--- title: "ICM Calculator: Tournament Prize Equity" url: "https://georgelipoker.com/tools/icm-calculator.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelipoker.com/tools/icm-calculator" last_updated: "2026-10-22" type: "tool" summary: "Free ICM calculator: enter chip stacks and payouts to see each player’s exact prize equity, plus the bubble factor for any all-in call." related: ["https://georgelipoker.com/tools.md"] --- # ICM Calculator: Tournament Prize Equity Free ICM calculator: enter chip stacks and payouts to see each player’s exact prize equity, plus the bubble factor for any all-in call. The ICM calculator turns chip stacks and payouts into each player’s exact prize equity, using the Malmuth-Harville model, and adds a bubble factor for any all-in call. Enter 2 to 10 players and the payouts for up to as many places. ## How to use it Enter a chip stack for each player and the payout for each place, then read each player’s prize equity. To price a call, add a bubble factor: choose the player deciding (hero) and the player on the other side (villain), with an optional all-in size. Only whole-number stacks and payouts that never go up from first place down are accepted; anything else shows a message and no number. ## The formula A player holding s of the S chips in play finishes first with chance s / S. Given who finished above, the next place is drawn the same way among the players left. A player’s prize equity is the sum, over every paid place, of the payout times the chance of finishing in that place. ## Worked example With stacks of 5,000, 3,000 and 2,000 chips and payouts of $50, $30 and $20, the prize pool is $100.00. | Player | Stack | Chip share | ICM equity | Share of the pool | Gap to chip share | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Player 1 | 5,000 | 50.00% | $38.39 | 38.39% | $11.61 below chip share | | Player 2 | 3,000 | 30.00% | $32.75 | 32.75% | $2.75 above chip share | | Player 3 | 2,000 | 20.00% | $28.86 | 28.86% | $8.86 above chip share | | Player | Chance of 1st | Chance of 2nd | Chance of 3rd | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Player 1 | 50.00% | 33.93% | 16.07% | | Player 2 | 30.00% | 37.50% | 32.50% | | Player 3 | 20.00% | 28.57% | 51.43% | Chip share and prize equity differ because the prize pool pays in steps: the big stack’s chips are worth less each, and the short stack’s chips are worth more. ## The bubble factor BF = (E(h) - E(h - a)) / (E(h + a) - E(h)), where E(x) is the hero’s prize equity at stack x with the villain’s stack moved by the same chips and a is the all-in size. A call risking R to win G needs R / (R + G) equity in chips and BF x R / (BF x R + G) once prize money counts. Example: player 2 (3,000 chips) calls player 1 (5,000 chips) all in for 3,000. Hero’s equity is $32.75 now, $20.00 after a loss and $41.00 after a win. The bubble factor is 1.55, so the call needs 60.71% equity instead of 50.00%. Common mistakes: counting chips as money, ignoring the jumps between payouts, using ICM for a single hand without the bubble factor, and entering the payouts in the wrong order. ## How this is computed The calculation is exact. Every finishing order is counted through a bitmask over the set of players already placed, which is at most 2^N states for N players (N is at most 10), with no simulation. The equities always add up to the prize pool. Only stacks and payouts count; every player is assumed to be equally skilled. | Structure (pays 50/30/20) | Biggest stack: chip share | Biggest stack: ICM share | Smallest stack: chip share | Smallest stack: ICM share | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 3 players, even stacks | 33.33% | 33.33% | 33.33% | 33.33% | | 3 players, one chip leader | 66.67% | 42.74% | 11.11% | 25.87% | | 3 players, one short stack | 44.44% | 37.44% | 11.11% | 25.11% | | 4 players, stacks 4,000 down to 1,000 | 40.00% | 33.60% | 10.00% | 13.32% | Computed exactly by the GeorgeLiPoker math library. ## Questions ### What does ICM mean in poker? ICM stands for the Independent Chip Model. It turns every stack into a share of the prize pool by working out each player’s chance of every finishing place from chip counts alone. With stacks of 5,000, 3,000 and 2,000 chips and payouts of $50, $30 and $20, it values the stacks at $38.39, $32.75 and $28.86. ### Why is the chip leader’s equity below its chip share? Prize money pays in steps, so each extra chip adds less than the one before it. The 5,000 stack holds 50.00% of the chips but only 38.39% of the pool, while the 2,000 stack holds 20.00% of the chips and is worth 28.86%. A chip you lose costs more than a chip you win earns. ### What is a bubble factor? The bubble factor is the prize equity you lose when you lose an all-in divided by the prize equity you gain when you win it. For the 3,000 stack calling the 5,000 stack all in it is 1.55, so the call needs 60.71% equity instead of the 50.00% that chips alone suggest. ### Does ICM account for skill or position? No. ICM uses only the stacks and the payouts. It assumes every player is equally skilled and gives each place out in proportion to chips, so it ignores position, blinds, the order of action and anyone’s edge. Use its numbers as a baseline for tournament decisions, then adjust for the opponents you face. ### How many players and places can I enter? Enter 2 to 10 players, each with a whole-number stack, and payouts for up to as many places as there are players. Payouts must stay the same or fall from first place down. A place you leave out pays nothing, so a nine-player table that pays three places needs three payouts. ## Related pages - [ICM examples](https://georgelipoker.com/icm.md): Worked prize equity for 3 to 6 players with two or three places paid. - [Three players, even stacks](https://georgelipoker.com/icm/3-players/pays-three/even.md): What equal stacks are worth when three places pay. - [Four players, one chip leader](https://georgelipoker.com/icm/4-players/pays-three/chip-leader.md): How far a chip leader’s equity sits below its chip share. - [Five players, one short stack](https://georgelipoker.com/icm/5-players/pays-three/short-stack.md): Why the shortest stack is worth more than its chips. - [Push or fold calculator](https://georgelipoker.com/tools/push-fold-calculator.md): Chart-based shoves and calls, heads-up or with prize money. - [Push or fold charts](https://georgelipoker.com/push-fold.md): Every heads-up shove and call range by stack depth. - [Free data downloads](https://georgelipoker.com/data.md): The ICM examples as CSV and JSON. ## Related - [Free Poker Calculators: Odds, Equity and ICM](https://georgelipoker.com/tools.md)