theory of Chopped Boards

CASH, TheoryBy Tombos21

A “chopped board” in poker is one where the community cards make up the best 5-card hand…

13/06/2023 9 min. / 56 sec.

Playing Limped Pots as the SB in MTTs

MTT confrontations between the small blind and big blind force no-limit players into uncomfortable situations, compelling them…

29/05/2023 9 min. / 27 sec.

The Art of Learning Poker

In his book The Art of Learning, chess and Push Hands champion Josh Waitzkin describes a training…

16/05/2023 5 min. / 46 sec.

Is Donk Betting for Donkeys?

“Donk betting”, or betting from out of position into the player who was the aggressor on the…

15/05/2023 11 min. / 58 sec.

Delayed C-Betting

This is a companion piece to Probe Betting. It stands on its own, but understanding how to…

09/05/2023 9 min. / 7 sec.

Probe Betting

As far as rules of thumb go in poker, “check to the raiser” is a pretty good…

08/05/2023 7 min. / 22 sec.

ICM and Blind Battles: The Big Blind

This is a companion piece to this article on the SB’s strategy for blind vs blind play…

02/05/2023 7 min. / 15 sec.

ICM and Blind Battles: The Small Blind

ICM incentivizes more conservative play, which means that at stages of the tournament where risk premiums are…

01/05/2023 6 min. / 26 sec.

The Initial Bettor’s Advantage

The mathematics of poker holds a little-known secret: the first bettor enjoys better bluffing odds than someone…

25/04/2023 5 min. / 46 sec.

Mastering the Chiplead: The Scalpel and the Sledgehammer

When you have a lot of chips at a final table or in another situation with extreme…

24/04/2023 8 min. / 49 sec.

Flop Heuristics: IP C-Betting in Cash Games

CASHBy Madmanslime

Our never-ending quest for money and fame leads us to the flop. We open the button, the…

18/04/2023 10 min. / 54 sec.

How ICM Impacts Restealing From The Blinds

When I first started working with preflop solves, one of the features I found most striking was…

17/04/2023 9 min. / 39 sec.

The ICM Benefits of Late Registration in Poker Tournaments

Why do so many professional poker players register late for tournaments when they clearly would enjoy a…

10/04/2023 11 min. / 49 sec.

Flop Heuristics: OOP C-Betting in MTTs

ICMBy Andrew Brokos

Playing against an in-position cold-caller is dramatically different–and dramatically more difficult–than playing against a caller from the…

04/04/2023 9 min. / 21 sec.

Counterintuitive Calls

Solver outputs such as those provided by GTO Wizard are models of no-limit hold ‘em, not a…

03/04/2023 9 min. / 55 sec.

How To Negotiate Final Table Deals

Most people’s first introduction to the Independent Chip Model (ICM) is not from studying bubble play or…

27/03/2023 10 min. / 32 sec.

How Does ICM Impact PKO Strategy?

If you have read The Theory of Progressive Knockout Tournaments you already know why we can play…

23/03/2023 20 min. / 27 sec.

Understanding Blockers in Poker

TheoryBy Madmanslime

Often when looking through a solver’s meticulously crafted grid of deception, one of the following questions arises:…

14/03/2023 11 min. / 35 sec.

Flop Heuristics: IP Cold-Caller in MTTs

A Cold-call refers to the act of calling a preflop raise when you don’t close the action…

13/03/2023 5 min. / 25 sec.

Flop Heuristics: IP C-Betting in MTTs

In the world of poker, the flop is a crucial stage of the game that sets the…

07/03/2023 8 min. / 38 sec.

Flop Heuristics for Defending the Blinds in MTTs

The field of Game Theoretically Optimal poker is extensive, and thus, to simplify our strategy, we frequently…

06/03/2023 8 min. / 42 sec.

Multiway strategy in Progressive Knockout Tournaments

PKOBy Barry Carter

Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournaments are much more complex than traditional MTTs. The fact that players are incentivized…

28/02/2023 13 min. / 8 sec.

