Solver World vs

Reality
Rene “TheWakko” Kuhlman
Who Are You?
Rene “TheWakko” Kuhlman

● Professional for 14 years. Worked my way up from

freerolls to high-stakes cash-games
● Peaked in 2016-2020 playing 1k-10knl after
grinding mid-stakes for years
● Bigger passion for strategy, learning, and teaching
then the actual grinding and repeating
Who Are You?
Rene “TheWakko” Kuhlman

● Switched attention to CFP (PokerAmbition) helped

50-200NL players move up to 1knl+ and double
their win-rates
● Most recent project “Mechanics of Poker”
Educating striving poker players through our
podcast. And striving to build the best and most
complete poker coaching program.
What You’ll Learn
● How solvers work and how to use them and study more effectively
● The 3 Levels of strategic approach
● The biggest differences between the game the solver plays and the ones you guys
play and how this influences our strategy
● Solver traps you should look to avoid that are hurting your win-rate
What Is A Solver & What Does It Do?
● It's one big toy-game (that we try to set up in a way that reflects reality)
All sims & strategies you
see are GTO, and they are
all correct and incorrect at
the same time.
What Is A Solver & What Does It Do?
● It's one big toy-game (that we try to set up in a way that reflects reality)
● Shows what the GTO strategy based on the parameters it’s given
○ Position (IP/OOP)
○ Ranges (Equities)
○ Sizings & options (raising, donking, overbets etc)
○ SPR (stacksize and potsize)
We must shift our learning
focus from copying the solver
to understanding the impact
changes in these parameters
have on the preference/EV of
our strategy.
Examples
● As the IR, we usually get to cbet a lot on K and A high boards and check low
connected boards.
○ Equity advantage increases bet frequency
● When the boards become a bit lower, Q-J high connected and 2tone we cbet less
○ Equity retention when SPR is high reduces our bet frequency
● When looking at turns after cbetting (range) on K and A high boards, we overbet
blanc turns
○ Nut advantage and retention increases bet-sizing
● In 3bpts IP we should barrel pure air instead of draws
○ When SPR is low, equity heavy barreling ranges get punished due to facing
raises
In-game, we then process the
parameters of the spot we are in
and will be able to come up with
the best solution, which is flexible
instead of fixed based on solver
output memorization.
This way we are not copying
GTO strategy but instead,
learning theoretical
concepts of how different
parameters impact strategy.
There is a difference between GTO strategy and theory
The main thing a solver
can teach us it not the
actual strategy, but how
the strategy it decided on
is generating EV.
What Is A Solver & What Does It Do?
● It's one big toy-game (that we try to set up in a way that reflects reality)
● Shows what the GTO strategy based on the parameters it’s given
● Plays the perfect defensive strategy (it’s unexploitable)
Two Ways Of Approaching Strategy
● Defensive: Making decision based on your strategy (1), make money by not
making mistakes (aka GTO)
Poker is a game of
mistakes, make less than
your opponents and you
will win.
The end goal here with a GTO strategy
is to make villain indifferent (aka put
him, or you are, in a shitty spot as all
EV’s are close)
Not encourage or discourage villain to do something
more/less than allowed by gto play without it costing him EV
Two Ways Of Approaching Strategy
● Defensive: Making decision based on your strategy (1), make money by not making
mistakes (aka GTO)

● Offensive: Making decision based on villains strategy, make money by adjusting and
maximizing vs flaws in villains strategy (2) and the information he is giving away (3)
(aka exploitation)
The offensive version of indifferent:

What is my opponents strategy

(tendencies) and which counter
strategy poses the biggest
challenge for him to play
against correctly.
Quiz
What is the most important thing a solver can teach us?

A) Which strategy to play in every spot

B) The parameters the solver takes in consideration to make it’s
decision
C) How it’s generating EV with his strategy
D) The EV’s various plays have with various hand classes
Quiz
What is the correct way to play poker?

A) Play solid and defensive (GTO) make money by not making

mistakes
B) Attack and take advantage of flaw in how pools play
C) Gathering information while playing about villain, the range
he likely has and adjust accordingly
D) All are equally important
The 2 Biggest Differences: Solver vs Reality
1. The solver has complete information about villains strategy (range, sizings,
frequencies etc)

2. Villain is the best player in the world (and not human)

Game Of Complete Information
● It knows what to expect and adjusts ahead of time (can’t be caught by surprise)
Game Of Complete Information
● It knows what to expect and adjusts ahead of time (can’t be caught by surprise)
● It knows the actual ranges! And thus the exact equities, allowing him to make perfect
strategic decisions. Where in-game we only have a perceived ranges and can only
estimate the equities in play.
How much time and effort do you
spend on trying to do what the
solver does?

