Understanding ICM and how it changes your sit and go strategy.

ICM stands for Independent Chip Model and is particularly pertinent to sit and go strategy. Math has always played a big part of winning poker but with the recent in-depth studies of chip modeling in online sit and go tournaments, even more reliance is now given to how important understanding ICM is to making long-term profits online.

The underlying error with using just your tournament chips to calculate win odds and pot odds in a sit and go tournament, is that tournament chips themselves have no affixed value unto themselves, but alternatively you can relate your chip stack to the total payout structure of the tournament.

So, hence the need for ICM and a somewhat alternative look at stack to equity relationships to determine your best course of action, especially with near the money and in the money situations. ICM may be a bit confusing at first, because it explores concepts not normally associated with traditional straight up poker strategies. However, there are numerous professionals online that understand ICM implicitly and will thus have you at a statistical disadvantage, each and every game.

Essentially by using ICM in your sit and go game, you will know mathematically when to make the best move based on payout structure and how your stack measures up to the total payouts of the given tournament you are playing in.

You can better understand ICM by using poker assist software like SpadeICM to analyze your hand histories after the fact to see if you can make correct, critical game time decisions. You may find that what you have always been doing isn't exactly profitable EV, even though your pot odds may justify a different play altogether. If you can determine a course of action in a given hand, in a given situation, that over the long term will advance your chip equity in a sit and go tournament, then you should take that course of action every time.

But ICM isn't exact math or science, because you still have to know your opponent's hole cards or at least his range of hole cards, and given that that is actually deductible with experience, you sure can get relatively close to accurate math.

Up until the stage near the bubble, you are basically playing a tight aggressive strategy. There is no sense getting involved with stealing small blinds and playing small ball poker against players who will willingly play with you, and often costs you valuable early-stage chips.

As mentioned before, when you start getting near the money or are actually in the money, your bubble play in sit and go tournaments is really the most important part of your strategy. I mean, if you sit down to play a sit and go tournament, this is the area of your game that you really need to master, because otherwise it's all for not and your profitability and bankroll expectations are just going to end up suffering in the long run.

Contrarian ICM thinking cannot be ignored either.

So with all the talk about ICM calculators and understanding ICM in single tournament strategy is you still have to remember that there are other factors which may negate using as him as a strict guide book.

I mean, the forums are just flooded with poker math geeks that think ICM is the be-all and end all to bottom-line profits.

However, we all know that poker is not a simple mathematical game. Surely we as experienced poker players understand that there is a human side to this game and getting wrapped up in the math of it all can and will hurt your game to the point where over analysis can render your human connections to the game weaker than they were before you understood the deep math poker.

For example, if I am of the last of four contestants in a Full Tilt 45 player multi-table sit and go tournament, and if I have properly assessed my opponent's skills up to that point, by using software like tournament indicator, and websites like sharkscope.com - then I may very well have an obvious skill edge over my opponents that I may prefer to use as a tool rather than using purely poker math.

I mean why would I want to risk a marginal math situation when I might be orange or yellow am zoned in this tournament, that pretty much allows me time to outplay my opponents, as I know that I can?

Here's another situation where maybe I am third stack in the Orange mzoned but the big blind has only 1 1/2 blinds left in his stack and has been playing rather loosely. Well, even if I had a strong hand like Ace Queen, or pocket tens, I think that helped to a fold, even though that would be against an ICM mathematical equation. Certainly a program like SitandGoWiz or a SpadeICM would be telling you to push there.

I think also what a lot of players, misinterpret here as the correct amount of aggression in sit and go tournaments may negate you from actually building your bankroll, if you're starting from other players' money. I think when you are starting to build a bankroll playing online poker, then making the money is quite a bit more important than it would be compared to after you have established your bankroll.

ICM calculations also rely heavily on the probability that when you push and are first in the pot that your opponents are likely to fold. Even though that is a viable concept, pushing wears thin on players in the lower limits, and those of your opponents, whose patience is wearing thin because of constant, all in activity.

Keep in mind that because of the poker forums, ICM poker math is readily available by anyone who wants to seek it out, and the higher the limit you play, the more of your competition is going to know exactly what you are doing, and you are likely to get trapped, more often, then you will out - math your opponents. The bottom line is ICM math can and will help you gain, but you can't let it take it over.

Understanding ICM and how it changes your sit and go strategy.

Sit and Go Points

Contrarian ICM thinking cannot be ignored either.

Sit and Go Video Lessons