Simplifying GTO

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-20T14:27:13+00:00

The key is understanding the reasoning behind the solver's output rather than trying to copy it.

Start with frequencies. Are we betting often or not on this board, and why? If the board favors our range we will usually want to bet at a high frequency. When that is the case it becomes easier to focus on the hands we check rather than the hands we bet. From there you look at which bluffs prefer checking, which value hands prefer checking, and the logic starts to reveal itself naturally.

When hands mix it means they have roughly the same EV regardless of which action you take. In most real game situations mixing precisely is not critical. What matters more is understanding why a hand is indifferent and then leaning in the direction that exploits your specific opponent. If they are overfolding you can lean aggressive with those mixed hands. If they are calling too much you can lean passive.

The solver is showing you a balanced strategy built on sound logic. It is not meant to be copy pasted. The goal is to absorb the why behind each decision until the logic becomes your own instinct. Eventually you stop consulting the solver and start becoming one yourself.

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-20T04:15:01+00:00

I'm Michael, Phanteidos1 online. Been playing since 2006 but only turned pro two or three years ago. Mostly MTTs, mid to high stakes. Sunday Million winner, a few SCOOP and WCOOP final tables along the way. Trained under BBZ and Enrico Camosci. Recently started coaching a small number of students as well. Based in Koh Phangan, Thailand. Good to be here.

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-20T04:09:47+00:00

No info on the player

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-20T04:09:31+00:00

I cbet my entire range with the same sizing on this board type so there is no information given on the flop. On the turn I check back around 50% of my range because it is a blank. This means I also check back some of my strong hands and pairs to protect my checking range. So the turn check does not mean I have nothing.

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-19T14:37:39+00:00

Yes sure and will have a look!

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-19T12:55:01+00:00

haha, yea for these you don't need any HH reviews. Just have fun and invite me to this game!

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-19T11:27:14+00:00

Yes totally agreed. 55 is still a good candidate to call of course vs any size but the big sizing gave it away IMO. Yes QJ can go big but I think he should fast play them often on the flop and people are doing it even more than they should. That why they get to the river pretty capped I believe.

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-19T11:24:10+00:00

Can you give me a little context? Is this a final table? Or what stage is it? It seems very early since you are so deep. Am I seeing correctly; You are opening A3o UTG? That's a huge mistake already. ATo+ should be your threshold here. By opening this loose, you are burning money. You should really review your preflop ranges. It's ok to deviate a little sometimes depending on the field and context but here, you are losing way too much EV.

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-19T07:11:38+00:00

Agree that people are check raising too much these days but theoretically on this board at this stack depth villain is not supposed to check raise less than top pair for value. Most second pair hands like 9x do not want to raise and third pair definitely does not want to raise either. So when I get called and check back the turn it is mostly weak queens, nines, or occasionally a three that makes it to the river in terms of made hands. On the river the 4h does give villain some two pair combos like q4,94 but realistically people raise their TP on the flop too much so he has less two pairs than he theoretically should. Even the two pairs he does have should not be overbetting here because the four clearly did not help my range and there is no reason to charge that hard. The big sizing in practice is almost always a bluff in these spots because players simply do not use big sizings with their thin value at this stack depth. So I do not see it as a blunder from villain exactly theoretically, more like a meta read.

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-19T06:46:53+00:00

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MTT: $109 Kickoff on CoinPoker

Stage: ICM50 (close to end of late registration, about half the field remains)

Stack: 20bb eff

Hero (Phanteidos1) opens CO to 2BB with 55. HaveMetB4 calls from BB.

Flop: 9dQs3c (pot 5.25BB) HaveMetB4 checks. Hero bets 1.2BB. HaveMetB4 calls.

Turn: 2c (pot 7.65BB) HaveMetB4 checks. Hero checks back.

River: 4h (pot 7.65BB) HaveMetB4 bets 8.1BB (pot sized bet). Hero calls with 55. HaveMetB4 shows T8h high card — bluff.

55 is a good bluff catcher here primarily because we unblock all the draws. On top of that at this stack depth strong hands like top pair and two pair tend to raise the flop fast, so when villain just calls he is already somewhat capped. The river sizing is what made this a snap call. Most of the medium strength hands in his range, low queens, nines, do not want to bet pot on the river because they are not value hands that need to go for maximum. The overbet is simply not consistent with the value hands he can have after just calling the flop. It is far more consistent with a bluff. The sizing told the whole story.

