Musing (and rambling) about GTO trends

Just like everyone else in the poker world, I am absorbing two big trends. The Button Ante and GTO play.

On the Button Ante: I think this is a LIVE ONLY necessity, to insure more hands per level. If that is the results of this, the extra nuances are well worth it. Do I play differently because of it? I think I am more willing to attach weak BBB defender in middle levels of an MTT.

Now on to GTO. I have been working with range building and identification of for a few months now. I do like how these exercises in thinking tell us in any given situation how to maximize equity realization ASSUMING ALL THINGS ARE CONSTANT. If there are not constants, which there are few here, this is a theoretical application based on the idea that we can get a close but reasonable assessment of villain ranges.

That is a mouthful. Look, I get the idea and how great it sounds and the work you can do away from the table to understand it. But I think it actually opens up a Pandora's Box of possibilities for MORE exploitative play, not less. (i.e. put me in the Christian Soto camp on this one:) The more players doing GTO, the most I want to move against the grain. Just like in football, if you play the best "bend dont break" defense in the league and you stick to it, a good QB will chew you alive.

I even experimented with this the other day (mixed success), where I would play cards outside the normal ranges in situations. I polarized myself, but the GTO player doesnt know this (I am not advertising it either). So when I show up with 2 pair when I "cant have 2 pair here", I can stack someone for 100 BBs. Wow, think about that. GTO is OFTEN applied when deep stacked. Which I get, its a far better way to operate when deep. But this idea that its not exploitable? or is adverse to exploitation I think is Bunk.

I still have lots of work to do in mapping out situations and lines that are going to achieve what I want to achieve, but I am not afraid to go searching...

The entire GTO construct has helped me be a better hand reader also. And inversely is teaching me the value that in certain situations, its important to Keep MY range wide...