How To Calculate Raises In Poker

One of the most frequently asked questions in poker is how to calculate the size of a…

27/02/2023 2 min. / 49 sec.

Principles of River Play

The river offers the least complicated strategy of any betting street. With no further cards to come,…

21/02/2023 10 min. / 35 sec.

Exploitative Dynamics

GTO solutions are designed to be unexploitable, performing reasonably well no matter how your opponents play. They…

20/02/2023 12 min. / 24 sec.

How ICM Impacts Postflop Strategy

Most players understand how the Independent Chip Model (ICM) in poker impacts their strategy preflop, especially at…

14/02/2023 14 min. / 5 sec.

10 Tips for Multiway Pots in Poker

CASH, MTT, TheoryBy Tombos21

While lots of work has been placed into research and explanation of heads-up pot strategy, multiway pots…

13/02/2023 15 min. / 13 sec.

What is the Bubble Factor in poker tournaments?

The Independent Chip Model (ICM) shows us the real money implications of tournament chip decisions. Most players…

07/02/2023 12 min. / 33 sec.

The Theory of Progressive Knockout Tournaments

PKOBy Tombos21

In poker, a PKO (Progressive Knockout) tournament is a type of tournament where a portion of the…

06/02/2023 10 min. / 55 sec.

How To Analyze Turn Textures In Poker

Master the art of turn analysis in poker. Understand how the turn card changes the dynamics of…

31/01/2023 8 min. / 42 sec.

Principles of Turn Strategy

Learn the principles of turn strategy in poker and discover what makes the turn unique. Understand how…

30/01/2023 8 min. / 27 sec.

Poker Strategies: Tournaments vs. Cash Games

Tournament poker is not as different from cash game poker as people sometimes assume. Most of what…

24/01/2023 13 min. / 13 sec.

How Solvers Work

A Game Theory Optimal solver is an algorithm that calculates the best possible poker strategy. But how…

23/01/2023 13 min. / 37 sec.

The Most Powerful Play in Poker

The central strategic implication of stack depth is the question of how much equity a player must…

17/01/2023 5 min. / 11 sec.

When does ICM become significant in MTTs?

ICM, MTTBy Tombos21

The Independent Chip Model (ICM) was invented in 1987 by M. Malmuth and is one of the…

05/01/2023 17 min. / 49 sec.

How to Study GTO Solutions

Tools like GTO Wizard and other solvers should not be used to memorize specific strategies. There are…

02/01/2023 6 min. / 37 sec.

Principles of GTO

Game theory, or GTO (for Game Theoretically Optimal), is best understood not as a rigid set of…

19/12/2022 11 min. / 22 sec.

Interpreting Equity Distributions

GTO Wizard’s range vs range equity distribution graphs are an excellent tool for visualizing which player has…

13/12/2022 7 min. / 4 sec.

What is Leverage in poker?

Leverage refers to the risk of future betting. When you call a bet on the flop or…

08/12/2022 7 min. / 3 sec.

GTO Wizard reasons for value betting article thumbnail

Reasons for value betting in poker

Soft Skills, TheoryBy Tombos21

You’re probably accustomed to thinking of bets as either value or bluff. In this taxonomy, value bets…

06/12/2022 6 min. / 25 sec.

The Science of Poker Performance

Poker is a game of small edges and big swings. Every hand is an investment into your…

05/12/2022 17 min. / 11 sec.

What is Valor in poker?

CASH, MTT, TheoryBy Elijah

Can a poker hand be courageous? How does your ability to value bet future streets impact your…

02/12/2022 8 min. / 12 sec.

Pot Geometry

“Pot Geometry” refers to betting an equal fraction of the pot on each street, such that you’re…

22/11/2022 7 min. / 23 sec.

