What ICM is
ICM (Independent Chip Model) turns tournament chips into money. It starts from a simple idea: your chance of finishing 1st is your share of the chips. Then it does the same math for 2nd place among the remaining players, and so on. Adding up the chances of each place, multiplied by the prizes, gives you what your stack is worth.
An example on the bubble
In the example that comes filled in, four players are fighting for three prizes: 50, 30 and 20. The player with 40% of the chips is worth 33.6% of the prizes; the one with 10% of the chips is worth 13.3%. Each of the chip leader’s chips is worth less than each of the short stack’s chips. That’s why, on the bubble, losing chips costs more than winning chips helps, and calling an all-in takes a stronger hand than early in the tournament.
ICM and rakeback in tournaments
In tournaments, the rake is the entry fee: in a $10 + $1 tournament, the $1 is the site’s fee. Rakeback gives part of those fees back every month, and for players who play a lot of tournaments it adds up fast. To see how much comes back at each site, use the rakeback calculator.