TOP SECRET HIGH STAKES POKER TRICK [Don't Share]

In this video I'm going to share something that the elite players don't want you to know. You might have heard a lot of talk about exploitation vs game theory, and I'm here to tell you that there's a lot of misinformation out there. To illustrate my point, here's a massive pot I played against Scott Ball on ‪@TheLodgeLive‬. This high stakes poker session was a $200/$400 heads up challenge, and Scott was put in a pretty tough spot.
Get on the list for my new course "The End Boss System": upswingpoker.com/hu2023/

[@DougPolkPoker]

Get on the list for my new course "The End Boss System": upswingpoker.com/hu2023/

[@vliv2609]

Doug Polk you are a gem for the poker community, never stop doing what you do, i hope 1 day i can reach your stakes and play with you

[@JohnParke-wj1hu]

You got me into poker, you make poker fun. Love your channel, Upswing and Nicky P courses and the Lodge. It would be more entertaining to see you put Gandolf, Harry Potter or even Dwan to the sword for a heads up course.

[@noitallmanaz]

You know what would be interesting. Set up a heads up game with a great poker player, versus a computer and put that on youtube. It would be great to see how that turns out...

[@UncleJoeLITE]

I'll stake you at Gold Coast casino $1\2 any time you bloody like Doug! You're welcome to use the sofa-bed too. 🤣

[@vikwillwin]

Doug been watching your videos since about 2015 , They never lack dry humor , innuendo or just plain comedy GOLD !!! Thanks for all you do !!!

[@Notconceitedjustbetterthanyou]

And doesn’t try hard like the other vlogging dweebs

[@adamshort2534]

this is one of the funniest videos he's ever done. glorious

[@pugsnhogz]

My guy was on fire 😢

[@felixacb8895]

@@adamshort2534only topped by the video where he was doing a promotion for these fake „downswing poker“ courses like „Preflop patience“ by Alan Keating or „Baccarat Mastery“ by Mikki X (btw does anyone know what exact video that was, I couldn‘t find it anymore)

[@BACKINWHITEBAAA]

Holy shit this is my favorite video of yours. Reading people in youtube comments and twitter comments who say these things like "you should always fold if someone jams and you don't have aces" or "the computer is wrong" has actually inspired me to try to get better at poker. It's good to know there are so many idiots who choose to prescribe to this ridiculousness that I can take money from

[@paulhiggins140]

Apart from a handful of truly idiotic commenters, no one is saying that GTO doesn't work at all in low stakes -- obviously it will have +EV over time by definition -- but winrates can be way higher if you assume, e.g., that at 1/2 villains will be underbluffing rivers (not that they ALWAYS do, but often do). it's this same fake/idiotic debate that you see everywhere, "GTO vs. exploitative," where obviously exploits deviate from GTO and there's no debate. Someone who has played live 1/2 for years, has a fundamental understanding of GTO, and also exploits for player pool tendencies is going to make more bb/100 than a pure GTO bot. to use Doug's own bankroll challenge example; he could have easily gone to $10,000 more quickly if he had done obvious exploits more often.

[@ThePdog3k]

YUPPPP

[@pugsnhogz]

Knowledge grows and theory improves but the % of people who don't understand heuristic bias stays the same

[@FatGobintheSouthStand]

You should have seen what it was like before " Black Friday " online. My own experience was more enjoying playing people at PLO, PLO HI LO and other card games and my opponents hadn't even Googled the rules 😳😂 , be it I admit this on Micro and Low stakes. You still see it now, but back then, oh boy oh boy 😊

[@pugsnhogz]

@@FatGobintheSouthStand I helped a buddy play online on PartyPoker in college (when it was literally so new it wasn't yet common knowledge that doing this was cheating, lol). I quickly figured out that most players would just fold to big river bets. We must've played a 5 or 6 hour session, bluffing like 50% of rivers and just printing money at 100NL hahaha good times

[@scchicago5822]

Doug is 100% right that there are some folks that cant be helped in terms of strategy. Keep up the good work Doug.

