What in the Word(s).....I.C.M. Explained (kindof)
August 28th, 2024 Newsletter
Cold Deck Quote:
"I had to make a choice between being a lawyer or a professional gambler. I chose the more honorable of the two." - Chip Reese
What in the word...... "ICM"
Me practicing my bubble technique. (i.e. hanging on)
I.C.M. stands for Independent Chip Model. If you want to delve into that actual definition and it's origins, please do so but here I would rather discuss what it practically means for NLH tournaments.
I.C.M. can be thought of as pressure and it has to do with how your stack equates to real money.
We have all, unfortunately, been the bubble boy or girl. That feeling of being out of the tournament vs hanging on in the tournament defines a bit of this pressure.
First of all, it is a term that will only be used in a tournament context as there is no ICM pressure in a cash (ring) game.
Secondly, know that the pressures of ICM are dynamic in that it fluctuates with stack size and stage of tournament. The bubble of the tournament is when ICM pressure is highest. There is very little ICM pressure at the beginning of the tournament and there is zero once you get heads up. If you have a very large stack, you should feel little pressure. Similarly, when you have a very short stack, the pressure isn't at the max. It is the medium stacks that are threatened the most by this phenomenon.
This concept isn't the easiest to explain so bear with me as I try to give an example. Imaging you are on the bubble (or approaching it) and you have a medium stack while the big stack is (appropriately) raising almost every single hand. There are several stacks that are shorter than you that you can simple wait out and make the money. The problem is if you wait too long, once you cash, you wont have many chips left to battle to try to win the tournament.
The idea and internal battle of whether to fight back against the big stack or to simply fold your way in is the pressure of ICM. The big stack obviously wants you to keep folding to his raises. The small stacks want you to fight back and risk your own tournament life (so they have the chance to cash).
So you, as the medium stack on the bubble are incentivized to fold most of your range against a big stack that is open raising wider that EV would dictate.
You may think "I don't care about min cashing, I want to win the tournament." That's probably true for a lot of us at small stakes games.
However, image you are on the ultimate bubble of the WSOP main event. There are 1500 people out of the original 10000 entrants and you have 7 big blinds left but the big stack at your table raises to 2 BBs and you look down at KK. In most of our playing experience, KK would be an slam dunk overshove. However you know that if you fold you will likely be in the money in the next couple hands after some short stack at another table busts.
The entry for the main is $10,000 and the min cash is $15,000. This is a lot of money for most people and even if it isn't for you, it represents a lot of poker tournament buyins.
Taking this example further, even if you reshove and everyone folds including the big stack, you only gain 3.5 BBs so now you would have a stack of 10.5 BB. You would STILL have a huge uphill battle to get back to a workable stack to make a run at winning or final tabling. The reward simply isn't worth the risk.
That's the gist of it. You could imagine the same scenario in our game with the points race. Imagine it is the last Tuesday of April and all you need is 2 points and you go to Vegas with the package. Imagine the ICM on your own personal bubble to at least place 3rd when there are 4 players left!
The point is, at some point in your poker life, you have felt this pressure but maybe didn't have the term to describe it. Well, you can call it ICM.
Check out the video in the Coach's Corner for further analysis on this important concept.
We have now tied our record of 27 players 4 times. Let's try to make 28 next week!
This week's Tip of the Cap goes to.... our Wisconsin group for recruiting some new players. Thank you Thurstons' and Company and welcome aboard!
Zoom with Joe! Joe hosts a free zoom meetup during our Tuesday Freezeout games. Give it a try if that sounds like fun.
The ZOOM password is 432777
2025 Points Leaders
- Joe Schwenk 15
- Garrett Thurston 13
- Michael Thurston 9
- Moody 8
- Ryan Conner 8
- Andrew Schultz 8
Recent Results
- August, 20th, 2024
- 1st - Dan W.
- 2nd - Michael T.
- 3rd - Chris L
- 4th - Joe
- August 27th, 2024
- 1st - Garrett T
- 2nd - Noel S.
- 3rd - Brenda A.
- 4th - Andrew S
Coach's Corner
ICM is explained here by our man Jonathan much better that I ever could. I highly recommend watching this one especially if you tend to bubble a lot.
Learn to play the bubble!
Level: Fundamental
2025 Points Leaders
- Joe Schwenk 15
- Garrett Thurston 13
- Michael Thurston 9
- Moody 8
- Ryan Conner 8
- Andrew Schultz 8
Recent Tuesday Freezeout Results
- August, 20th, 2024
- 1st - Dan W.
- 2nd - Michael T.
- 3rd - Chris L
- 4th - Joe
- August 27th, 2024
- 1st - Garrett T
- 2nd - Noel S.
- 3rd - Brenda A.
- 4th - Andrew S
Coach's Corner
ICM is explained here by our man Jonathan much better that I ever could. I highly recommend watching this one especially if you tend to bubble a lot.
Learn to play the bubble!
Level: Fundamental
Venmo Addresses
Michael Culpepper - @Michael-Culpepper-14
Joe Schwenk - @Joseph-Schwenk
Jonathan Ayala - @Jonathan-Ayala-55
Have any questions or feedback for this newsletter? If so, please email me
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