Octopi Poker’s CEO Victoria Livschitz was a recent special guest on PokerOrg’s Side Action.
During the episode, we discussed Livschitz’s take on the clunkiness of solvers, as well as the most crucial question in poker – 'Why?' – and Octopi Poker’s most important mission: Make studying poker fun.
Livschitz’s vast experience within the technology industry and ever-expanding knowledge of poker and beyond make her a valuable asset to the poker community, and makes for a fun and enlightening discussion.
Watch the full interview here or listen via Apple and Spotify.
'The barrier is insane'
When Livschitz began her poker journey, she picked the brains of some of the world’s best tournament pros, including Andrew Lichtenberger and Nick Schulman.
One of the first things the pros shared was the necessity for Livschitz to get familiar with various poker software, such as solvers.
“I tried to do what my professional friends told me,” says Livschitz. “I hated all the tools they suggested. They wanted me to work with PIO Solver. They were awful as far as I was concerned. I was like, 'My God, what is this?' Solvers are not designed for humans. It’s clunky and kind of ugly. The barrier is insane. I don’t want to use it.
"We started talking and dissecting what’s wrong with them. They asked me if I had a chance to redesign all of it from scratch, what I would do to improve them. That got my juices flowing.”
Ideas and heuristics
Solvers can be confusing or, at the very least, possess a heavy learning curve to glean the info you’re seeking. It’s an endless wormhole within which even the most experienced players can easily lose their way.
“The solver says you made a mistake,” explains Livschitz. “The next obvious question you ask is: Why? The solver will pop up a range and say, ‘You’re supposed to do this, but you did that.’
"You ask again: Why? It will tell you that your decision had a 5% less EV outcome than the best action. And again, you go - why? And after that, you are off the deep end. It’s very complicated, sophisticated, and advanced stuff.”
To make this process easier to grasp and more efficient, the group focused beyond 'what a solver would do?' and much more on the ideas and heuristics humans can surmise from how the machines work and how you would apply this to learning poker.
“Octopi Poker’s team is diligently working towards being able to explore and explain the why. It’s a very hard and long quest. We have set out to build tools with powerful solver capabilities and invest in creating user interfaces that focus on the WHY.
"These tools will eventually lower the entry barriers and map ‘what the solver thinks’ to what humans can learn and apply in their poker play.”
Learning together
To implement these ideas, the Octopi team focused on developing a new approach to poker tooling.
“The primary mission of our team was to create something that players could comprehend easily, have fun studying, and quickly gain value from the information. We also knew the software and presentation had to be beautiful, fluid, and beginner-friendly.
"Poker is less about win/lose or a ‘crush the competition’ approach for us. It’s more about the pure joy in studying and understanding the game. It’s the journey, the pursuit of self-improvement, and the success that comes from that.
"The most crucial aspect we focused on for our community was to learn together and, in turn, lift each other up.”
Accessible and affordable poker training
The poker training industry is mainly filled with subscription sites that start at about $100 monthly or more. That can be outside the reach of most people’s entry into studying the game.
“One essential aspect of accessibility of poker study and tools, apart from just the barrier of entry from the skill set perspective, is the financial equation. How much money can somebody spend on getting better at a hobby?
"Most of the industry requires somebody to put $1,000 to $2,000 a year towards studying for something that is a hobby. That is entirely outside of the reach of most recreational players.
"The community needed access to a fully-fledged platform for studying poker at less than $20 monthly. Octopi’s personal training tier starts at $180 a year, or $15 per month.”
Octopi’s AI octopus: George
“In the future, we are working to make our AI engine, George, a very beneficial and interactive AI tool that can help explain to students why they made a mistake.
"He might tell you your second pair is too good to fold, or don’t check-raise without the backdoor flush draw. We are doing a lot of original research in that area and have many promising things like this on the horizon.
"George will hopefully become smarter and more intelligent, lower solvers' complex barriers, and be more engaging by focusing on poker’s big ideas, heuristics, and inflection points. Why can't studying poker be as much fun as playing poker?”
Many players tend to avoid a deeper study of the game, partially due to their perception that it's hard work and many times the reality that studying can be laborious and boring.
“Octopi’s GTO Trainer is one of the most advanced poker tools in the game as well as addictively fun to play with. You literally get a seat at the Final Table. You face Stephen Chidwick who raised your blinds. What are you going to do?
"This approach to studying poker is cool and a lot of fun. We plan to make the experience of battling George in the Octopi Lab as much fun as playing real people over the felt. And profitable, too - as they learn the skills to dominate the real felts.
"I invite both recreational and professional players to check out Octopi’s Trainer Program, which allows you to play against George. George will rate your play and provide tools to help you understand how to improve your game.”
Follow Victoria and Octopi on X. For more info, visit octopipoker.ai.