[@ecek4671]

Some peeps can't be helped at all, like that "chance" guy... And Doug demolishing this guy is pure gold.

[@simonownsyou]

I don't get making fun of them. The more morons the easier it is to take their money.

[@malazuth3306]

without them the game would be a lot less profiteable

[@lotsoffun4939]

We should be quietly encouraging those people to play more while gently assuring them that they’re just in a 5-year downswing and variance means they’ll be back on top any time now

[@7chanconn7]

Never stop what you're doing Doug. You're definitely on the right side of poker history and will be remembered as such

[@supersmoo7377]

Doug, what you did in the middle of this video was 100% necessary, and it was poker-comedy gold. Thank you Doug…. There are people here that are smart enough to realize you are giving excellent advice when it comes to poker.

[@glenpork1628]

Doug, don't get angry at people dismissing correct strategy in favor of "reads" or "gut feeling" or "they never bluff". The fact that those people exists is the reason poker is still profitable and will probably continue to be for years.

[@6thwilbury2331]

This 100%

[@lolimfalling]

This is the greatest video in awhile. I've donked around low stakes, losing, for years and watching these videos makes me conscious enough to realize how much work goes into winning which resulted in me quitting ~6 months ago. Now I just watch from a distance while admiring the thoughts of experts explaining their plays.

[@InterWebGuy99]

I too enjoy Doug's videos, but I'm not even smart enough to grasp the 10 percent of that iceberg of knowledge floating on the surface, let alone the 90 percent that would allow me to be a competent player. It's like trying to teach a crustacean tensor calculus.

[@deansultani5433]

Doug is super high level technical. I think you can win at low stakes if you just focus on a few key points, especially starting ranges. Don’t sell your self short. Upswing is great in general.

[@InterWebGuy99]

@@deansultani5433 Thanks for the encouragement! I've cleaned up my starting range and that's certainly helped. I was playing .50 one-table sit n go's with a $20 bank and never getting more than a couple bucks ahead before losing back to $20. In the last few weeks I've moved up to $3 sit n go's and my bank is up to $139. But obviously this is short term and no guarantee I won't be back down to $20 a month from now. It's been a lot more fun in the meantime though.

[@brad9284]

Good comment from an intelligent person. Knowing how much work goes into it isn't something the average person realizes. It takes an above average intelligence to realize how much you don't know. I'm in the same boat as you. I enjoy the game and strategy but I don't know if I can put in the work.

[@brandonkrummel9967]

I actually laugh out loud several times when watching your videos. Very informative and funny. Keep up the great work!

[@stt5v2002]

People understand that "correct poker beats small stakes". What they are wondering is whether exploits are better than pure GTO at that level. For example, here are two 1-3 exploits that I use. 1) A big river raise is never a bluff, but might be overvaluing a hand. 2) Any unknown player can have an unsuited ace or a suited anything, no matter what position they are in. I think these concepts perform better than GTO at that level. Maybe I am wrong, but you get the idea.

[@randomspirit6061]

People should appreciate that high quality poker content like this isnt behind paywall. Very inspiring. Thanks.

[@tiki4rafiki390]

THIS

[@zencaser]

I enjoy the discussion of blockers, frequencies, and bet sizes. Thank you, and please keep it coming.

