Do you ever mix with an RNG live? (does it make sense)?

Would only do live if I had a very regular lineup that I needed to keep on their toes. Since live Vs don't have HUDs, don't tend to pay much attention, and don't have a zillion hands with you, I would rarely find the need to balance that much that I was actually using an RNG, rather than just a mental coin-flip.

I can see the value but really I just rely on "I put you on X, therefore I should Y because X can never/always Z"

I've used RNG in every game type I've played, but generally phase it out as I find ways to get EV edges in otherwise EV neutral spots.

For any game, you should be accruing informational inputs that move as much of your game tree as possible into clear bet/call/check/raise/fold decisions through direct exploits (either population wide or individual basis) and game conditions. Top priority should be bluffing and bluff-catching where theoretically indifferent decisions are nowhere near indifferent in practice and you should be finding the clear 100%/0% check/bet/fold options. (Through actual study, not just assumptions and conventional wisdom.)

For standard online games (especially Zoom), table conditions can inform a lot of the remaining tie-breaking decisions that aren't already obviated by HUD stats on the main villain(s) (where you should have truckloads of highly specialized and accurate information).

Postflop decisions are almost entirely made based on MDA, HUD stats of an individual, or tells. I do have RNG running in the background that I can refer to but it's rare at this point and am not too fussed if I don't have it for an individual decision.

At live, (again) first thing is to fill out as much of the decision tree as possible with strategies that clearly dominate by default against the population and various sub-populations. But beyond that, you should be able to make tie-breaking decisions based on gameflow and/or tells. I don't currently use an RNG at all live. (Though I'm not actually convinced there's no use for it for some early-tree decisions in games with more marginal spots.)

Online anonymous games are the only game type where I have frequent difficulty finding clearly dominated options, but it's also the gametype with the lowest incentive to randomize except for very common, early-tree decisions. No one will ever usable sample on your flop x/r frequency or 3b stats from specific seats and configs, and you'll never get a sample on your opponent that overrules your population-read-based default strategies anyway, so it's open season.

This is also the game type I have the least experience with so ideally hopefully I eliminate spots where I don't see a clear EV favorite over time with experience and study.

My local game disallows phones during a hand, so not sure how a RNG would work live in my spot.

That said, I can't imagine thinking like that against a pool of regulars (like mine) who really are a bunch of flop monkey drooler types.

A watch

It’s not about opponents being good or bad. It’s about having enough knowledge of their exploitabilities to know the whole universe of profitable plays you can make against them but not hand-in-and-hand-out. That’s a big wide world against flop monkeys.

I was at a table a few weeks ago and a profit-rec (recreational guy who tries) 3 barreled complete air in a big pot on a dynamic runnout and a pro folded. The pro was so perplexed by his reveal that he asked what possessed him to do that; he said he randomized. NGL even I was a little shook because it was a good spot to do what he did 25% of the time or whatever. Not exactly the kind of action I want to be up against. Despite knowing this I just marched on trying to range him the way I always would with the understanding I may be inexplicably off every now and then if he's randomizing and ended up cleaning him out with a nice cooler by just going ham on exactly the kind of hand I thought he'd have.

In a nutshell exploitative > GTO nerd ****

Just use the seconds hand on a watch if you want true RNG. I find that live you have way more information to guide your decisions than online but that's me

Just out of curiosity, what game was it?

In most live spots you're going to have some sort of read or information that is going to lead you to preferring one action or another. For that reason I don't use a RNG and don't really see much of a use for one.

The exception might be something like SB opening ranges where it's important to be raising some weak hands, but also important that your frequencies don't get too out of whack.

Harrington advocated using a watch to randomize his play over 20 years ago. He did this because he played in a high stakes, small group that had notebooks of information on each other to learn about tendencies. It died off as people realized that one could achieve the same effect with non-linear ranges.

Like everything, it depends. Two extremes:

1. Headsup at High Stakes in a long session against a very experienced Pro who knows you. RNG almost certainly gonna be valuable if not 100pct necessary
2. In a 9 handed, 1/2 table with a bunch of recs, probably not useful at all. Nobody is noticing shit; focus on purely exploitative.

What about spoken RNG numbers in your headphones/earbuds?...

I have tried this out myself and found it worked for me, so I create this simple app for it:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lennartkonst.sharkwhispereraudiorng&hl=en&pli=1

play

Shark Whisperer Audio RNG - Apps on Google Play

I call it Shark Whisperer. But please don't condemn me for sounding promotional, I know the niche is insanely small and I might be the only one here finding this useful. I am not imagining gaining anything from this, but feedback would be great.

by GTOWarrior m

What about spoken RNG numbers in your headphones/earbuds?...I have tried this out myself and found it worked for me, so I create this simple app for it:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lennartkonst.sharkwhispereraudiorng&hl=en&pli=1

play

Shark Whisperer Audio RNG - Apps on Google Play

I call it Shark Whisperer. But please don't condemn me for sounding promotional, I know the niche is insanely small and I might be ... See full post

Do you just leave this running in your headphones all the time? I definitely wouldn't use that. If I wanted a RNG I would just use the second hand of a watch.

I prefer that the app whisper positive affirmations that you can randomize with.

1. You are a shark.

2. Your opponent is a donkey.

3. Phil Helmuth is your bitch.

by GTOWarrior m

What about spoken RNG numbers in your headphones/earbuds?...I have tried this out myself and found it worked for me, so I create this simple app for it:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lennartkonst.sharkwhispereraudiorng&hl=en&pli=1

play

Shark Whisperer Audio RNG - Apps on Google Play

I call it Shark Whisperer. But please don't condemn me for sounding promotional, I know the niche is insanely small and I might be ... See full post

Ya know, I saw the thread and read the username and thought there was a chance this was ad bait, but kudos to you, you got me.

My honest feedback is that all app-enabled devices should be banned from use during any hand (or in the case of tournaments, even between hands). Not because I think RNG is real-time assistance, we should just take a hard stand on communications-enabled devices.

Luckily for you, my sentiment isn't shared by anyone that has any power, and there are enforcement problems with tasking people who work off tips to piss off whomever they happen to single out by either being super confrontational or (worse yet) killing a hand/dealing them out.

So you'll probably have a market until the first cheating scandal breaks where the mastermind's grand scheme was "We just texted each other our hole cards lmao." Or the ingenious "I checked the push-fold charts between hands" scheme.

Wait...OP is just promoting his app? Dafuq?

The only thing of value in this thread was GWF calling Helmuth a bitch, and he walked that back.

This thread deserves a bad yelp review.

2/5 NLHE. I decided to defend BB 4 ways with TT and flop came T92r and he had T9, gg no re 5k pot.

You guys are mean. I just want feedback for my app. It's not an Ad... Just feedback for something new.

Ok I made it free now and added background music. Please try it out I need feedback if people actually wanna use this.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lennartkonst.sharkwhispereraudiorng&hl=en