GTO+ Solver Hand Analysis: Berkey vs Price on Poker Out Loud

This post was originally published on February 9, 2020, on my personal website, Lukich.io. I have since consolidated all of my poker-related content by reposting it onto Solver School.

I want to try something different today. While I want this site to be a place to publish the research I’m working on and to share some analyses using data techniques, I also want to provide a variety of content that people may find educational and/or engaging. It’s obvious from what I’ve shared so far that I spend a lot of time working in solvers. I find that it has helped me considerably to understand what an equilibrium might look like. More importantly, it helps me set a baseline from which I can compare my observations from the general player pool. By combining these two, I am better equipped to devise an implementable strategy to exploit my games best.

When I first started analyzing hands, I used to obsess over picking specific situations and memorizing as much as possible. This ultimately led to a focus on too much detail and misapplication in gameplay. I have since realized that the process is the most valuable part. Getting reps to conduct these hand breakdowns has helped me identify higher-level insights I can take away and implement at the table.

I thought I’d share one of these breakdowns more broadly today. Last week, I wrote about the 2nd episode of Poker Out Loud, the student edition. Within that episode, an interesting situation arose between Berkey and Chris Price. I thought digging into the strategic decisions using a solver would be valuable. Much of my analysis in the video aligns with what Berkey and Chris Konvalinka discussed in the On Second Thought vlogcast. I try to confirm some of their hypotheses and identify this situation's baseline equilibrium. From there, I also test some thresholds to determine how Berkey and Chris Price should adjust if they identify that the other player is doing something too much. Ultimately, I find some cool insights and try distilling them into concepts to utilize them in future scenarios.

Thanks for watching the video. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any comments or questions.

-Lukich