[@cameronfricke3217]

🤣🤣🤣@@allancouceiro9255

[@robleaney9803]

Hey Doug, thank you for your many years of continuous support through hand break downs, tournament strategies and great humour. Could i please ask you to continue to help us and provide grandpamoses' link for his training courses and tournament breakdowns cus you know they will be ahhh-mazzzing. Many thanks

[@Chararzard]

Lmfao you reading all these comments…. Please do this all the time you are awesome

[@c0br4mckewl]

I've been following your stuff for years, and I mean like nearly 10 now I think. Love your videos and the wide variety of content you make. From big doug doing the 10k challenge and polkerhands. To how happy I was to seeing you get back into youtube and lost all that weight. Even this video you go ultra nerdy to lose certain types of viewers before saying what you really think. Love that creativity. hearing how you explain the thinking behind the solvers and how it comes back to the situation and position and consideration of later streets is really insightful. Especially when they give interesting outputs like raise turn with J2 suited etc. Love that you don't hold back from roasting people, whether it's scammers/commenters/air Ball or even yourself. That twitter listener stuff you did was also great where you told burkey and everyone to get stuffed was the best!

[@denvergeelen5069]

Doug I love your content it always brings a nice mix of humour and detailed strategy. I have been watching upswing content since 2016 and have been a regular winner in my local games. I try my best to play a balanced, solver-supported style and I do a fair bit of nodelocking to see what slight adjustments I can make against different players that I know well. I would love to hear your thought on using the nodelock feature to make adjustments when we have hands that could go either way.

[@simpsonzack22]

I truly love these breakdowns. I’ve been watching them from the very beginning.

[@Rurrikk]

Doug been a fan since 2018, keep on trucking through, content is great and the humor you bring to poker is excellent

[@jasesl5765]

Great video - especially the middle section - im new to cash games (used to play tournament style home games) and watching your videos continues to improve my knowledge.

[@smor729]

honestly the funniest one was the guy saying he hated all these solvers, we should go back to fixed limit. He is going to be very upset when he finds out what that would look like

[@BOnYTB]

That’s my favorite part for sure. Guys like that were some of the reason HULHE was still profitable long after it being essentially solved…I say essentially bc it was pre BF and software like this wasn’t close to as widely available. You’d still see regs battle at like 200/400 HU LHE and stuff. I mean they have (had?) a damn HULHE “slot” kinda game in some Vegas casinos for a while. IIRC they had to make it so the house didn’t play anywhere near perfect bc they were just destroying people, and I think a machine can only have a certain % RTP. Idr a lot of this so forgive me if I’m wrong on some of it, it was a while ago. I don’t think that machine exists anymore. But as someone who was a HUNL/HUPLO reg from 2/4-10/20, I’d sometimes play HULHE and people were still making a living playing it. I played some ridiculously bad players at 15/30 or 20/40, and I wasn’t playing near perfect. You’d still see ppl making egregious mistakes, checking back second pair OTR in a single raised pot and not getting 3 streets of value…stuff as bad or worse than that. I miss HU so much. It’s really unfortunate all the short sighted bum hunters had to ruin it. I had the most fun of my professional poker playing life playing HUNL/PLO on mostly FTP, some PS. Battling stevesbets at 5/10 huplo as he 3b literally 80-95% depending how tilted he was, or having ppl sit with 2K at 10/20 HUNL with a kinda reggy name, seeing a bum hunter sit out against them bc it was 2k and not like 1896.72 and their sn wasn’t ilovemustangs76. Then having that person sit at your table and dust off like $10K to you in an hour as the waiting list got like 15 ppl deep. Those were the days lol. It’s sad I’m not even exaggerating there were bum hunters THAT bad. They’d only play the most obvious whales ever…you better have the worst sharkscope ever, (or have just won a big mtt) and/or sit with an amount that was likely your full balance, or they probably wouldn’t play you. It was disgusting. Then ppl SNAP sitting out as soon as a whale gets stacked at a 6m table, if he left e1 left immediately. Shameless stuff. I thought HU Zoom was the future, but the sites decided to just get rid of it basically. Hard to blame them, it got so predatory. Sorry for the tangent 😂

[@InterstateIsland]

