Calling All‑Ins in Tournaments: Price First, Then ICM
Calling all‑ins in tournaments starts with the price: compare what you must call with the pot you can win. In the big blind against a 10-big-blind all‑in from the small blind, without antes, you call 9 to win a pot of 20: 45% equity is enough in chips. Then check the hands that move all‑in, and, near the money, how much ICM raises the threshold.
Check a price yourself
Enter the pot and the amount to call:
What each all‑in size asks for
Small blind all‑in, big blind to call, blinds 0.5 / 1, no antes:
| All‑in | To call | Final pot | Equity needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5bb | 4bb | 10bb | 40% |
| 10bb | 9bb | 20bb | 45% |
| 15bb | 14bb | 30bb | 46.7% |
| 20bb | 19bb | 40bb | 47.5% |
A♠9♦ against five all‑ins of 10 big blinds
Before the flop, the call needs 45%:
| Small blind's hand | A♠9♦'s equity | Against this hand, in chips |
|---|---|---|
| A♣4♥ | 67.5% | call |
| K♥T♥ | 54.2% | call |
| Q♦J♦ | 53.8% | call |
| 5♣5♦ | 44.8% | fold |
| A♥J♣ | 27.3% | fold |
A♠9♦ is ahead of a weaker ace and of two unpaired cards below the ace, just short against a small pair, and far behind a better ace.
Against a range, not a hand
The small blind does not show its cards. In the heads-up push/fold equilibrium computed on this site, at 10 big blinds the small blind moves all‑in with 58.3% of starting hands and the big blind calls with 37.4%, A♠9♦ included: against that whole range, A♠9♦ has 57.4% equity, well above the 45% price. Move the slider and switch players to see both ranges at each stack depth:
What ICM changes
Near the money, the chip price is a floor. On this site's bubble example (4 players, 3 paid places, stacks of 4,000, 3,000, 2,000 and 1,000), the 3,000 stack calling the 2,000 stack's all‑in needs 59.7% instead of 50% in chips.
Keep going
- What ICM changes near the money: the tournament bubble.
- How chips become prize money: ICM explained.
- The price of any call: pot odds.
- Why A♥J♣ crushes A♠9♦: dominated hands.
- A pair against two higher cards: pair vs overcards.
- One spot every day: the daily poker puzzle.
- The hands to shove and call by stack depth: the push fold chart.
- A pocket pair against a bigger pair: pocket pair vs pocket pair.
For a practice plan covering every stage of a tournament, see our MTT poker trainer.
To know where you stand, first count your stack size in big blinds.
Sources
- Every equity is computed by exact enumeration with the app's equity module and every price with its pot odds module, checked on October 11, 2026; the 59.7% comes from the bubble example of this site; the push and call ranges, and A♠9♦'s equity against the push range, come from this site's heads-up push/fold chart (data/pushfold/hu-chart.json).