ICM IN MTT'S

[aaaaaaaa]

i dont use ICM in MTT'S at all i just play to win how many of you use ICM in MTT'S and where do u use it on the FT or on the payout/ft bubble? where is it most important and useful the bubble or FT? is it wrong to just play to win?

[AMT]

ICM can be applied in any tournament structure, at all times in the tournament...intuitively deciding when to push fold with given stacks/blinds/reads/ranges is all part of applying ICM ingame...I'm not quite sure how else to answer the question.

edit: sorry, ICM won't apply in likea winner take all sat. but you get the point.

[Newbie236]

It seems to me that optimal ICM theory is very helpful in MTT's. It's helpful when your stack is in the dreaded 5bb-12bb zone. And it's helpful when your remaining active opponents are in that same range. I look at it as basic "profitable-pushing" theory. Especially in SB, BB and BTN situations.

[AcTiOnJaCsOn]

aaaaaaaa i agree with u most of the time that you are playing to win, however there are some spots where ICM is useful in MTT's, but its way more applicable to sit and goes

[Scuba Chuck]

[ QUOTE ]
i dont use ICM in MTT'S at all i just play to win how many of you use ICM in MTT'S and where do u use it on the FT or on the payout/ft bubble? where is it most important and useful the bubble or FT? is it wrong to just play to win?

[/ QUOTE ]

ICM will matter most on the bubble and in the FT as these are spots where cEV and $EV diverge most. My advice is to play with it and go play like 1,000 STTs. In fact, I think every MTTer should play a few STTs to hone their FT skills. By the context of your question, it sounds like you understand the concept of ICM, but don't know how to apply it.

Different from STTs, it's important to have the "just play to win" attitude in MTTs. But I think you will find a big difference between winning players ($$-wise) and high "make the money" players. Essentially, one will likely have a lower ITM% and a high ROI, and conversely for the other (i.e. 15% itm and x,000% ROI vs 40% itm and 100-200% ROI - assuming winning players of course). To my point, learning ICM and how it relates to bubble and FT will help you actually increase your knowledge of "just play to win."

Writing about this reminds me of a live hand Gigabet played in a tourney bubble where as the biggest stack he decided to challenge the 2nd biggest stack who coincidentally happened to be at his table, and immediately on his left. Villain had raised large from utg (suggesting strong hand), and Giga challenged him from the BB. In the end, Giga was pretty sure 2nd stack folded trips, while I think Giga had air. Lots to think about...