Funny video; appreciate the humor... I'm a course subscriber and try to put as much theory as I'm capable of understanding/applying into practice at low limit live games. I think the challenge that people are poorly articulating is that the advanced solver strategies SEEM to rely on assumed ranges and heads-up play that are often rare at low limit games. (I love it when a line in a video will be "He can't have XX here"... well, yeah, he actually can lol). Just as an example... at a recent 2-3 game, there was an UTG straddle, 2 MP callers, a CO call and then a large raise from me on the button with TT. There were multiple callers, including the cutoff - who had called both the straddle and the raise with KK. It would be really interesting to see a course (or at least some videos) developed for low-limit full-ring games with a lot of multiway post-flop play and unpredictable ranges, and how the theory is applied in those circumstances. I've pretty much just focused on the theory videos as opposed to the play-and-explains, but perhaps those do exist for applying these theories at low-limit full ring games. I will look for those in the course...

[@jack42011]

Long time fan Doug, you got me started learning about how to play the game... love the results. Keep the breakdowns coming!!!! always something to learn.

[@balikatanbilliardstv]

I am learning so much from these kind of videos you're sharing Doug! Love you! all the way from the Philippines!

[@jmichaelmulllen]

Love seeing the detailed thinking and solver info - thanks!

[@vediboy22]

I enjoy the analytical parts of your videos just like I enjoy analysing my chess games: Trying to get as close as possible to the machine by trying to understand it without being able to get there entirely might sound boring and/or frustrating, but there is a lot of beauty/fun in there due to the depth and the fact you will always be able to improve.

[@tylerkay825]

Just hit 1k I'm proud of myself

[@hsreG12]

I think where the idea of why 1/2 is not "real poker" is that most other people your playing don't have a good strategy and most of the time will do things that the solver would say is very incorrect/unorthodox. I have never used solvers but have seen a lot of it on your channel and others (this is the way of the world now), but I also assume that people just remember the hands they lose to when they play "correct" to someone playing "incorrect" and just carry it with them forever. Love the videos!

[@heavyonthemustardplz]

Really enjoying this style of hand analysis, been watching your content since 2016 and it's better than ever

[@JoeBolivia]

Hey Doug. Love your video as always! I have learned a lot from your videos and it is always a struggle to make people understand that poker is not only a game of chance. I am currently working as a waiter until I save enough money to play poker at a casino for the first time. I really think I have a chance to make money with this game. Thank you for your content!

[@admillenson]

Doug, love the content, I yearn for more, but understand it's your channel!! Keep it up!!

[@fabergaso7830]

Love the content Doug ! Also really want to know where you bought that blue hoodie 😁

[@kanerockg0d]

This is one of the best videos yet haha! Keep up with the analysis it’s great

[@brandendierker5873]

Ive watched nearly every minute of those heads up matches. Cant wait for the next one

[@rogerho7]

It should be a clear fold at the end for Scott because he has one pair while Doug has a set of tens

[@Aphpomni]

Agree fully, the frequency at which you call with the losing hand should be completely balanced at 0%.

[@cuck2194]

last week i binked a tournament and thought, ah yeah im so sick, but the way i have my head in my hands listening to the analysis has truly humbled me. Love the work Doug, you're a beast

[@brennaballen9783]

I enjoy your videos and learn a great deal just by watching. I still find the charts intimidating but I am starting to understand what you are saying without having to pause or repeat. 🙂

[@gimpscalawag]

I wish there were more really technical videos like this. Learn so much from these

[@rodrigogarcia8248]

Awesome video. Keep bringing the solver work, it's great. Poker math and humor, winning formula!

[@davidswift6527]

I love all your shit Doug! Was awesome meeting you at the WSOP this year.

[@steevemartin3083]

Amazing Doug. Nice hand and GREAT teaching man

[@GorkhaliPoker]

Doug, I always learn something new from your vids. Just remember, some people are ignorant and some are ignorant about their ignorance. Thanks again for another good content.

