Look beyond your two cards
The same hand plays differently early in a tournament, near the money bubble and at a final table. Before choosing an action, identify what makes the situation distinctive.
Your stack in big blinds
Count effective blinds against each opponent involved. With 35 blinds against a player holding 12, the heads-up matchup is not played 35 blinds deep.
The players behind you
Their positions, stacks and tendencies affect your opening decision as much as the strength of your hand.
Antes and bet sizes
Reconstruct the dead money and the actual price of each decision. A range studied under a different structure may give misleading reference points.
The bubble, payout jumps and bounties
Compare players remaining with paid places, then examine the next payout jumps. In progressive knockout tournaments (PKOs), also consider the bounties of opponents your stack allows you to eliminate.
Organise your study by stack depth
These stack groups help classify exercises. They are not rigid boundaries: position, antes and payout pressure remain essential.
Build your ranges and postflop game
Study single-raised pots, big-blind defence and 3-bet pots. In reviews, examine how hands develop on several turns before deciding that a flop is âeasy to betâ.
Prepare your response to a raise
Before opening, consider the stacks that can shove behind you. Study your opens, calls against shoves and your own reshoves together.
Compare preflop options
Study shove and call ranges, but also small raises and defences where they belong in the spot. Being short-stacked does not automatically turn every decision into push or fold.
A simple exercise: compare a button-versus-big-blind matchup at 40, 25 and 15 blinds. Note which hands change roles. This builds more lasting reference points than memorising a single chart.
ICM: understand what is really at risk
Winning chips and gaining tournament value
ICM estimates a stackâs value from every playerâs chips and the payout distribution. It helps explain why a profitable chip decision can become less attractive when it risks your tournament life near a payout jump.
The pressure differs by opponent. A player who covers you can eliminate you; a short stack you cover does not expose you in the same way. Learn to recognise that difference.
For the concepts and calculation, see GTO Wizardâs introduction to ICM.
At the bubble
Identify who can apply pressure and who needs to protect their position. Keep opening and calling decisions separate: taking the initiative and calling an all-in expose you to different risks.
At the final table
Record all stacks and the payout for every place. A very short stack can change decisions for players who are not even involved in that playerâs hand. Read the explanation of short stacks and payout jumps.
A review example: 25 blinds at a final table
Study situation · fictional example
You are on the button between two stack sizes
You · BTN
25 bb
Small blind
60 bb
Big blind
8 bb
You are considering an open. The small blind covers you comfortably, while the big blind can commit 8 blinds. Before searching for a range, separate the two possible responses.
- 01
If the small blind shoves
Your tournament life may be at stake. Record the other final-table stacks and payout jumps before studying your calling range.
- 02
If only the big blind shoves
The price to call and the risk to your stack differ. Study this matchup separately, keeping the other playersâ exact actions.
- 03
Make a meaningful comparison
Rebuild the same situation in an ICM tool, then change just one factor: another short stack, a larger payout jump or a shallower small blind.
This exercise teaches you to read pressure around the table. To move on to calculations, our ICMIZER guide explains its approach to preflop decisions and ICM.
Save useful hands for your reviews
Bustout hands are easy to remember. Small pots, blind defences and opportunities to take the initiative deserve attention too. Group hands by theme to see recurring decisions.
Your MTT review notes
- Context: tournament format, blind level, antes, players remaining and payout structure.
- Stacks: the players in the hand, then other stacks relevant to the ICM analysis.
- Decision: what you did, the alternatives you considered and the information you lacked.
- Follow-up study: a family of ranges, a matchup at a given depth or a specific bubble spot.
For tournament situations, GTO Wizard combines range study with targeted exercises. PokerSnowie offers another way to work on No-Limit Holdâem postflop play through practice and decision analysis. When payout jumps determine the hand, continue the review in an MTT environment with ICM.
Two tools to take your game further
Put these ideas into practice with a focused spot in GTO Wizardâs Trainer, or play complete hands against PokerSnowie before analysing your decisions.
GTO Wizard
Understand ranges and study a spot in depth. Explore solutions, then practise decisions that come up at your tables.
Start with the Free plan
PokerSnowie
Learn through practice. Play against AI, review your decisions and identify recurring mistakes: a useful partner for building a regular training habit.
10-day free trial
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A playing schedule and a study schedule
Choose tournaments you have time to finish and budget for possible re-entries. For study, rotate between preflop, postflop and late-stage play: hands marked in your last session can point to your current priority.
New to MTTs? Learn the rules, positions and stack depths with free resources. Save advanced tools for when you have a specific question to explore and want to return to it regularly.
Explore further with a drill