Tournament Foundations

A tournament starts with 20,000 chips at blinds of 100/200. How deep is your stack?

20,000 ÷ 200 = 100 big blinds.

With a big blind ante, how big is the pot before anyone acts?

Small blind 0.5 + big blind 1 + big blind ante 1 = 2.5bb.

Why are small pocket pairs more valuable early in a tournament?

Sets come about 12% of the time; deep stacks let them win big pots when they do.

Why is a 50/50 all-in for your whole stack early in a tournament slightly worse than in a cash game?

Survival has value in tournaments because of the payout structure and your future edge.

With a 2.5bb pot (big blind ante), you open to 2bb on the button. Roughly how often must the blinds fold for the steal to break even (ignoring equity when called)?

Risk 2 to win 2.5: 2 ÷ 4.5 ≈ 44%.

The button opens to 2bb with a big blind ante in play and the small blind folds. What equity does the big blind need to call?

Pot = 4.5bb. Call 1bb to win 5.5bb: 1 ÷ 5.5 ≈ 18%.

Roughly what share of a large tournament field is usually paid?

Most events pay around 10–20% of the field, with most of the money at the final table.

With 18bb in the big blind facing a button steal, which weapon becomes more important?

At 10–20bb, a re-shove uses maximum fold equity and avoids hard spots out of position.