[@zachmatthews9857]

10:15 Grandpa moses making us heads looks bad... not all hippies disregard solid poker strategy Doug, I promise. Thanks for another great video

[@scottywayne]

Thanks Doug, funny stuff. It is both humorous and encouraging to hear from players who refuse to learn anything new and assure a target rich environment for those who do.

[@scottywayne]

...and don't tap the aquarium 😃

[@sambrown7691]

Somebody who’s unsure if a higher stakes player could teach them to beat their 1/2 game is not the same thing as thinking that same player would be incapable of beating that same game. Just feel like that’s worth stating

[@rickvinton9027]

Great video Doug! Don’t ever stop.

[@RonnieJamesOsbourne]

8:37 I love it when Doug does the "wah" voice 😂

[@infosneakr]

As an experienced poker player, i must say that you are correct with everything you say and i strive to get better every time i play and watch informative videos and study off the felt to get better. Math is always right.

[@ghjk5827]

Doug, I love your videos and I agree 100% with you. In that context, I have a honest question that Id love to hear your thoughts some day: for those who want to be good/winning players at lower limits as hobby and dont want to play higher stakes as a main profession, what do you think about ultra simplified strategies that give up EV in order to have an easier execution? For exemple: always beting or checking the entire range on the flop, always having a static-single 3/4 pot bet size on turns and rivers, etc? Do you think you could beat midstakes online with your experience if you always played like that, for example?

[@jeffshackleford3152]

I think GTO theory as a baseline is the best way to do it. I think most good players already know excess EV is generated by taking advantage of your opponents mistakes or imbalances. So straight GTO solver play is not the optimal line in most scenarios, it is the most balanced line. Balanced line = + EV ( usually ) But... The solver assumes your opponent is playing optimally as well. I think the point is the most + EV line is not always the solver line, and if you blindly follow tue solver because it is what the solver says, then you are not playing the best line against that opponent in that situation. I think that is where Jungleman is one of the best players, he can unbalance his strategy to exploit you but then rebalance his strategy elsewhere to become less exploitable.

[@jojoanisse2650]

Always looking forward to your next video's and it's for the poker content 😂 your are hilarious 😄✌️

[@azeroth6565]

Love you and your analysis :) cheers

[@Yourfavoritedealer]

Thank You for answering Doug I appreciate it. I just wanted to know if you adjust certain things in the solver based on how much more you will get called?

[@dagreco]

19:07 We raise non-spade 98o, in case we are called and see a river. Most rivers are non-spade rivers and in these runouts, the most likely hand that villain is folding vs a barrel is spades, so we dont wanna block that.

[@fitfabz2074]

Appreciate your strategy videos but I think most of the population don't play HU and would prefer full ring content / strat

[@robertod893]

Excellent video Doug!

[@josh7910]

Great content Doug, loved the roast. One question on calling on the river with A3o A4o, why does the solver call only with 3s and 4s? Shouldn't it be better to call down without a spade to unblock backdoor spade flush draws?

[@mnekolite452]

Great episode! I've been watching Doug for Years now and I don't understand why people act like he doesn't know what he's talking about... my only conclusion is they're not able to understand what he's saying, lol

[@jonathanpham7397]

awesome vid. So informative. Keep them comin! 999

[@ActualLemons69]

doug your videos have always inspired me to actually be good at this roller coaster of a game to play. at the end of the day this game is all about math and trying to take as much money from your opponents as you possibly can, and for some reason weirdos don't want to read a chart that's honestly not that hard to understand. lmao let em keep playing in my 1/2 games i welcome their chips

[@MrMrpink12]

need a analysis of the rivered set vs nacho! great content as always doug

[@wachtwoord5796]

Always love this type of humor Doug! 😂

[@noitallmanaz]

I believe that your strategies work. I believe in math. I believe in facts. My issue is half the time I don't understand the things you are describing, and the other half, I forget in the moment because my memory sucks. So I have learned that I should just not play poker and stick to hustling younger guys playing basketball like Woody and Wesley...

