Do You Study ICM Away From the Tables?

I'm starting to realize that ICM is one of the toughest parts of MTT strategy to learn by just playing. It feels like reviewing final table and bubble spots afterward is much more valuable than guessing in the moment. How do you study ICM, and what resource or habit helped you improve the most?

I used to review every game, just looking at errors and adjusting ranges.

Think it helped me out a lot. Its also a great way to go if you change formats often- just to make sure you got the icm down.

TeUnit said:

I used to review every game, just looking at errors and adjusting ranges.

Think it helped me out a lot. Its also a great way to go if you change formats often- just to make sure you got the icm down.

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Would love your ICM review of that hand on the stone bubble with an UTG open

I import all my SnG hands to ICMizer and let the program look for theoretical mistakes in push/fold situations. I dont do this with MTT hands, because it would be very tedious to create the exact payout structure for each game. But many of the SnGs are On Demand games from PokerStars and ACR Poker, which have a final table very similar to that of larger MTTs.

The way, it works, is, that I import for instance 400 hands from 32-man SnGs on PokerStars, and then the program analyse all the push-fold situations and list them with the biggest theoretical mistakes at the top. I then look at those one by one to see, if the assumptions made by ICMizer about my opponents range is realistic. If not I adjust the range manually and run the analysis again to see, if I still made a mistake.

I have done pretty well in the 32-mans on PokerStars lately, and I think, at least some of this is due to the fact, I now make less mistakes in push/fold situations than I used to, and that most of my opponents are still making. It is important to note though, that ICMizer only look at push/fold situation, so it does not help with postflop decisions.

Studying ICM away from the tables helps you make better tournament decisions. Focus on stack sizes, shove/call ranges, survival versus chip accumulation, and review hands with ICM tools to improve your long-term results.

Yeah, I definitely study ICM away from the tables, and honestly I think it’s one of the most underrated parts of tournament poker. At the table, especially deep in an MTT, you don’t have the luxury of running calculations or breaking down payout structures in detail — you need those instincts already built. That’s why working on ICM spots off the felt is so important. I’ll run sims, look at push/fold charts, and review past hands where I felt unsure about whether to shove, call, or fold near the bubble or final table. The more you drill those scenarios, the more automatic the decisions become when the pressure is on.

Bitmaniac said:

I'm starting to realize that ICM is one of the toughest parts of MTT strategy to learn by just playing. It feels like reviewing final table and bubble spots afterward is much more valuable than guessing in the moment. How do you study ICM, and what resource or habit helped you improve the most?

Click to expand...

I've been using ICMizer for the first time this year, and is really useful.
You can review your hands, and also there's some quizzes (Ive realized that I don't know the plural of quiz 😅) to practice different spots in different stages and tournament formats.

Yes, I think studying ICM away from the tables helps a lot. Personally, I would review bubble and final-table hands afterward and compare my decisions with an ICM calculator. I think this helps you recognize patterns and makes it easier to apply them during the game. The habit that would help me the most is saving the hands I was unsure about and analyzing them later.