So I have been having some discussions about this and am really unsure about the correct answer (if there is an exact answer). I am from an stt background so for me any FT is always played in $ ev mode using icm. However due to the top heavy pay structure of a 180 is it correct to discard icm until 3 players left (this is when pay jumps get big) or is it correct to play in $ ev as we are now playing for $ not chips.
Poker Stars $2.28+$0.22 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t2000/t4000 Blinds + t400 - 4 players - View hand 2219403
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter
Hero (SB): t55902 M = 7.36
BB: t39794 M = 5.24
CO: t30946 M = 4.07
BTN: t143358 M = 18.86
Pre Flop: (t7600) Hero is SB with A♠ 8♥
1 fold, BTN raises to t142958 all in, 2 folds
Final Pot: t11600
BTN wins t11600
Villain is 3/3 jams on BTN and 6/6 jams from SB so for arguments sake and ease of discussion we can just give him an ATC jamming range here.
So here are some calculations using holdem resources calc
Cev
R 143k BU 100.0%, Any two
C 54k SB 52.6%, 22+ Kx+ Q2s+ Q5o+ J4s+ J7o+ T6s+ T8o+ 97s+ 87s
A8o is + 2.7% or +3.31bb
ICM
R 143k BU 100.0%, Any two
C 54k SB 3.8%, 88+ AQs+
A8o is -1.4%
This hand is obv just one of many examples where playing cev and icm differ hugely hence we have to learn each one and when to employ each strategy. The post is not really about this specific hand but more for getting opinions. Of course if there is some 1bb stack ready to bust (extreme example) then we are not gonna take small Cev edges even if we are gonna disregard ICM as an FT strategy.
