A player can spend years learning about the existing poker strategies and creating their own. There is a lot of knowledge available for players that may become daunting at some point. Due to this reason, many poker players settle with the basic strategy and never learn more about poker. There are ways to simplify poker strategies that will help you to execute them without taking much pressure. Using a simplified strategy will help you in several ways. On the other hand, some experts also suggest that simplifying poker strategies can be a problem.

Simplifying a poker strategy means reducing the number of options to a few and stick to them throughout the game. Here is why you should and should not simplify poker strategies.

Benefits

Play more volume

Simplifying poker strategies will help you reduce your decision-making time. As you will be making quick moves using the simplified strategy, you will not pressure yourself into overthinking. It will help you play more tables in a given time without getting confused between different strategies.

Play on later streets

Keeping your mental strength throughout the game can get stressful. When you have a simplified strategy, you do not put much stress on your brain and make quick moves. It will help you preserve your mental energy for more important hands. If you stress on flops every time, your chances of making mistakes later also increase.

Track the ranges

Having a simplified strategy also means you can keep track of the combinations of hands you can expect later on. You can track combinations of hands that are possible. Instead of betting on every hand, you can be decisive while picking the same hands for 66% of the pot.

Drawbacks

Easy to exploit

Sticking to the same strategy over a long time can be risky as the opponents can soon learn your basic strategy. You should always be prepared for your opponents to counter your basic strategy. Running away from GTO means giving up your strategy to others. If the opponents know that you are playing it safe, they can start being aggressive and pressure you into folding. That is the reason why players prefer to mix up strategies to not face such pressure. However, it is not easy for a person to tell that you are playing the same game unless they are very good at observing.

Betting more money

A simplified strategy requires you to spend more money than GTO. If you are playing against a professional player, a simplified strategy can throw away your money faster. GTO offers the highest expected value. Anything below that will potentially lose money for you.

Wrong simplification

A simplified strategy will require proper study and analysis in order to make it work. Sometimes, the players who lack information may simplify a strategy that may not offer the best outcomes. Such strategies will work, but they will also eliminate the chances that could be possible if it was well researched.