We Need To Talk About THE ONE TRUE WAY To Play Poker

Once again it's time to discuss the age old argument of exploitative play vs. "GTO", or game theory optimal strategy. A lot of players romanticize the idea of looking a man in the eye and letting their gut decide if they've got it. Or picking up on an opponent's tendency and maximally punishing it with huge adjustments. This is not a sensible way to formulate a winning poker strategy.
To take your poker game to the next level, go to Upswing Poker: upswingpoker.com/
Subscribe for more wsop vlog, news, comedy, and hand breakdowns. Poker Hands is the show where Doug analyzes live poker hands from tv poker shows such as Poker After Dark, EPT (European Poker Tour), High Stakes Poker, the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the Aussie Millions, WPT (World Poker Tour) the Big One For One Drop, and the PCA (Pokerstars Carribean Adventure). He especially enjoys reviewing hands by popular high stakes pros like Viktor "Isildur" Blom, Fedor Holz, Dan Cates (Jungleman), Tom "Durrrr" Dwan, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu.

[@MarianoPoker]

The correct way is sometimes call, sometimes raise, sometimes fold. We get it Doug

[@acernera]

lololzzzz

[@joapps8135]

ur still desperate for views n subs eh

[@toptenguy1]

NO! You're doing it all wrong! You should sometimes fold or raise, and SOMETIMES call! Geeze no wonder you're not a gazillionnaire!

[@DarrenSemotiuk]

Doug is okay with all of these options!

[@imalwaysbluffing]

do you?

[@galelazic478]

This video is insane man, you can see the cogs turning in Doug's brain and the way he speaks and the way it all flows...Jesus dude how much work did you have to put in to get to this level...

[@oaoJ69Joao]

He was one of the best HU online players a few years ago ;)

[@the1donkeyking]

Exactly my thoughts.

[@EricPetersen2922]

It came natural to Doug, he has a high IQ and can absorb this. It’s a lot of work, but not painful work.

[@EricPetersen2922]

hmm k I agree he worked his ass off. I’ve been hugely successful at some things in life. And I had to work my ass off too. But when talent goes to work you can’t beat talent. Nobody gave Doug anything he’s earned it. No question.

[@hplovecraftmacncheese]

@@CRAIG5835 Doug is a black belt of poker?

[@cabluigi5236]

Not dry at all, watched all 20 mins! Would love to see some more memorable hands from your database broken down

[@johannesjetschgo3012]

Same here!

[@Its__Good]

You have to understand Doug that everything you do online conveys information.

[@davidgardner2541]

It'sGood 🤣🤣

[@EricPetersen2922]

Give him a sandwich ;-)

[@Sportsperformanceanalysis]

I think Doug is a bit loosey goosey

[@earthlyng_official4599]

if you made millions in poker, who cares at that point... youre set...

[@rotierender_lurch]

@@earthlyng_official4599 YOU - WILL NEVER SUCCEED *shows Exodia*

[@Harbz]

That Jungle call is next level what a beast

[@marindraganov5897]

@Xela Flow In another video Doug says that Jungleman plays some kind of "street" poker: he will call you if he doesn't believe you no matter what :)

[@Gos1234567]

@Xela Flow yes isnt he blocking the flush draw bluffs Doug could be betting there?Not a GTO bluff catch there at all;-0

[@garygwin1741]

Jungle also insta-folded 10-10-10 against Phil Hellmuth with 3x more chips to start the hand, and the Great master Hellmuth came back to Win.

[@Gos1234567]

@@joomorrow Yes but in pure GTO terms you have to count all the flush draws as bluff combos,knowing Doug does or doesnt do this is expoitative,which this call clearly is anyway

[@Harbz]

@@garygwin1741 that's vs Hellmuth though, not much you can do there considering he's the best to ever play the game

[@luckylouscavanging1998]

This was absolutely amazing and insanely insightful. The fact that this information was just put up on KZbin for free shows how much passion your having for the study of the game. I appreciate everything your doing my man and these kind of videos I will always be looking forward to. Ty and god bless

[@nomoneyball5423]

^^👌👌

[@jaminyaface]

Never ever posted on a KZbin video until now. Love this. Deffo would love to see more content about your battles and the strategy you used back then. Best video you've made!

[@carmelbully6660]

Agree with the first 2 sentences!

[@lupi5333]

So.... bluff too often until we face jungleman, then starting thinking about balance

[@mrvaultguy1118]

I'm guessing that would work back then but not now lol

[@AT-qm8gv]

@@mrvaultguy1118 So then bluff too often, go broke until Jungleman decides to teach you?

