Poker Tournament Starting Chips Calculator
Poker Tools that will help you with your game
- Poker Tournament Starting Chips Calculator Monthly
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- Poker Tournament Chip Calculator
The PokerListings Side Pot Calculator cuts through the confusion and breaks poker side pots down in seconds. All you have to do is add in the amount of chips eahc player has put into the pot, hit “calculate” and you’ll see exactly how the chips should be split between the main pot and any number of side pots. Use the Side Pot Calculator tool. The way most tournaments pay out — with only the top 10 to 15 percent (sometimes more) getting a piece of the prize pool and the biggest cashes up top — also makes tournament poker very.
Which Hand Wins Calculator
One of the most common questions beginner poker players ask is some variation of “What beats what?” For example:
I have Q♥ J♥, my opponent has K♥ 7♥, the board reads A♥ 9♥ 6♣ 4♦ 2♥. Who wins?
The answer, you’ll know once you’ve played poker for a little while, is pretty simple (Both players have a flush; Player 2 wins with an Ace-high flush).
If you’re just starting out in poker, though, scenarios like this can still be pretty confusing. That’s why we’ve built the ultimate hand-reading/argument settling poker tool.
Just enter your cards, your opponent’s cards and the cards on the board. The Which Hand Wins Calculator will instantly determine what your best five-card Texas Hold’em hand is and which player wins the pot.
If you’re ever played a poker home game you know this kind of situation – where people aren’t quite sure of the winner/hands in play – happens pretty often.
Get the PokerListings Which Hand Wins Calculator involved and you’ll solve the problem immediately.
Use the Which Hand Wins toolPoker Odds Calculator
Want to know your exact odds of winning, losing or spitting the pot in any poker scenario? PokerListings.com’s Odds Calculator is here for you.
One of the most advanced poker odds calculators online, the PokerListings Odds Calculator works for Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7-Card Stud, 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo and Razz.
To use the poker odds calculator simply pickwhich poker game you’re playing from the drop-down menu at the top left.
Add in the number of players in the hand and click on the appropriate cards in the virtual deck to fill in each player’s hand.
Add in the flop and turn cards, click “Get Odds” and boom! Instant odds for each player winning, losing or splitting the pot by the end of the hand at that moment.
Click the reset button to clear the current hands/odds and start over.
Use the Poker Odds Calculator toolPokerListings Tournament Clock
Want to run a super smooth, perfectly timed No-Limit Texas Hold’em tournament anywhere you want to?
The PokerListings Tournament Clock is the ideal tool to load up on the road, set up on the patio, use at the office or pull up on the big screen for your weekly home game.
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If you like a specific type of tournament you can also custom set anything you like – steep or flat prize structures, deep or turbo blind levels, rebuys or add-ons, etc. Tweak anything to your specific preferences and the other elements will automatically adjust accordingly.
Use the Tournament ClockPokerListings Side Pot Calculator
One of the most confusing aspects of poker for the beginner? Side pots.
What they are. When they’re in play. How much money should be in them. And who wins them when the hand is over.
Bascially, everything about them
Not anymore. The PokerListings Side Pot Calculator cuts through the confusion and breaks poker side pots down in seconds.
All you have to do is add in the amount of chips eahc player has put into the pot, hit “calculate” and you’ll see exactly how the chips should be split between the main pot and any number of side pots.
Use the Side Pot Calculator tool
PokerListings Question of the Day
By far our longest-standing and most popular poker tool, the PokerListings Question of the Week is the ultimate learning opportunity to take your game to the next level.
Why? Because it puts you right in the middle of specific game-play scenarios, asks you to pick your best option and then walks you through to the optimal decision.
Not everyone will agree with the “right” answer. But it’s the process that’s most important here – thinking through your opponent’s range of hands, deciphering what the information available tells you and making the best poker decision based on multiple, diverse factors.
Real-life poker hands, real-life poker answers and one indispensable learning tool.
You can answer Question of the Week on front-page. Click the button below and you’ll be taken there.
Answer the Question of the WeekPokerListings Quiz – Test Your Poker Knowledge
Just how well do you think you know the game of poker and its variations? And just how much are you willing to risk to test it?
The PokerListings Poker Quiz is a fast and fun way for fans to assess their general knowledge.
With a starting bankroll of $10 the aim is to bet and answer your way to a perfect $150 score.
Odds, rules and simple strategy understanding will be tested along the way but you’re allowed to see the question before you make your bet.
Players can take the quiz as many times as they want to get a score they’re satisfied with.
Click on the image to the right to give it a spin.
Take the Poker QuizIndependent Chip Modeling (ICM) determines your equity share of the prize pool in a tournament based on the stack sizes of the remaining opponents and the probability of your finish. With these probabilities, a dollar value can be associated with your stack size.
ICM is usually much more prevalent in SNGs, but can also apply when there are large payout jumps at the final table of a tournament. Most experienced SNG players are very familiar with ICM and it’s use, but may not understand the mechanics behind it, or how to calculate it by hand.
The need for ICM stems from a non-linear value of tournament chips. In all SNGs that are not winner-take-all, or in the heads-up stage, the chips that you risk will be of a lesser value than the chips you stand to gain.
For example, in a 6-man $20 SNG, with prizes of $84 for first place, and $36 for second place, you start with 1500 chips worth $20. If you win you’ll finish with 6 times as many chips as you started with (9000), which are worth 4.2 times as much money as you started with ($84). That may not seem fair, but all of the prize money is distributed at the end, so if you know how to use ICM as a weapon, you will end up with the lion’s share of the prize pool much more often than 1 in 6 times.
The Mechanics behind Calculating ICM
Let’s look at the mechanics behind calculating ICM using an example situation:
- $20 No Limit Hold’em SNG – 6-man.
