Table of content: What is ICM in poker? How to do the calculations involved in ICM poker? Risks involved while you use poker ICM In the poker world, a player's decisions in a particular situation decide whether he/she will win or lose the pot. There are many factors affecting the decisions, and there many concepts that help to improve the decisions. ICM in poker is a concept that helps you improve your decision-making skills. It mainly focuses on determining the player’s current tournament equity to help you make the right move. Let us give you a brief understanding of what this term means.GetMega is an amazing platform that lets you play Hold'em Poker with friends & family with real money. Sounds fun, isn't it? Download the GetMega Hold 'em Poker now!What is ICM in poker?ICM stands for “independent chip model”, allowing players to convert chips into their money equity as a percentage of a total or remaining prize pool. This mathematical model only uses the stack sizes to determine how often a player will finish in each position. The calculation is based on the current number of chips relative to the total number of chips in the game. The important parameters in ICM are just the payout structure and the list of chip stacks, not the skill advantages, position, or size of blinds.The information taken from ICM poker can be utilized to:❏ Help the player to decide on a hand while in the tournament❏ Know the range of hands a player can call another player’s all-in with❏ Determine how the prize pool must be dividedThe main reason for the evolution of ICM poker is the difference between tournaments and cash games. In cash games, the players know the exact value of their stack at all times because they deal in cash only, while this is not the case with multi-table tournaments or SNG (sit-n-go) tournaments. Here the players deal with chipsets, and they do not know the exact value of their stacks without doing any calculations; that is where the concept of ICM comes into the picture.Also Read Mexican Poker: Rules, How To Play, Objectives, & TricksWhat Is OFC Poker (Open Face Chinese) and How Do You Play It?Worst Bad Beats In The History Of Poker & How Players Dealt With ThemHow to do the calculations involved in ICM poker?Here is the step-by-step guide to calculating the tournament equity of any particular player:❏ The first step is determining the size of a player’s stack in terms of poker chips.❏ Now, you have to relate the current chip value to the total number of chips, chip stack/total chips. This represents the possibility of each player winning the tournament.❏ Determine all the different possibilities for how the tournament might end up. This involves:-i) Determining all the possible outcomesii) Determining the possibility of each outcome by starting with the probability of the winner in 1st placeiii) Doing the same as in (ii) step for 2nd place❏ Then relate these equities to the cash amount associated with determining EV:-i) Determine the EV in your denominationii) Add all of them togetheriii) Divide this sum by the total remaining prize pool leftRisks involved while you use poker ICMNo doubt, poker ICM is a very useful strategy for playing tournaments. Many successful players use this model. However, it would be best if you did not take it as a “winning strategy”, as sometimes the table dynamics can create situations where ICM cannot calculate the value.One of the biggest risks involved while using the ICM strategy is against players unaware of this. This is because you rely on your opponents to make correct plays so ICM can correctly determine the required value.Also, this strategy might guarantee not losing money, but you can earn more if you make the correct moves. Blindly following the independent chip model strategy might leave some money on the table.ICM poker might seem like a good strategy, but it isn’t a perfect solution as it doesn’t consider the skills, player position, or who will make the next blind. However, learning ICM is a must if you plan to play tournaments or SNGs, as it is a valuable and flexible model.If you want to play tournaments or SNGs and even cash games in poker daily, download the GetMega App now and register yourself in any contests. Title Slug Betting Rules in Texas Hold’em betting-rules-in-texas-holdem Best Card Games to Play on Diwali best-card-games-to-play-on-diwali How to Play 4 Card Poker? how-to-play-4-card-poker
