[Closed] ICM trainer

Hi Mugg88!

There was no time for a news, yet. I will add it later. But feel free to make a review

Good luck at the tables!
Puschkin81

Well I have tried it out now and have my first comments

First of all: To get the english version, go to extras -> Sprache -> English (default is German and took me a little while to find out that it was even possible to get it in english - would be nice to add at the top of the guide )

With that said I think the program looks very sweet, especially for a freeware program and it's definately good to practice the endgame in sng's..

There are still room for improvements though: It uses the nash equilibrium to calculate the optimal hand ranges of us and our opponents, and here comes the problem: Most of us are playing low stakes SNG's where our opponents isn't following the ICM calculations very much if following it at all, which means their ranges are very likely to be different from what we see in this program. This fact may turn some of our decissions from +$EV (according to the nash equilibrium) to -$EV (in the actual SNG we're playing) since our opponent calls looser/pushes tighter than we practice here. This could be solved if we were able to adjust our opponents ranges (like in SNGwiz as an example) so we could test ourself in situations more similar to the ones we experience at the tables. Another great point about being able to adjust the ranges is that you could look at a specific situation and try to adjust your opponent, so you will know what happens to your own range if he pushes/calls loose or tight..

I tried the option to show the ranges in "filter settings", but a downside with this is that your own optimal range is also shown which tells you excatly what the correct decission is, if you got just a little pratice with hand-ranges.

To sum up: It's a very nice program and I believe it's probably the best freeware ICM tool on the web, but there are a few features which would have been very useful. One thing to add on the plus side is that it's looking nice and it's very easy to configure.
Still I would rate it 4,5/6

That's my 5 cent

Good job PS and keep up the brilliant work,
Mugge

90 % on 134 situations without reading the articles, seems ok

i got 82% over 80 hands or something :(. Program's for practice though, eh? :P.

I'm getting around 95% when practicing (did read the articles though;) ) Guess I will keep practicing and then return to SNG's when I got the roll and 100% correct answers ♦

very sexy tool, sticking around 90%, thanks ps, very very nice.

@ Mugge88

IMHO the Nash ranges are the biggest advantage of this tool has vs any other software. It is true, I am playing the mid limits, and not the low buyins, but the ranges are way more reasonable then any I have found in SNG wizard so far.
Added to this, the problem with the SNG wizard Quiz is, when you the the exact calling range of your opponent, your decision is much easier, even if you don't understand why he is calling with this range in this spot. With the PS tool you have to think in lines like "how does my push look for my opponent". This helps to improve your game a lot, and isn't necessary for the SNG wizard quiz at all.

But when you want to adjust the tool to the low limits, you may adjust Hero Edge in the Filter, just add some % points and see how this changes your decisions.

Cards: 9 :diamond:4
Blinds: 300/600
Position: SB

Your decision was wrong.
Your action was: Fold
The correct action is: Push

Pushing all-in with 94 suited? Really? Because after getting trained by this, I pushed and was called by JT, easily lost. Did the calculations and the odds were easily in my opponent's favour..

Could someone explain to me why it's profitable to push with 94 suited? Because it seems pushing with these hands, I'd only get called by a hand that easily beats me.

You always have to take a look at the whole situation, you can't push 94s in every situation.

Yes, you will most likely only be called by a hand that you are the underdog against, but all the times you don't get called (which will be alot), you will get the blinds, and even the times you get called you will most likely only be in a 40/60 situation or something similar..

In short: Blinds, stacks and position all have alot to say when deciding when it's +$EV to push.. Often these factors have more to say that the actual two cards you are holding.

Best regards,
Mugge

Yeah, I'm just saying following the advice of this trainer you'd end up the underdog a lot..

I mean Q2 suited, push at 400/800 vs 6960 stack.. if your opponent is going to call you with that stack size, it'll likely be with at least K7+.

I answered fold, it said I was wrong.. hmm.

Hi guys!

Don't worry. The calculations are based on a huge database and even take fold equity into consideration. In some situations it is very profitable to push with Q2s. But it really depends on a very specific situation.

Good luck at the tables!
Puschkin81

@Altruist

That is excactly the point.. he needs a very good hand to call you, which will make the push profitable, since he most of the times won't call you..

pretty much sorted all the holes in my ICM play now (95% of holes were that I was too tight with SB pushing, and BB calling ranges).

Problem is applying it in tournaments. I'm fine if people play perfectly to ICM (and I've pretty much always been OK with this), but if people start limping in, making min-raises (with a small stack) etc. I find it very difficult to adjust.

Probably another issue with ICM is that I like to have a nice high ROI. Perfect ICM play by everyone (and purely ICM play) for an entire tournament pretty much only guarantees you >-7% ROI (3% edge, -10% for tournament entry).

Oh well, it's no big problem, fish are far from perfect :P.

Originally posted by chenny8888
>-7% ROI (3% edge, -10% for tournament entry)

You misunderstood something, the edge of 3% grants you an edge on every decision you make, usually you make more than one decision in a SNG and hence the edge adds up. And when 10 players would meet for 10k SNGs and every player would play mathematically perfect, then your ROI would be -10%.

oh my bad, good point on the 3% thing.

Point still stands though: the calling/overcalling ranges in ICM trainer only apply for when the villains are playing near-perfect ICM.

Yes and you have to realise how good the player is and what his range in any situation will be. You have to adjust your play vs every villain, that is a fact, but this trainer helps you with your play and allows you to train these situations.

When you play at the table there is no way to play mathematically perfect, but it is our job, too adjust what we have learned, to come as close as possible to the perfect game.

simple question: where is it best to keep the "Hero edge in %" scrool?

Probebly 0%