What are exploits in poker and why should you use them?

In poker, there are two main approaches to playing: a strategy built on Game Theory Optimal (GTO) and exploitative play. The first involves making balanced decisions against an ideal opponent, while the latter is based on exploiting opponents' weaknesses.

Exploit (derived from the English 'Exploit') - this is the deliberate deviation from theoretically optimal play in order to gain an advantage against a certain type of player. Simply put, you adjust your strategy to the mistakes of your opponents to make more profit.

In this article, we will explore exploits applicable in tournament poker (MTT) and specifically at micro-stakes, i.e., tournaments with a buy-in of up to 10 dollars. It is at these stakes that the proportion of players making systematic errors is greatest, and hence the opportunities for exploitation are maximised.

Employing exploits allows you to increase the profitability of your game, grow your bankroll faster, and more effectively leverage advantages against weaker opponents. Let's examine the most profitable of these.

Become Greedy

At micro-stakes, most players tend to call too frequently. They are reluctant to fold and often make decisions out of simple curiosity - wanting to 'see through' all community cards to the river, even when their hand is clearly not strong enough.

This tendency makes a balanced strategy less effective. Rather than maintaining equilibrium between bluffs and value bets, it is far more profitable to simply bet a lot and often when you have a strong hand.

If you have an advantage - bet big. Against players who rarely fold, every bet with a strong hand brings additional profit. Remember, you are playing no-limit hold'em, so your bet size is not constrained. With the nuts, the best possible hand, you can go all-in on the river and often get called. 

This approach significantly increases the overall Expected Value (EV) of your game: frequent and large bets lead to larger pots and stable profit growth over time.

Bluff When You Have No Chance of Winning at Showdown

At micro-stakes, players often tend to overestimate the power of river bets. Despite their desire to see all community cards, for many, aggression on the final street seems a convincing signal of hand strength. This can and should be exploited.

If you realise that your hand has no chance of winning at showdown, bluffing often becomes the optimal solution. In such situations, checking leads to a guaranteed loss, whereas a bet creates scenarios where the opponent might fold. Thus, bluffing in hopeless situations allows you to recoup some losses and turns potentially hopeless situations into profitable opportunities.

Steal Blinds from Late Positions

At micro-stakes, most players do not adequately defend their blinds. They rarely call preflop in response to a raise and almost never use three-betting (re-raising). This creates an opportunity to systematically steal blinds without resistance, especially from late positions: the cutoff (CO) and the button (BTN).

Since in these positions you are acting almost last and have position advantage, you can enter the game with a raise when everyone else has folded, with a very wide range of hands.

The recommended opening range from the button includes:

• any two suited cards, such as 38 suited;

• any pocket pair, such as 22;

• any ace or king, such as K2 unsuited;

• all broadway combinations (two picture cards), such as JQ unsuited.

If passive style opponents (so-called 'rocks') are on the blinds, the range can be expanded even further - up to any two cards. We covered opponent types in another article (link), do check it out to exploit other players’ weaknesses even more effectively. 

Regularly stealing blinds allows you to steadily increase your stack without taking the hand to the flop. Over the long term, this provides a significant advantage and helps counteract the constant rising levels of blinds in a tournament.