[@YayaTourney]

MrVaultGuy111 Please. Folk are still scared and overfold to barrels.

[@castlehill6717]

@@YayaTourney In the micros maybe, depending on which site of course

[@DyNaMiiKex]

these types of videos are too good lol. i like the hand analysis also, but these videos that are more in depth to the way you view the game and strategy is just gold. listening to you talk about the game and watching the wheels spin in your head about all different aspects of it is something really enjoyable and special to watch, even if you think your passion for playing is gone, it's really clear that when you talk about the game you still have a lot of love for it.

[@rogrig]

I found this is the absolutly best video ever to get a fast sleep. By minute 5 I was already in REM.

[@jamesevans2507]

spotted the live player

[@rogrig]

@@jamesevans2507 What are you talking about? I click buttons very often!

[@Minyin3737]

I’m not sure how many comments you read but the steady flow of vids lately has really motivated me to get better. This particular video being the sort of last push I needed. I’ll be getting the upswing poker lab soon and I’m really excited about learning as much as I can about GTO. Just wanted to thank you.

[@mariibugs]

Hi Doug. I recently subscribed to your channel. I learned poker during the Moneymaker days. It's obvious I came in as a fish. I studied all the old poker books like Super System, Theory of Poker, Holdem Poker Beginner and Advanced...well you get the point. I played hundreds of hours of poker and never really got any better. To put it simply I didn't adjust my game to include ranges. I failed to understand the evolution of the thought process for the game. Daniel gets into it a bit, but doesn't go over hands to the extent you do. The thought process you introduce has changed the way I approach poker. I really appreciate how you go over hands. My favorite part is that you first give me a chance to evaluate the hand, then you give your thoughts which offers a chance to see if our thinking aligns. Thank you for all that you do.

[@marcinkurek2950]

It would be a great series if you analyze your battles against those players. Some crazy old school hands, adjustments you have made against them, what was the meta etc.

[@carmelbully6660]

well stated

[@mrvaultguy1118]

Loved this video! I have been playing in a bar poker league for over a year now and have applied this concept on a much more basic level. Overall I play mostly the same people every time I go to a game so I've adjusted the way I play vs people I have lots of experience with, and play my best overall strategy (which I'm still working on) vs players I dont know and players who also play balanced. Even though it's a basic level of data at a live bar poker game, mixing exploitive play in with my overall strategy has gotten me to final table 90% (avg 26 ppl/game) of games this summer and getting the top prize (final 3) about 8-12%.

[@floatinghandsmtg9360]

If looking back at your stats and reliving your past rekindles the poker fire I am for it. Starting watching late so its all new to me. Good job Doug!

[@tony16546]

Cool stats bro. Have you ever considered doing a bankroll challenge from $100 to $10 000 to show you can beat the micros?

[@SuperYtc1]

He can’t that’s why he sells dummies a dream. He’s a millionaire from his scam subscription services.

[@TFA16]

This topic has been talked about so much that I'm just skipping to another video. ... Oh, who am I kidding, I'll probably watch this video 5x.

[@yuritshshmarityan4028]

Great video as always. You got a talent in teaching. The way you explain is very understandable and interesting. I am an upswing lab member and dont regret a single penny I have spent there. Your work is appreciated and hopefully everything goes very well for you so we can get more of your amazing content!!

[@averagejoe5016]

13:25 that jungle call is actually next level insane

[@josephbergen5462]

Poker stories!!!!!!!! Seriously love all the content but liked your casual poker stories the most. Do an autobiography series please!!!!

[@marouane53]

Doug is a great coach, the heads up course is really the best course I've seen on upswing, even better than the one put by Pratyush Buddiga and the new Nick Petrangelo, and I hope he'd make one for MTTs or cash game full ring. Also thank you for this high quality video, I hope we'll see more of it.

[@RhizoSchizo]

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[@RaspberryRockOffGridCabin]

I enjoyed this but it was difficult to follow as I've never used poker tracker. The more you talked, the deeper the rabbit hole went.

[@acernera]

Love this! 1) you add a lot of nuance to a long debated conversation - that was great and 2) loved seeing your hands histories in the context of the lesson - the fact that you could make the point and then pull up a few hands and it proved the point is a nice confirmation of how well you know this stuff.

[@blakel582]

awesome video, cool switch from usual hand analysis... Love the daily uploads, SUPER useful for a beginner player in high school, saving up for the lab!

