Table equity percentage is your portion of the table’s $EV in a tournament. ICM EV is measured as the change to your table equity percentage compared to folding. This reflects not so much a reduction in the value of opening these hands as an increase in the value of folding them. Slightly stronger hands (55, K6 ♠, Q7 ♠), which were pure opens with 50% remaining, are now on the margins and indifferent between raising and folding. In an 8 or 9-handed MTT, the ante would typically be larger still, and the BB would be incentivized to play even weaker hands.ĬO tightens up to 28.6% of hands, and hands that were at the margins of their opening range with 50% remaining (44, K4 ♠, Q6 ♠) now strictly prefer to fold. Facing the same raise in an MTT, they must call 1.5BB into a pot of 4.8BB. More money in the pot also increases the value of the chips BB has already invested 💰 In a cash game, the BB must call 1.5BB into a pot of 4BB. In a single-raised pot, the BB’s call closes the action, so pot odds more directly determine which hands will show a profit. When any other player considers entering the pot, they must assess not only the amount they will wager relative to the pot but also the risk of other players behind them calling or re-raising 🙋‍♂️ This forces them to play tighter than pot odds alone would dictate. This effect is even more dramatic for the big blind, who closes the action and has the option to contest the pot at a discount.

Opening Aces is worth 13.29BB when antes are in play but only 9.62BB without antes. Notice that the EV of all hands is also higher in the MTT because there is more money in the pot.

BTN opens 42% of hands in the cash game compared to 53% in the MTT.

Online poker tournaments vs cash games