How much time and effort do you

spend on figuring out the actual
ranges in play?
The player who wins the
most is the player who is
able to get the closest to a
game of complete
information.
Our actual range in-game
does not really matter, it is
only our perceived range
that is important.
Game Of Complete Information
● It knows what to expect and adjusts ahead of time (can’t be caught by surprise)
● It knows the actual ranges! And thus the exact equities, allowing him to make perfect
strategic decisions. Where in-game we only have a perceived ranges and can only
estimate the equities in play.
● As it knows our actual range, it must make sure it’s balanced in all lines
Playing balanced
● As it knows our actual range, it must make sure it’s balanced in all lines
○ Protecting all lines by randomizing hands and slow playing to not give villain
extreme equity advantages
The most important thing in poker
is your equity realization.
If you are unbalanced, and giving
villain more equity then you should,
he will play more aggressive.
Protected vs unprotected
checking range example
K965 SB vs BB SRP turn cbetting
Playing balanced
● As it knows our actual range, it must make sure it’s balanced in all lines
○ Protecting all lines by randomizing hands and slow playing to not give villain
extreme equity advantages
○ Have its frequencies and sizings exactly aligned according to its equity
We must respect boards on
which villain has the equity
advantage.
However our equity is only the
perceived equity and in
practice is less important.
Playing balanced
● As it knows our actual range, it must make sure it’s balanced in all lines
○ Protecting all lines by randomizing hands and slow playing to not give villain
extreme equity advantages
○ Have its frequencies and sizings exactly aligned according to its equity
○ Balancing value to bluff ratios and correct defending frequencies to not
encourage or discourage certain actions
Playing balanced
● As it knows our actual range, it must make sure it’s balanced in all lines
○ Protecting all lines by randomizing hands and slow playing to not give villain
extreme equity advantages
○ Have its frequencies and sizings exactly aligned according to its equity
○ Balancing value to bluff ratios and correct defending frequencies to not
encourage or discourage certain actions
○ Randomize bluffs to not give villain clear blockers/unblocker EV increases
The 2 Biggest Differences: Solver vs Reality
1. The solver has complete information about villains strategy (range, sizings,
frequencies etc)

2. Villain is the best player in the world (and not human)

How close to the solver strategy we should
play depends on the information we have
and the level of our opponent. Therefore
the first decision making point in a hand
should be:
Who is Villain?
“Everyone is a fish”
Uri Peleg
Villain Is The Best Player In The World
● There is no EV gain in letting you opponent realize equity. No point in giving him
rope, options or induce something. It always plays perfect.
Villain Is The Best Player In The World
● There is no EV gain in letting you opponent realize equity. No point in giving him
rope, options or induce something. It always plays perfect.
○ We range bet good boards for us
○ We size up on lower boards to deny equity realization
○ We overbet to build pots when the equity is in our favour
Villain makes mistakes with
the options/realization given
853r SB vs BTN 3BP flop cbet strategy
What is villain going to do with his
extra gained equity realization and
option we give him?
The more information villain gives
away and the more mistakes he
makes later in the tree, the higher
the EV in getting there.
The ripple effect
Villain Is The Best Player In The World
● There is no EV gain in letting you opponent realize equity. No point in giving him
rope, options or induce something. It always plays perfect.
● There is no edge as it does everything perfect. There are only tiny margins that are
driven by blocking or unblocking certain hands which shifts the frequency in your
favor which makes a play plus or minus EV
In solver land, (un)blockers make
a hand +EV or -EV. Where in
practice it’s more likely your
(un)blockers only make your play
more +EV or less -EV
Villain Is The Best Player In The World
● There is no EV gain in letting you opponent realize equity. No point in giving him
rope, options or induce something. It always plays perfect.
● There is no edge as it does everything perfect. There are only tiny margins that are
driven by blocking or unblocking certain hands which shifts the frequency in your
favor which makes a play plus or minus EV
● If you deviate:
○ Solver WILL, ALWAYS, punish you! BIG TIME! *Bots are different from solvers
○ Humans CAN, SOMETIMES exploit you, A BIT…
Don’t pass on exploits available for the sake
of remaining unexploitable yourself.
If the opportunity arises, go for it, if he would
be the type to counter exploit all the time, he
would not have these tendencies :)
People are what they repeatedly do
If you spot a leak in your
opponents approach tot he
game, ask yourself, How do we
generate EV in this situation?
Since we strive toward closing our leaks and
make less mistakes we will become
automatically become less exploitable.
However, we might want to have a leak on
purpose as it’s a leak in theory but not in
practice.
Make sure there is enough evidence to back up your deviation!
Villain Is The Best Player In The World
● There is no EV gain in letting you opponent realize equity. No point in giving him
rope, options or induce something. It always plays perfect.
● There is no edge as it does everything perfect. There are only tiny margins that are
driven by blocking or unblocking certain hands which shifts the frequency in your
favor which makes a play plus or minus EV
● If you deviate solver WILL ALWAYS PUNISH YOU!
● Human vs Machine (in this story the machines win)
Villain Is The Best Player In The World
● Human vs Machine (in this story the machines win)
○ Has seen and tried it all on it’s road to perfection
○ It sees things coming that we don’t and anticipates (it looks ahead)
○ Executes even the most complicated strategy to 0% exploitability
○ Does the right relentless thing 24/7 (has no biases or emotions)
Because we are humans we
have limitations, flaws and
biases that we can take
advantage off and must take in
consideration ourselves.
Quiz
What are the 2 biggest differences between solver and reality