[@d4ba19]

@DougPolkPoker,

[@Coq7]

Great breakdown Doug !

[@schuit5556]

Great vid, thanks. Not too dry for me, bit salty though :P Are these ranges also applicable to HU pots in ring games?

[@owaridagaming8295]

Pure gold as always. Ty Doug.

[@markhellie6837]

I can't really spell, but can I still join team correct poker? Great video and analysis. Although, I don't play much heads-up $1/3, I do find myself heads up in a lot of pots--so this info is very helpful. Thanks!

[@OfficialGidfather]

Hey Doug! quick question id love for you to answer either here or in a future video, if all the algorithms and equity stuff seems intimidating, what is a good way to ease your way into it? I started reading Modern Poker Theory by Michael Acevedo, and its interesting but that shit was so dense at times that I just couldn't understand it. Whats the move?

[@whatdoyouthink4968]

LOL, cant wait to see you play HU vs grandpamoses.. this is just pure gold. Keep it up!

[@michaelericson6869]

Love it Doug. Your killing it.

[@goodbyedelete1]

I tanked for nine minutes at my local 1/2 home game while I considered whether or not to use a 1/3 pot or 1/4 pot sizing. The opponent rage folded and I won the pot, thanks Doug

[@ghjk5827]

Hahahahah I love your videos, your reasoning and your humor. Thank you for saying the obvious and help us reasonable people to live in this community.

[@shaundiltz5821]

you fumbling your chip stack after going all in was a tell. so excited

[@Oaks64]

Oh my god I love this channel so much

[@Ben-ky4bf]

what rivers would you give up on with the low suited connectors, if any?

[@FatGobintheSouthStand]

There is only one person I like listening to about Poker more than you (admittedly Ive only been watching your more frequently since Spring 2021 and I think I forgot to hit subscribe for a while 😬😱). That person is Daniel Negreanu. Continue to let those ignore your advice, make less money or lose money 😜 The more for the rest of us, taking onboard as much advice as we possibly can 👍 Big up yourself and Bless up Doug! 😊

[@JayMaverick]

Happy to hear the 1-2 games are still profitable.

[@lifesagamble6250]

I miss u Bro ! Keep posting !

[@Snowy123]

7:20 i was looking forward to that indepth analysis

[@martinpedersen2650]

lol the cut to "WHY DOES THE KEEP TRYING OT PLAY GOOD STRATEGGY IN THE MIECROS!?" was a perfect transition.

[@turbinator70707]

Whats up here, Doug Polk guys

[@winapp22]

12:36 some people are ignorant, but most of us appreciate the hard work and insight you give us! Keep it up Doug!

[@bluejeans5337]

Love your content

[@astrostl]

Same story in baseball analytics. People hate anything math-based, even if it obviously works. I do love the content.

[@derpyterpsfarm]

Can't wait to get down to the Lodge, do you think any of the live chat pros are in the games?

[@ernesthigginbotham8016]

I appreciated the analysis & enjoyed the humour. My only minor gripe is with the speed & frequency of your cursor movements. Please give us slow folk slightly more time to take in the graphics.

[@KiiroiSenko1]

OG Doug is back. Love it.

[@jonathanpham7397]

I think their theory is that low stakes players don't take it as serious as high stakes player and that the strategy doesn't work as well with them. But I do you think you should learn Doug's strategy and decide at the table when or when not to use the strategy based on the players. There are some players at low stakes that seem to be there just for the thrill and they expect to lose most of the time as if they were playing blackjack. Love the content Doug, keep it coming. 999

[@TobiasRevenas]

Thanks for teaching newcomers, parttimers and regulars.

[@mizmahem485]

What I've learned is apparently, AJ vs Doug is just a fold.