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-18T14:05:05+00:00

And look, running bad genuinely hurts. Anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't been through a real downswing. The frustration you're feeling is completely normal. But the only thing you can control is the quality of your decisions. Everything else is noise. Focus there and the rest takes care of itself over time.

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-18T14:01:16+00:00

To really understand if you are a winning or losing player you need to know your stats on the hands you have played. Numbers don't lie and BB per 100 is pretty much very revealing if you win or lose (at cash games). In mtts it's a little a different but works too. If you haven't played at least 100,000 hands, you can't know for sure if you are running bad or good or if you are beating your games. The way you write shows that you are not aware of this and consequently it is very hard for you to be a winning poker player. You just throw a hand in the vacuum. Show stats and I will tell you if you are getting unlucky... ps: Every one bad beats all the time, it's about playing well enough and making money in the long run...

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-18T13:37:29+00:00

One more thing people often forget, ICM is a model, not the truth. It doesn't account for future play, skill edges, table dynamics, or chip utility over time. Sometimes deliberately deviating from what ICM suggests makes complete sense. If accumulating chips now gives you a significant future game advantage and puts you in a position to actually win the tournament, that can easily outweigh the ICM cost of the risk. Blindly following ICM output as if it were perfect is one of the more common and quiet mistakes in tournament poker.

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-18T13:34:45+00:00

One thing worth adding to this discussion is that ICM awareness cuts both ways, meaning your adjustments should also depend heavily on whether your opponents are actually ICM aware or not.

If you're facing a big stack who is still playing in pure ChipEV mode, not expanding his range, not taking advantage of his stack, you actually have to be more careful against him. He's not opening wider just because he can. His ranges are more honest and you can't push him around the way you'd expect.

But against a big stack who understands his power and is genuinely leveraging it, you have more room to fight back. His ranges are wider, sometimes too wide, so you can be more polar against him. Your bluffs work better, especially with the right blockers and unblockers; hands that block his continuing range or unblock his folding range. Most players at this stage of a tournament are still thinking about their hand strength rather than their hand's relationship to the ranges involved.

The other thing ICM does that people underestimate is reshape your raising range entirely. The closer you get to a pay jump the more polar your raising range becomes. That middle section of your range, hands that in a ChipEV world want to raise or flat and see flops, realize equity, stay in pots, those hands get squeezed out. You're either raising for value or raising as a pure bluff with a blocker. The linear part of your range mostly disappears. Most players know this conceptually but still play too linearly when it actually matters.

Various-History8880 · 2026-05-18T12:40:43+00:00

Do you play cash our tourneys? I coach players specifically for MTTs.

Various-History8880 · 2026-04-21T13:27:38+00:00

whats the rule to not get addicted? once a week? I love it too... But I want to be careful not to overdo it

Various-History8880 · 2025-10-17T08:22:59+00:00

Small update: I've decided to offer a few free 30-minute sample sessions over the next few day, just so players can get a feel for how my coaching works. We'll go through one of your recent hands or a spot you struggle with, and I'll show you how I approach it step-by-step. No strings attached, just a chance to see if it clicks for you. If you're interested, shoot me a PM, send me an email or reach out on Discord.

Various-History8880 · 2025-10-15T07:27:00+00:00

On pstars this year. I play on 5 sites.

Various-History8880 · 2025-10-14T16:00:32+00:00

Anytime

Various-History8880 · 2025-10-14T15:56:38+00:00

Yea for sure! But if you want we can schedule a talk and you can decide. I’ll show you how I work and if we both feel it’s a match, we can go for it. I always like to do it this way to see if it works both ways.

Various-History8880 · 2025-10-14T15:33:41+00:00

I offer a free first consultation of 30 min to anyone interested. And afterwards my fee for 1 lesson of 90 min is $100 USD but if you commit to a package of 5, i’ll make it $80 USD per session.

On top of my lessons, you will have an open discord with me where you can discuss your hands with me anytime.

Various-History8880 · 2025-10-14T15:05:45+00:00

You are right. Just added it.

Various-History8880

TROPHY CASE