previous page

1 2 3 4 5

next page

1. Introduction

• Gigabet and the classification of chips
  
• The 35% rule

As already explained in the “ICM” article, there are situations in which the Independent Chip Model hits the brick wall. At times it makes sense to make an -$EV push UTG as you would pay the big blind in the next hand and thus diminish your fold equity.

Another concept allocates different values to the individual chips in the stack and sometimes requires a -$EV move as the chips you bet are worth less than those you can win. This may sound abstract, but we are going to try and explain the concept as elaborately and plausibly as possible in this article.

Introductory example:

PartyPoker Step 5 SnG
Blinds t50/t100
8 Players left
Seat 1: MP2 ( t1005 )
Seat 3: MP3 ( t840 )
Seat 4: Cutoff ( t1490 )
Seat 5: Button ( t410 )
Seat 6: SB ( t1495 )
Seat 7: BB ( t2135 )
Seat 9: UTG+2 ( t2080 )
Seat 10: MP1 ( t545 )

Pre-flop: Hero is BB with Q , 3
2 folds, MP2 calls t100, 1 fold, Cutoff calls t100, Button raises to t410 and is all-in, 1 fold,
Hero ?

What would you do?

Surely most people would now say “Easy fold”. Of course the button has a bigger push range here as he only has a stack of 4 BB. But why should you invest one fifth of your stack into a hand, with which you only have 2 live cards at the most, and further people are still acting behind you? If you assume that the button pushed here with any pair, any 2 Broadway cards and A7s+, then Hero only has an equity of barely 31%. Thus he should probably fold.

But the Hero in this hand had a different opinion: Hero re-raises to t2035 and is all-in.

And this isn't some regular or fish, but “Gigabet”, a very strong SnG player. Why Gigabet made this push will be explained hereafter.