[@vedantthadani449]

I did a similar upswing challenge and yes, you do have to play solid, TAG poker even at the micros

[@OfficialMrMonacle]

Hey Doug, while I certainly agree that correct poker wins money, many of the 1-2 games that I (and I assume many others) feature opens that are way too large, people playing short stacked, and a handful of other things that make GTO really nitty (or much nittier than anyone really wants to play). Do you have any advice for handling these kinds of situations, while still trying to learn and practice a good strategy?

[@jarirepo1172]

You should play nitty against big opens. The reason big opens work is that people "really want to play".

[@pugsnhogz]

This is really basic but FWIW, I've been watching you for years Doug and BALANCE has been the most impactful takeaway for my game. Just the simple concept that any spot you want to bet for value, you HAVE to find SOME bluffs in similar spots, or you're exploitable. Finding those bluffs is often where blockers come in - you're gonna bluff sometimes, so why not do it when your opponent is less likely to have the kinds of strong holdings that you're representing? In fact, not doing that seems... like it loses money. Combined with the solver, this principle really clarifies for me what "all this math mumbo jumbo" is about, like in a concrete way Thanks for all the great education

[@BramCohen]

What's balancing the call range on the turn? Like, what's to stop the other player from simply going all in on the river every time and forcing you off?

[@justinwhite9060]

Doug dont listen to these idiots.. there are people out here that are following you that value these videos and lessons you share , if noone else has said this today thank you brother for everything you have done for the poker community , keep up the great work

[@welthermarmol8752]

This is a wild thumbnail 😂

[@uliaritonangchilds7819]

LOVE YOUR HUMOROUS ROASTING...AND THE TEACHING. I learned from videos most of what I know about poker...my aim is to be in the final table of WSOP senior or women's tournaments one day.👍😘

[@favor4afavor823]

Top tier comedy, love it! 😂

[@straydawg2035]

8:55 “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” George Carlin

[@KennytheCandyMan]

So what have you done if it ran the river spade there? Just wondering Doug love the content!

[@BrantzenPoker]

Loooool this was the greatest video ever

[@iamamish]

Can somebody please help me understand something about how these solvers work? At 2:53 we see Doug working through the solver output on the flop. We see a hand like AK betting almost 100% of the time, and this makes sense. However, we see AA (for top set) doing a fair bit of checking. I think I understand the wisdom of checking top set - presumably it is to strengthen our checking range in order to arm up for turns & rivers when our opponents come after us. What I'm wondering however is that when the solver tells us the play that maximizes EV is to check back top set at some clip, is that *only* to protect our checking range? In other words, if I ignored the solver and always bet top set here, it seems to me that move would generate a lot more EV than checking, *but only in this particular hand*, and at the expense of making our opponents' bluffs when we check more profitable. So if I cared only about this specific hand, I'd bet top set - yes I block some hands that will call me but overall I think you likely maximize EV (again, only in this hand) by betting. The only reason to check (I think) is to protect our checking range, so that in other hands, we can't get pushed around. Is that correct? Or, is it the case that checking top set at a frequency not only maximizes value in our other hands on these boards, but also actually improves the EV of this specific hand?

[@iudqnolq7658]

Solver just takes input ranges & decision trees to numerically solve Nash Equilibrium/GTO, and output strategy (solution), the strategy does not have to be easily understood by human (most of the time they are not). What it means is if you deviate away from the solution, then your opponent can adjust his/her strategy to lower your (range vs range) EV, compare with your (again range vs range) EV of playing GTO vs GTO opponent. If you build a strategy based on maximizing EV of a hand or even a portion of the entire range, and you deviate away from GTO, what will happen is other hands in your range lose even more EV (with assumption of opponent capable of exploiting you) and your overall range vs range EV will be lower. As for checking top set, other than the reasons you already mentioned (protect check range, block calling range), I'll add a lot of value of top set is from opponent bluffing later streets. However I do think you can just bet, to exploit most mid to low stake regulars, because 1. Most of them under-bluff turn & river 2. Most of them are not capable of exploiting cap range.