Magnus Carlsen on Game Theory in Chess and Poker

[@MIZRg2G7HA]

where can i watch the full interview?

[@InternetLiJo]

Great vid Alec! GTO is an overall great foundation for learning poker. And exploiting a players trackable patterns is (I believe) how you make money. For example, it’s first the layer of - according to GTO what generates a fold here + knowing this players tendencies and how we need to adjust up from this baseline to generate a fold from them in particular. The ability to observe players and track their pattern’s provides us with SO MUCH DATA to set the dial for our interactions with them. Meanwhile everyone is scrolling on their phones missing all of it. New video? #1 way to increase your edge in poker : keep your phone in your car. 😂

[@ConsciousPoker]

Appreciate the comment LiJo!

[@adrianamatlack532]

Magnus will be crushing fast. He already has all the charts in his head and remembers everything, but more important, he knows how to use it. I am a USCF Chess Expert rated about 2140, and I can tell you that chess thinking probably helps poker thinking, but I only got good because I have legal online poker in my state here in the USA and I also study tons and analyze my game with poker tracker 4 and the very important flopzilla. I beat stars cash games. I do not like how they play, I have told people on 2+4 that I think the online cash games have nerfed action, but I still beat them and make good money. I am playing mostly low stakes but I am 12bb per 100 for close to 1 million hands. Looking to go to higher stakes as soon as I got the bankroll, I have been pretty bad with spending it, but I realize now I can not dip into it. In any case Magnus is a supra genius and I think he will be great for promoting poker. Alex, your videos have helped me a lot, perhaps more than anyone your videos have helped me play more aggressive with the second and third nut hands. I love the videos where you play online poker, seeing how you play those added a lot to my game, I learned a lot of other things from you too about poker.

[@ConsciousPoker]

Thanks for the comments and the kind words!

[@etherjoe505]

Would you say PLO is more of a green field as far as opportunities for unique or creative play ?

[@ConsciousPoker]

I like it less because the equities are close and edges are often smaller. That said, it's less 'solved' and average players play more straightforward and overall a lower quality of play, so def some opportunity there. Find a niche, pick one game, and exploit that. It's like learning a language or instrument. Master one before going on to another.

[@etherjoe505]

@@ConsciousPoker okay that's helpful, thanks.

[@lukegtv]

PLO is a great game. I’ve been playing holdem since 2005, and PLO online is definitely beatable I was beating 1/2 at 7bb / 100 with no studying

[@lukegtv]

@@etherjoe505there’s a lot more creativity involved with PLO because it’s not solves. People often play bad

[@jackryan716]

It's all predicated on what your allowed to get away with. For instance some players at your table may call your bluffs at too high of a frequency. In other words some sessions you can bluff more than others. Really it's just all possibility. Sometimes you might be a total maniac because that's what your allowed to get away with. While other times you have to be a nit. It all depends on your opponents and what their tendencies are. There are so many possibilities. The key is to be in the moment. Understand when to push when to pull back. Balance. Having intuition helps.

[@adrianamatlack532]

That is why you have to be good at knowing what player type you are up against. For a good online poker player it's usually easy to tell pretty fast, though, you can not always be too sure, sometimes a tight player may turn into a maniac, or an agro player may be passive with a set on a flush draw board, very strange sometimes, bu I always take notes.

[@ConsciousPoker]

Great thought, thanks for sharing!

[@jackryan716]

@@adrianamatlack532 Very good point. I agree. There are so many possibilities. That's a good point you brought up. An agro player may be agro but in certain situations the agro player will play passive. It's all about picking up on those little nuances. Poker is not black and white just like life; the truth lies in the gray area, the fine detail. For instance if you won three decent-sized pots without showing down the energy should be telling you to have it next time. In other words don't bluff. Because your opponents are going to get curious and look you up. They may not believe you. The funny thing is there is energy all around us. We can't see it. Just like we can't see wifi. You don't have to say anything but yet I know what you're thinking. Not you personally. Not word for word but energetically. A heightened sense of awareness. Sensitive to energy. Picking up on it and applying it to your advantage.

[@bunkkasponge]

It's wicked how fitting this video is for me at this very moment after winning 2/5 HomeGames, i'm understanding this psychology behind other players more and more, and i've focused more on that than the math latley. I played extremly aggressive heads up in one of the games only because the other player played defensive, and i won.

[@ConsciousPoker]

Awesome, glad it helped!

[@jjmohn9204]

Thx once again sir! Enjoying your WSOP today!

[@paulpena5040]

I'm a master level chess player and I can ASSURE you he DOES NOT play an exploitative style of chess, not as poker players would understand it. In poker your decision to deviate from GTO might make perfect sense against a particular opponent and yet be off by as much as 2 or 3 BB in terms of what the solver says. If I were to draw a comparison to chess a "different" move then what the computer suggests might be off by .000002 BB. In other words your play cannot be more than a few centipawns off what the computer suggests or you will get wrecked. BUT if you have 2 moves of nearly equal value and one can push the game in a certain direction THAT is what he means by "exploitative". By all poker "measurements" you wouldn't notice the difference. If you look at computer analysis of a game played by an Magnus against a villain, Magnus will nearly ALWAYS be closer to the computer evaluation (GTO in that world)

[@leonidasp.3813]

Nice video Alec

[@ConsciousPoker]

Thanks Leonidas!

[@keifmalone4149]

In each pause, 4,000 calculations took place.

[@etherjoe505]

Wow interesting video

[@ConsciousPoker]

Thanks!