[@jasonhalverson2581]

Loved the video- ideas for other videos that interest me (hopefully others!) - something like this, but more like milestones in your career. And what each milestone meant to you personally and what the next goal may have been and what actions were necessary (ex- nl200 to nl500 to nl2k to HU) - business of poker and staking and being staked (appreciate the one you made after cate hall/ chad power) - POSITIVE aspects (negative if you want) on different produced/streamed games, and what your thoughts are on the future of that being more mainstream. - Polker hands- notable hands in your career vs notable players, how they were played and would you do anything different NOWish is with the information you have. - decathlon vs Papi - Thanks for the great content!

[@tn15_]

As a poker and stats nerd, this is my favorite video of yours! Thanks for the transparency into your strategy and thought process. Would love to have more vids like this, but based on the view count I doubt there will be many.

[@pokerandphilosophy8328]

Of course the "GTO strategy" vs "exploitative play" debate is obsolete, nowadays. The new fashionable debate is about the hiding of high denomination chips. Is it Game Torelli Optimal or is it rather Alec-sploitative?

[@gta3ist]

Great when you can learn a little inside poker info everyday from a pro and not be at a table Keep em coming. You justify what I know bout live poker and teach me why I look silly online

[@surfinsteve7578]

I LOL every time you throw in the “F***Off” from that weird dude... never gets old.

[@ummareli2791]

damn i wish you would make videos like this again dude.... this is so valuable

[@Locke19901]

Doug honestly, more like this. Thanks for sharing.

[@the1donkeyking]

I really found this video interesting. Do more of these cause they are helpful. Thx

[@CowboysFilmRoom]

What's hard about GTO is trying to play it at low stakes. Feels like the game is so random that some of the GTO theories are hard to implement.

[@mrvaultguy1118]

I run into the same problem! It's a good time to exploit if you see it from the same people.

[@the1donkeyking]

Agreed. I been considering all the videos I've watched recently about "ranges" and "balancing ur strategy" and lately in a downward spiral lost a couple grand my last outing playing 1/2 no limit. Advice DOUG?

[@brandonpeterson9835]

One of the best videos you've released in a long time. And that's tough to say because you've had some absolutely fantastic ones lately. This just shows all the haters out there that you can quit playing poker and still love the game and bring things to the community. I'd love to see maybe one or two videos a week like this, and the rest of the videos be hilarious (but also factual) analysis of hands.

[@EricSmyth4Christ]

I usually play Tetris while I watch you, but for this video, I had to put Tetris down to watch! Great video!

[@aaronl1186]

I think this is a nice change of pace from your usual videos. Would be nice for you to do more of these videos in the future, especially if you're diving more into barrelling/defending stats etc. Thanks!

[@williamdavis2505]

GTO requires that ALL player make the equilibrium play. This is very restrictive and rarely occurring (at least in the games I play). GTO only a benchmark imo. Detecting and exploiting deviations from equilibrium in your opponent’s play is the essence of poker, and requires knowledge of equilibrium play as a baseline. It’s not either GTO or Exploitative, it’s both.

[@gastonangelini8352]

Check out "Finding Equilibrium" channel. You will like it for sure

[@ozrenbalic6051]

That is incorrect. A perfect GTO bot is, by definition, unexploitable. You can only break even against such a bot, and you do that by also playing a perfect GTO. If you deviate from GTO, you will lose, and the more you deviate, the greater the losses.

[@williamdavis2505]

Ozren B you are missing my point. I have never encountered a perfect GTO bot. Playing Nash (or refinements such as Bayesian Nash, or Perfect Bayesian) is not necessarily profit maximizing against players not Perfect Bayesian. No players are Perfect Bayesian. Your concluding sentence does not apply. Playing exploitative against a player who is not Perfect Bayesian can increase your expected profits.

[@ozrenbalic6051]

@@williamdavis2505 that is a different argument altogether. You said, and I quote you, that "GTO requires that ALL player make the equilibrium play". That is simply incorrect. GTO is NOT profitable against equilibrium play. GTO is profitable against players that deviate from equilibrium.

[@williamdavis2505]

Ozren B well you and I have a different definition of what “play GTO” means. To me it means “make an equilibrium play,” whatever definition of equilibrium you want to use - Nash and refinements. Does it mean something different to you?

[@jerodcurtis2731]

Def make a video of some hands from back in the day that would be SICKKKKK

[@kc0tlh]

DOUG: LETS GO DEEP! I want to see polker hands on your OLD HU sessions

[@headsuphyperdotcom7426]

I agree, a great idea!

