Cash equity at the final tournament table

November 12, 2006

Originally written by Rafe Furst of Full Tilt Poker

While cardsharping the final tournament table of the $1,500 Pot-limit Holdem event, I found myself in a mean condition when we were down to four-handed play. I was in the big blind and Rizen, a solid, respected internet tournament professional, was in the small blind. It was folded to Rizen who attested that he would raise the pot. With forced bets of $15k/$30k, his raise made it $400,000 to me.

At the time, I had nearly $400k in chips; Rizen had 750k and the 2 other players had near $250,000 each.

I peaked at my cards and found As-8s, a pretty good holding in short play. I determined to make a pot-sized bet. My total bet was 180,000. Rizen instantly put in another raise, putting me to put all my chips in.

The pot contained $580k ($400k from Rizen, $180,000 from me) and I had 220,000 left. I was getting just about 3 to 1 odds, so this appeared to be an instant call. I had to win the pot only about 27 percent of the time to justify a call.

Against a large pair in the hole (other than aces), my A-8 suited would win approximately 32 percent of the time. Against a bigger ace (A-K, A-Q, etc), my A-8 suited would win around 30 percent of the time. There was also a non-zero (though small) chance I was up against a small pocket pair and would win approximately 50% of the time.

The equity involved in this decision was the same either way. The same result would occur over the long term, whether i folded or i called. To find the correct action, I had to consider and seek more than just pot odds and consider (a) what this hand would do to my cash for the poker tournament (i.e., which action would maximize my expected cash payout) and (b) how this hand will affect my odds of winning the poker tournament.

Several factors mattered when looking at my cash equity:

1 - Each chip in a small stack is more valuable in terms of cash-equity than each chip in a large stack. By making a call in this circumstance I would have been wagering valuable chips to pick up chips of low value.

2 - Folding takes away any chance of busting. By folding, I would give my opponents a chance to bust on subsequent hands, payout me up to a larger payday.

After determining what to do, it seemed that folding would be my best option. However, I had to consider how folding would effect my ability to conquer the bracelet - which was my top concern. Would I be putting myself out of the running by quitting on so many chips? Not really.

When there are over two people playing to spare, each additional chip you get has a lower change on your ability to acquire the tournament. So when the chip equity choice is a toss up, you are more preferable off folding than you are attempting to accumulate more chips.

If at any time find yourself in a close situation, you should also keep in mind that there’s a large difference between moving all in and calling all-in. When you move in, you can net the pot by forcing a fold. When you call, this obviously isn’t viable.

I determined to fold and wait for a more preferable place, and I’m very glad that I did.

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3 Responses to “Cash equity at the final tournament table”

paulhouk03 on November 13th, 2006 7:17 am

What happened. where did you end up finishing and how much did u get?? This drama is killing me!!!
paulhouk03 on November 13th, 2006 7:54 pm

WHAT HAPPENED, how much did u win the suspense is killing me
rxracer on November 14th, 2006 11:28 pm

He won it … the episode has been released.

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Cash equity at the final tournament table

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