- Prizes: $84 / $36
- Starting stacks: 1500 (total chips in play = 9000).
- Rick has 4500, Stu has 2700, and Mark has 1800.
- Blinds: 150/300.
The formula starts by calculating how much equity each player has in 1st place money, by looking at what percentage of the total chips a player has in play, and multiplying that by first prize ($84).
From there, the formula has to determine how much equity each player has in second place money ($36).This is a bit more complicated than determining first place equity, but it’s still doable by hand.
If Rick doesn’t win, there are a couple of ways he can take second place. His equity in second prize is the sum total of his equity for the times he doesn’t win, but he beats the remaining player. We will calculate the equity he has in second prize:
We should do the same for Stu:
and Mark:
…and if you add it up, this is what you get:
Armed with this information each player can use it to their advantage. Rick should know that he can shove on Stu’s big blind quite frequently. Stu will know he is risking $38.70 when he calls, and will get barely half of that back when he wins, so he will have to win more than 60% of the time to make a call if Rick pushes on him, and since only some hands win that often against Rick’s wide pushing range, he will fold a lot. Mark will know that if the others are in a lot of pots together, he may end up getting second by default, which drives his equity up from $27.09 to at least $36 (second prize) on a hand where he folded before the flop!
The Limitations of ICM
Independent Chip Modeling (ICM) is one of the most accurate ways to analyze the current value of your chip stack in a Sit & Go. But because it’s a purely math-based formula it misses some intangibles that the math doesn’t account for that should affect your decisions.
Lets look at some of these intangibles.
ICM Underestimates the Chip Leader’s Value
This is by far the biggest limitation of ICM. If we’re playing a $20 SNG with a total of 13,500 chips in play (9-man, 1,500 starting stacks), and the remaining stacks are as follows; 6750, 2250, 2250, 2250, then ICM calculates the equity of the 6,750 stack by assuming that since he has half of the chips in play (6750/13500 = 50%), then he will win half the time. However, even if these players are equally skilled, the 6,750 stack will be able to use his leverage to dominate the table, and perhaps win as often as 60-65% of the time. This means that being the chip leader is an advantage that ICM does not account for.
How to adjust your game…
If you’re the chip leader, call a push less often than ICM would suggest that you do to protect your lead. If you’re a middle stack and calling would give you the chip lead, then call wider than ICM would suggest so that, should you win, you get to reap the benefits.
While a tight game is the cornerstone of early-game success, don’t over do it by making drastic changes to your ranges by playing much tighter than you would in a cash game or MTT. Simply play slightly tighter in a SNG than these other formats. By accumulating chips in the early going, you are setting yourself up to have the chip lead going into the bubble phase of the game, and you’ll enjoy this benefit.
ICM and the Position of the Blinds
ICM doesn’t account for the position of the blinds. This is important to remember especially when the blinds get high, or when two players have very short stacks. Here is an example. Stacks 7100, 4900, 600, 400, with payouts of $45 ,$27, $18. Blinds are 300-600. Here is the ICM calculation:
In this situation, with the blinds at 300-600, ICM shows that Mark’s stack is worth $12.99 and Doyle’s is worth $8.73. The truth of the matter is that the biggest consideration is which player will be in the big blind next. Should Mark have to play from the big blind before Doyle, then Doyle’s equity is higher than Mark’s because Doyle is facing elimination first.
How to adjust your game…
If you are going to eat a big blind that is more than one-third of your stack soon, before anyone else will, then shove wider to protect your stack. You don’t want to be forced to call with a bad hand in the big blind.
If you’re short stacked but someone else will face elimination before you within the next few hands, play a very tight range.
ICM Assumes Fixed Blinds
ICM assumes fixed blinds and does not account for blind increases, or fold equity. One of your largest weapons in poker, other than your chips and your cards, is your fold equity, which is your ability to win an uncontested pot when you push your chip stack. Your fold equity diminishes as your chip stack diminishes, but should you drop below 5 big blinds, your fold equity diminishes drastically, as your opponents will often be committed to call any push you make.
If you have 5-9BB or 8-12BB with the blinds about to increase, you are in a position where your stack will likely drop. In this situation you are in immediate danger of falling below this 5BB threshold. ICM calculates the number of chips you have divided by the number of chips in play to determine your equity, so it has no knowledge of this.
How to adjust your game…
If you are using an ICM calculator to determine your pushing range and you are going to lose your fold equity if you do not push, then push wider than recommended.
If a solid player is in danger of losing their fold equity, and they push, realize they may be shoving a wider range, and call slightly wider than ICM recommends.
If the other effective stacks are dropping below 5BB as well, then do not push wider, because even if you gain chips, your fold equity is gone anyway, as your opponents with 4BB and less will call you with a similar range whether you have 4BB, 6BB, or 14BB.
Conclusion
Poker Tournament Starting Chips Calculator Monthly
Understanding the concept of ICM fundamental to success in SNGs. You don’t need to be a math geek to understand ICM – just being aware of the concept is the most valuable knowledge a successful SNG player can possess. If you can find a hand history of your own, then take an example of two, and work through it yourself. Play around with ICM calculators and study situations away from the table. It’s a great way to learn.
As was said at the beginning of this lesson – due to the non-linear value of tournament chips, the chips that you risk will be of a lesser value than those you stand to gain. Therefore the most important thing to remember is that your last chip is always going to be your most valuable chip. If you’ve fully grasped this concept then you’ll know that your chips and the leverage they provide is your biggest weapon.
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Poker Tournament Prize Calculator
By Jennifear
Jennifear is an online professional MTT and SNG player. She is a well-regarded, highly experienced and hugely popular poker coach who has taught hundreds of successful players.