A) Complete vs incomplete information

B) Has unlimited options vs being limited in options
C) Has fixed ranges and moves vs being more flexible in real-life
D) Plays and adepts perfect where in real life people don’t
Quiz
How close to GTO should we be playing?

A) As close as possible
B) Not close at all as it does not represent reality
C) We don’t need to play GTO strategies but do take poker theory
concepts in consideration
D) That depends on the level of my opponent
Solver Traps You Should Not Fall For
1. Playing the solver line while villain is clearly not playing a GTO approved strategy
(however you can still take theory concepts in consideration). Range this, range
that, the more villains deviates, the more EV there is playing your hand in vacuum
Solver Traps You Should Not Fall For
1. Playing the solver line while villain is clearly not playing a GTO approved strategy
(however you can still take theory concepts in consideration)
2. Protecting your ranges vs non GTO opponents
a. Inducing/slowplaying vs passive opponents
b. Balancing calling ranges vs under/overbluffers
c. Balancing bluffs in spots or vs villains that are under/over folding
Solver Traps You Should Not Fall For
1. Playing the solver line while villain is clearly not playing a GTO approved strategy
(however you can still take theory concepts in consideration)
2. Protecting your ranges vs non GTO opponents
3. Putting to much weight on blockers/unblockers (when playing with wide ranges)
Solver Traps You Should Not Fall For
1. Playing the solver line while villain is clearly not playing a GTO approved strategy
(however you can still take theory concepts in consideration)
2. Protecting your ranges vs non GTO opponents
3. Putting to much weight on blockers/unblockers (when playing with wide ranges)
4. RNGing your way through the hand without thinking about how it could generate EV,
what is it trying to achieve? Where is my value going to come from?
Solver Traps You Should Not Fall For
1. Playing the solver line while villain is clearly not playing a GTO approved strategy
(however you can still take theory concepts in consideration)
2. Protecting your ranges vs non GTO opponents
3. Putting to much weight on blockers/unblockers (when playing with wide ranges)
4. RNGing your way through the hand without thinking about how it could generate EV,
what is it trying to achieve? Where is my value going to come from?
5. Stuck in defense, instead of evolving towards offense. You first study to learn what’s
correct and limit mistakes, you can then use this information to exploit the fact that
playing correct is hard/impossible
Solver Traps You Should Not Fall For
6. Thinking to much in “Have to” language, instead of “Can I” language. Limitations
instead of possibilities. “Do i have to call this?” “Can i call this?”

7. Completely stop to think about your opponents range and tendencies.

Not on the lookout for information available
Ranges determine the equities and equity is
the biggest driver in strategy.
Therefore, we must spend more time both on
and off the tables gathering more info about
what the range is we face and how ours is
perceived so we can make higher EV decisions
Which solver trap do you commonly fall for and
what is the solution?
Got Questions?
Need something clarified?

● Ask questions in the chat

Indifference vs exploit
example
K867 BTN vs BB turn cbetting