A Beginner’s Guide to Poker Combinatorics

Combinatorics is a fancy term for evaluating the number of possible “combinations” (combos) of any given hand:…

21/11/2022 9 min. / 6 sec.

Stack-to-pot ratio

Stack-to-pot ratio, or SPR, is a way of measuring how deep the effective stack is and thus…

17/11/2022 7 min. / 9 sec.

Equity Realization

Soft Skills, TheoryBy Tombos21

In poker jargon, equity expresses how much of the pot a hand will win, on average, at…

16/11/2022 10 min. / 49 sec.

Variance and Bankroll Management

Variance and Bankroll Management. Vital Soft Skills for Every Poker Player.

05/10/2022 11 min. / 0 sec.

How to Become a GTO Wizard

CASH, MTT, TheoryBy GTO Wizard

Welcome to the wonderful world of game theory optimal poker! This article will serve as your roadmap…

27/09/2022 9 min. / 45 sec.

The Three Laws of Indifference

Indifference in poker is one of the most misunderstood concepts. The word “indifference” means that two or…

11/10/2022 10 min. / 46 sec.

Poker subsets and abstractions

An “abstraction” is a way to simplify the game of poker. This game is so complex that…

19/09/2022 9 min. / 6 sec.

Mathematical Misconceptions in Poker

Pot Odds and MDF are foundational mathematical formulas in poker.

14/07/2022 8 min. / 6 sec.

How to solve toy games

Poker is a complicated game. It’s impossible to calculate GTO strategies on the fly. By reducing it…

11/07/2022 12 min. / 12 sec.

The Value of Fold Equity – Experiment

The term “fold equity” is ambiguous in the poker community. Firstly, it’s an EV equation, not an…

04/07/2022 7 min. / 3 sec.

MDF & Alpha

MDF & Alpha. Minimum Defense Frequency and Alpha are metrics on poker that determine how wide someone…

01/07/2022 12 min. / 18 sec.

What are Pot Odds in poker?

CASH, MTT, TheoryBy Tombos21

Pot odds are a fundamental calculation in poker. In the simplest terms, pot odds tell you that…

28/06/2022 11 min. / 51 sec.

Does your range affect your strategy?

Advanced players will often tell you that your range affects your strategy.

23/06/2022 10 min. / 38 sec.

Visualizing implied odds

Implied odds are the value you expect to gain over and above your raw equity. You can…

20/06/2022 8 min. / 14 sec.

ICM Basics

ICM, MTTBy Tombos21

As a tournament player, you may have heard about the concept of “ICM”, but what does this…

16/06/2022 10 min. / 46 sec.

What is Equity in Poker?

The term “Equity” is ubiquitous throughout poker theory. Equity refers to your chances of winning a hand,…

13/06/2022 11 min. / 28 sec.

Range Morphology

“Morphology” is the study of form or structure. You’ve probably heard terms thrown around such as “linear”,…

07/06/2022 12 min. / 56 sec.

What is Expected Value in Poker?

Expected value (EV) is the most fundamental metric in poker. Every decision you make is underpinned by…

01/06/2022 11 min. / 6 sec.

Why doesn’t my solution match GTO Wizard?

So, you’ve got your own solutions to some spot, compared it to GTO Wizard, and noticed that…

30/05/2022 10 min. / 12 sec.

Understanding Nash Distance

Understanding Nash Distance. One of the most common questions when studying with solvers is “Why does the…

26/05/2022 5 min. / 43 sec.

Combinatorics Poker Puzzle

Today we have a special puzzle for you that will test your intuition as a poker player,…

23/05/2022 3 min. / 24 sec.

The 10 Most Important Concepts for New Poker Players

The 10 Most Important Concepts for New Poker Players. Fundamentals are one of the most important points…

19/05/2022 11 min. / 25 sec.

What is GTO in Poker?

The meaning of GTO in poker is Game Theory Optimal. Game theory is a study of mathematical…

17/05/2022 5 min. / 46 sec.

What does GTO aim to achieve?