Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Even a person that knows nothing of game theory can learn to recognize people that have certain tendencies
Yes and no. These tendencies can only be identified as such if you have a theoretical framework into which you compare them with what the norm would be.
For instance, you can't say "that guy has a 60% VIP so he's a whale and I'm gonna exploit him" if you don't already admit there is some kind of GTO-ish VPIP in this game which is significantly lower than 60%.
Knowing the whole theory background allows you to fully understand this and thus apply it even more often, instead of just being trained to indentify one type of whales and having one type of exploit against them.
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
What we now call "balancing ranges" Doyle Brunson called "switching gears" -- he would raise garbage just like he would raise power hands.
Then he was applying a basic principle of Game Theory before it was known as such. Therefore no need to screw the theory, once again. The practice comes from the theory, it can't be any other way.
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Game theory and range balancing are about pre-flop hand selection.
Not really, in fact preflop hands are EV+ or EV- is all, there is no polarisation principle about preflop play, contrary to what Matthew Janda thought in 2013 but has notoriously changed his mind about since.
Balancing isn't about "chosing another line to be fancy and surprise a thinking opponent", it's what naturally happens when you place each combo of your range into its line of maximal EV, as you should obviously aim at.
That's why a GTO play can also be defined as the MES against a nemesis opponent, namely the maximal exploitative strategy against an opponent playing perfectly.
Another useful way to see it is a game strategy without leaks. Pretty interesting to work on, in order to fix our own leaks and figure our opponents' leaks, no ?
Best wishes for a peaceful, prosperous 2020 too noble eagle ! ♠_drink:
Played some MTTs, the German Freeroll on Titan and the 2.20 $ Gladiator on Party (and of course some Omaha-MTTs), by my goodness! After a week of high workload and a highly intensive tennis practice it was not really a great idea to play poker 
But at least the potential reward will be more lucrative...
)