So here is poker theory in a very, very brief nutshell. One way to play is to (attempt to) play game theoretically, or more commonly (and less rigerously defin

So here is poker theory in a very, very brief nutshell. One way to play is to (attempt to) play game theoretically, or more commonly (and less rigerously defined) "balanced". Your entire actions are defined in such that your opponent, even if they knew your strategy, could not exploit your decisions. Bets have the "perfect mix" (defined by pot size, but also other factors) of value hands to bluffs, so that your opponent is indifferent to calling down/rebluffing. This is what you called "not playing the odds" but, contrary to popular belief, involves bluffing (lots of it!), lots of aggression, and in general may look kinda crazy. The second way is exploitative poker. This is the more common "not playing the odds" type poker, where you play in a way that maximally extracts value, because you think your opponent is not bluffing enough/betting too big with his range, folding too much, etc. The "too much" is basically "deviating from the correct GTO play". However, to exploit this, you yourself now need to deviate from optimal play, thus opening yourself to exploitation. There is still a debate between which is "better." Obviously exploitive will, at least in theory, lead to higher winrates, but runs the risk of yourself being exploited. If your "read" is wrong, you could be losing. By playing GTO, you assure you never lose (except your share of the rake), and money naturally flows to you through opponents just basically exploiting themselves.