[@StarCraft2MiKe]

Really liked the video, would like to see more like this. I think it would be better if you already had specific stuff analyzed before you turned the camera on to make it a bit more succinct.

[@CoZzyvvr]

These videos where you talk broadly about the importance of employing a good strategy are my favourite. They're a great format to get people in the correct line of thinking. They are also just funny af 😆 Thanks Doug!

[@jsh0822]

One of your better videos lately in my opinion

[@HomeStudioBasics]

What's up guys Dog polk here xD Love Doug.

[@j.sarnak1391]

Hell yeah, Doug I don't know about everyone else, but I love watching pro's dig into their data bases and go over hands from different points in their poker journey.

[@davidgardner2541]

This was honestly one of my favorite videos from you. Very interesting to the game evolved over time. I’ll be looking for more videos from you like this 🤘🏻🤘🏻👍

[@RealFactsForYou24]

Doug any more videos like this? I enjoy the stat. Analysis side of things.

[@RealFactsForYou24]

Sorry, didn't realize this was a video you posted literally today..

[@yogadude1234]

Great video. I used to play SnG's with WCGrider back in the day. I am not sure how far back your poker tracker goes but any possibility you can tell me how you did against Yogadude on Pokerstars? I played about 30,000 sngs in 2009/10 on Pokerstars.

[@michaelbergman1708]

I love how prepared you are in your videos.

[@nohalfmeasures6]

Man jungle and doug were absolute beasts in the heads up game.

[@AdityaChandak287]

Loved the video Doug. Would appreciate more videos like this explaining strategy and going through real stats.

[@stevegoldy2196]

Great upload, fascinating stuff. Would love to see you delve in to some more of your previous battles and statistics on Full Tilt. Particularly the Malaceia 6-max games and the epic battles versus isildur1 and Denoking

[@EsaelPaggin024]

Loved this video. And I think you going through more hand histories would be a blast for future videos. Love this content in particular.

[@SLowPLaYaH]

@1:34 Man, I miss the sideways-hat-Doug. Bring him back!

[@thesquirrel2]

Great video really different to what's in the space. Database review with some hand selection would be sick.

[@krcmdc3455]

Not my favorite video ever, but certainly better than most, and absolutely better than anything involving mtt hands. If you're looking for video idea's, check out Adrian's youtube page, do something similar to his "Poker Spectator" video's. An excellent way to combine humor, strategy, poker content, general discussion etc. To this day those are still my favorite videos available on KZbin.

[@CarloT99]

NICE. Would love to see some of the goofiest hands in the streets from back in the day. Is Johnnyvibes a parody of a live poker pro? I’m convinced

[@HoofyRogers]

loved it. kudos for trying some variety my man. always good to see ya with whatever ya doing!

[@ixishadesixi5101]

And the other guy is like “Kings.” 😆

[@ThorIsHereGames]

I really enjoyed this video. I've never seen Poker Tracker before, so it was cool to see how many specific stats you can get on your frequencies and opponent frequencies in many situations. Unfortunately, as a live player my hand stats are not available, and the low volume against a huge variety of opponents makes it almost irrelevant anyway. So it's hard to build exploitative strategies for live games in a similar way.

[@sololegit]

Please, do any and all analysis you feel up to. Pretty sure I'm going to finally commit to a training site soon anyways but I doubt you really have any personal content on there anyways. You have so much hand history and meta shifts you could go over, endless content!

[@MaxSmart579]

Absolutely loved the video! Theory talk is great to hear, especially when there are specifics to back it up.

[@ohmyrage]

More FUN hands along with commentary on playing the big name players. Any reads and such. You're video talking about playing KANU, Sauce and Wilhasha were all very fun to hear the stories

[@TheLouden99]

Doug, I’ve questioned your work ethic and intent previously, but I think this is earnest and valuable content coming from a desire to educate re: GTO vs exploitive based on statistically significant evidence. Thanks for sharing your thought process. Argument is compelling. More of this please.

[@josezaragoza1594]

I love how Doug never wears the same shirt twice

[@the1donkeyking]

He likes to " mix it up a bit..."

[@josezaragoza1594]

@@the1donkeyking doing a bad job of "balancing" his wardrobe

[@the1donkeyking]

@@josezaragoza1594 sad but very true.

[@phila154]

This is such a great video, more of these would be awesome but probably a smaller group of us think so. I wasn't as triggered about the upload this time, thanks.

