The fundamental idea behind GTO is that there’s a single best decision for every imaginable betting scenario—a decision that will maximize a player’s winnings over time. In any given hand, a player who perfectly executes game theory optimal may still lose; there’s only so much you can do if your opponent lucks into the nuts. But in the course of thousands of hours of poker, a player who adheres to GTO at every moment is virtually guaranteed to come out ahead.