progressPoker tournament guides
Plain-language guides with exact numbers from our own solution book and from the ICM model. No rules of thumb you cannot check.
ICM
ICMWhat is ICM in poker?Why a stack of chips and the value of that stack are different things.ICMBubble factor explainedThe number that tells you how much tighter ICM makes you.ICMICM in satellitesWhen all prizes are equal, the chip leader's extra chips are worth very little.ICMFinal table ICM and payout jumpsEvery spot you move up is worth real money, and that changes which hands you can play.ICMHow to use an ICM calculatorFour steps, and one worked example with a real decision.ICMBubble push/fold: shove wide, call tightFour players, three paid, everyone on 10 big blinds: the numbers behind a famous poker saying.ICMFinal table push/fold rangesNine players, the payouts of a normal final table, and everyone short.ICMSatellite push/fold rangesWhen every winner gets the same seat, survival is worth more than chips.ICMBubble with unequal stacks: who shovesThe big stack shoves almost anything. The short stack can be the tightest of all.
Strategy
StrategyPush/fold strategy for short stacksWhen you have 8 to 15 big blinds, the choice usually comes down to two buttons.StrategyBig blind defense in MTTsYou get the best price at the table, so you defend much more than feels natural.StrategyOpening ranges by positionHow the range grows from early position to the button, and how little stack depth changes it.StrategyStack size zones in tournamentsThe same seat plays a different game at 10 BB, 20 BB and 40 BB.StrategyWhy antes widen your rangesA small ante changes the price of an open more than almost anything else.StrategyPreflop numbers that surprise playersNot rules of thumb, but frequencies computed for every hand.StrategySmall blind strategy: limp, raise or shoveThe most awkward seat at the table has the most unusual plan.StrategyHow often the big blind 3-betsMost of the defence is calling. The raises are a thin, specific group of hands.StrategyPlaying 20 big blindsThe awkward stack where raise, shove and call all appear.StrategyBig blind against a small blind limpA free card or a raise: the big blind has a choice that most seats never get.StrategyFacing a 3-bet after you openYou open, the big blind re-raises. Most of the time the answer is fold.StrategyBig blind against an open and a callA second player in the pot makes calling worse and folding better.StrategyUTG opening range in tournamentsThe tightest seat at the table, and how much it really changes with the stack.StrategyButton opening range in tournamentsThe widest seat, and a hand by hand look at the marginal hands.StrategyShoving range by position at 8 to 12 BBSeven seats, three stack sizes, one table of numbers.
Math
MathPot odds and required equityCall, or fold? The answer is one division.MathOuts to equity: the exact tableThe rule of 2 and 4 is a good shortcut up to about 8 outs and drifts after that.
Training
TrainingHow to review your hand historyFifty hands reviewed well beat a thousand played on autopilot.TrainingHow to read a preflop chartOnce you understand the grid, every chart on the site becomes readable.
ICM by payout structure
ICMICM at a nine-handed final tableNine players, a typical payout ladder.ICMICM with a flat payout structureSmall jumps between places: chips lose value.ICMICM with a top-heavy payout structureBig prize for first: chips matter more.ICMICM on the bubble: four players, three paidThe classic bubble with one place to go.ICMICM three-handed with 50/30/20 payoutsThree players, every place pays.ICMICM heads-up with a 70/30 splitTwo players, a big gap between first and second.ICMICM in winner-takes-allNo payout ladder, so bubble factor is 1.ICMICM in a satellite: seven players, three seatsEqual prizes: the chip leader has little to gain.
Reference
GlossaryPoker glossary49 terms explained in a sentence or two.ChartsPreflop rangesOpen ranges and big blind defence for every position and stack.DailySpot of the dayFour hands, open or fold? A new spot every day.
Free tools
ToolICM calculatorUp to 10 players, bubble factor for every pair.ToolPot odds and outsExact probabilities, not the rule of 2 and 4.ToolPush/fold chartsEvery position at 3 to 15 BB.
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progressGTO guides use our own solution book (v13, 8-max tournaments with ante, chip EV): an approximation of equilibrium with a modelled postflop, not an exact solution. Numbers are computed from the book and from the exact ICM model.
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