[@TheDesperateArtist]

For all the dislikes: You need to understand, that (once in a while) Doug's videos will convey (lots of) information

[@AaronMcInnes]

Analytics are cool, wouldn't mind seeing more!

[@AlastairCunning]

Loved this video. Used to be a mid-stakes HU pro (you sat me a few times; I sat out) and this was like a trip down memory lane. :)

[@grnlite7]

Super interesting episode sir. Fun example with jungle. I always underestimate the impactfulness of a well told personal example with defined why's of the thought process. Thanks for sharing

[@Weazel1991]

It's a tough ask but maybe do what Lex did, doing a breakdown of all his hands from years ago when he first started playing. Old school series it was called. Was really interesting to see how his play has developed over the past decade or so!

[@jacobcadena9345]

Great stuff. LOVE the break downs. VERY useful.

[@dzonipagulayan]

All the videos you have put up, I've enjoyed this one the most.

[@shanebyers1222]

Great video Doug - high quality and you've got me thinking about things. Entertaining personality too - cheers!

[@ruimagalhaes4948]

Please do more videos talking about your stats and interesting hands that you have in your database! I enjoyed it a lot!

[@flipstar2614]

Doug, this video format is awesome. Please keep the content coming.

[@lliliiliillliliiliili5180]

I love these kinds of videos. Speaking of exploitative adjustments, it would be cool to see a video about the most common types of leaks and the most common exploitations you can make to take advantage of them. Assuming #1 is playing too many hands

[@johnwerner6043]

This is my favorite video in 2 years

[@ElDarric]

Woah! Weird! I actually just revisited your last video on this subject from 2 years ago.

[@benjaminsmith8694]

Great content. I would love to see a review of a couple of hands from a single session at highstakes.

[@AmandaRoberts2024]

Yes, would love you to walk through your Poker Tracker data!!

[@pobthiti]

This was very informative. Not the most laugh out loud funny but, awesome to have this content for change. Great video!

[@ap386]

Was the ai u played against some years ago exploitative or gto? Can u do an update video on your thoughts on how the ai played?

[@fabadam]

This was one of your greatest videos Doug. It's just that, now I feel I have to go and do all these analyses of my Pokertracker records. Damn.

[@sqorpien]

Great video! More like these sprinkled in with Polker Hands please!

[@pokerbruh]

Such value in your content! Made me realize I need to go back and make sure I hit the likes! Good Luck!

[@paulhunt8094]

Any chance of a Doug vs Charlie carrel hu for rollz grudge match...think of the views

[@j.sarnak1391]

It would not be much of a match, even a retired Doug is in another league when you are talking about heads up!

[@markreilly2]

Great insight to it all Doug! Keep it up, the hands were pretty interesting! Sure there's a load of spots when either you strategy changed or they adapted to you, would be interested to learn more

[@wushu1984]

Like the stats videos. Would love to see some more like this

[@mike-ds5mk]

it wasn't a dry video at all doug, I really enjoyed it thank you we love your videos!!

[@ericlolzz]

loved taking a look into your database. would love more of it

[@griffithbrock]

You know you're a poker nerd when... Honestly though, I like the video.

[@nonenonerson7130]

Fucking awesome video man, I can’t get over that queen high call by Jungle. Would love more of this type of video where you go through your hand database, this is gold.

[@jacobolson8417]

I take break from the defending BB module to watch this

[@gangsterthug7]

Defend every BB

[@jamesevans2507]

is that a new module

[@jacobolson8417]

@@jamesevans2507 Newer yes

[@k14pc]

imo these kinds of vids are great, feels like i learn a lot

[@DielanByah]

prob the best gto vs. exploit vid out there yet!

[@joeythelips9668]

Doug, really enjoyed the video and would be very much down to see some more content based on your heads up database!! Keep the videos rolling :D

[@TypeRob]

Really enjoyed this video Doug. Would love to see more related content

[@mydogsbestfren7490]

going for some thin value (jamming 18k)

[@timelkin838]

love this video Doug. I'm a big split suit fan and I know most of your audience is in it for the fun I really like getting to that next level. Honestly because you have so many subs I say STFU. Honestly I like the mix. You have a good sense of humor my friend.

[@ctscan3902]

Great vid, very interesting.. You hear about how poker has changed, but having these stats of how your game changes is really good. It was something different too compared to Polker hands. Can NL Holdem change that much now though? Where as you would hear doing certain strategies were good and things would change, with solvers theres no where new to go?