GTO Grinder

RoleTide Good point. I used to run simulations with PIO in the past and absolutely hated it as it required so much effort which I considered "wasted time" since the process of creating and running the simulations didn't add any value.

Question: Is the GTO wizard strategy completely off when I ignore the split ranges and continue with only one size or is it still somewhat accurate compared to a pure strategy solved with PIO?

Thanks, it actually feels good to see how GTO Wizard follows clear concepts. I hope I can manage the overall complexity moving forward. Feel free to criticize in case you think I make incorrect statements of something is going in the wrong direction.
Thanks again for the hint regarding the breakdown, this makes my learning process so much cleaner and faster :-)

Below is the summary of my findings on how to play weak & trash hands in this specific situation on this specific board category and board texture OTF:

BUvsBB SRP
Board category: Rainbow / Disconnected
Board texture: A-high
- Generally, the frequencies for Trash and Weak Hands follow the overall range frequencies (kind of obvious but a good starting point nonetheless). Meaning: "The more we bet, the more we bet."
- The overall bet frequency for the range matches almost exactly the bet frequency for the sum of [Weak Hands] + [Trash Hands] (excluding draws). Good to keep in mind given that the average player probably won't bet enough, especially with large sizings.
- The bet frequency for trash hands is moderately higher than the bet frequency for weak hands as the strategy "always" (exception below) bets hands with less equity more frequently ("bluff efficiency").
- The above-mentioned concept applies to what I call "subranges". Example: All suited Qs within a range represent a "subrange" within that specific range. The less equity a hand in this subrange has the more we bet.
- The concept of backdoor potential (connectedness, suitedness) distorts the concepts mentioned above. The more backdoor potential a specific combo has the higher the bet frequency.
- Offsuit combos represent their "own" subrange and are independent of the suited hands. The above-mentioned concepts apply. However, strong suited blocker effects are getting very important within specific hands to select the higher frequency combos.
- The frequencies for offsuit hands are generally lower which is intuitive given that the above-mentioned concept of backdoor potential applies which has a negative effect on the bet frequency.

Applying this thought process in GTO Wizard seems to lead to quite good results when trying to determine the bet frequency for [Weak Hands] + [Trash Hands].

After a few hours of additional study time and a 90 minute grind in GTO Wizard I basically understand the dynamics on the different flop textures and I can approximate the bet size and frequency for the vast majority of hands correctly based on the underlying concepts. Feels good to see how the GTO strategy is built on different board textures and how it follows the core concepts. The breakdown function in GTO Wizard is certainly a game-changer for me.

Updated the summary for this specific spot

Key concepts I learned:
- For offsuit combos one of the key metrics to determine the bet frequency seems to be the ability to block the best backdoor flushes, at least within that specific hand.
- The GTO Wizard strategy evolves around the basic concept of a merged, mixed or polarized betting range. Once I understand which strategy GTO Wizard is actually applying, it becomes much more intuitive how certain hands are played. I never considered that this applies to specific board textures but it is kind of obvious in hindsight.
- Backdoor potential consists of Connectedness and Suitedness (kind of obvious but I never really considered Connectedness in the past)

Update:
- Protectedness is indeed an important concept in Poker

I still need to get a better understanding of which concepts apply to offsuit combos. Sometimes it feels counterintuitive and the strategy is significantly different than for the suited counterparts.

Next up: Further grind in GTO Wizard to nail down the flop strategy before I jump into the turn strategy.

RoleTide Damn, I wasn't aware that this exists, this is amazing. I will definitely use this moving forward and skip the tiered system, thank you so much for the hint, this is golden, I can't thank you enough for this.

Edit: My first go at it is soooo much better than before. I believe this will accelerate the learning process significantly.

RoleTide I will certainly change it 50 times, it's just a first attempt and I'm by no means good enough that anyone should copy what I'm doing but maybe there are some elements that make sense. :-)

I started studying the first spot and already learned a few new concepts which I mention in the notes. I am quite happy with this first attempt, at least I believe I can translate the GTO Wizard strategy into concepts after putting some time into it and think it through.

BUvsBB SRP
Board category: Rainbow / Disconnected
Board texture: A-high

I will focus on this specific spot for the next few days, analyze flop / turn / river plays and then grind the spot in GTO wizard for a while until I feel comfortable unpacking the different concepts ad-hoc at the table and close the spot with an overall strategy description. At the moment this takes quite a significant amount of effort but I hope that I will get better over time and the concepts become more intuitive.

After watching some of the elite videos around study concepts and thought processes (TheJericho2, Mark Lammers, Peter Clarke), below my first attempt to develop a consistent approach on how to study certain spots:

Thanks, I need it!! :-)

Before I develop my study concept, some high-level thoughts and what I will be facing in the next months/years in terms of complexity which I need to digest:

Flop spots
12 SRP spots (eg. UTG vs BB SRP,...)
15 3BP spots
15 4BP spots

= 42 spots in total excluding multiway pots and non-GTO spots

Board categories
- Rainbow / Disconnected
- Two-Tone / Disconnected
- Monotone / Disconnected
- Rainbow / Connected
- Two-Tone / Connected
- Monotone / Connected

= 6 different boards categories which share similar dynamics

Board textures (estimations)
4 A-high board textures
3 K-high board textures
3 Q-high board textures
2 J-high board textures
2 T-high board textures
1 9-high board texture
1 8-high board texture
1 7-high and worse board texture

= 17 board textures that share similar dynamics

Total
42 Spots * 6 board categories * 17 board textures = 4284 different situations on the flop

--> This will be a damn long grind