A visual guide to SnG Solver

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Game Setup Panel
• Tabs Area
  • Table View Tab
  • Details View Tab
  • Equilibirium Strategy Tree Tab
• Graphs Area
• Hand/Range Selection Dialog
• Menus
• Hotkeys

1. Game Setup Panel
2. Tabs Area
3. Graphs Area

Edit Mode

1. Big/Small blind - Enter the big and small blinds here.
2. Ante - Enter the antes here. If there are no antes, leave blank or enter 0.
3. Payouts - Enter the prize payouts for each finishing postion starting with 1st place.
The payouts have no predefined unit. They can represent whatever you like, it will not affect the analysis as long as the proportions are correct. They could be a percentage of the prize pool (e.g., 50-30-20 for a typical 9-man SnG), the actual prize values (e.g., 108-81-54-27 for a typical $15 18-man SnG), etc...

Most of the examples shown in this guide and throughout this website will show payouts that sum to 1000. This is because most of the graphics in SnG Solver are formatted to fit values that have 3 digits before the decimal place.


4. Stacks- Enter the stacks for each player left at the table starting with the player 1st to act (UTG or "under the gun")




5. Predictive Simulation - This switch controls the algorithm that is SnG Solver uses to calculate chip equity estimates.
   • Complete - In this mode SnG Solver uses the Predictive Simulation Model (PSM) to consider every possible outcome of the future round of play to calculate the most accurate equity estimations and strategy analysis possible. It is this mode that sets SnG Solver apart from other tournament equity/strategy calculators.
   • Off - In this mode SnG Solver reverts to using the standard ICM equations for its calculations. This mode is not recommended for serious analysis and is intended for comparative purposes only.
6. Reset game button - Pushing this button clears the edit boxes for the blinds, antes, payouts and stacks.
7. Solve It! button - When you have finished setting up the game, push the Solve It! button to being calculation. Once calculation has started, the ETA display will show the estimated time to complete calculations and this button will become the Stop button. Pushing Stop will interrupt calculation and return the panel to the Edit Mode.

Solved Mode

1. Hero position - Select the radio button next to a stack to denote the Hero's position. It is from the Hero's point of view that the graphs and strategy analysis will be based. The Hero will always occupy the center/bottom seat in the Table View. All the other views and graphs will automatically update to reflect your choice.
2. Edit game button - Return the game setup panel to Edit Mode and clear any strategy calculations.
3. Elapsed solve time - Displays the total time taken by SnG Solver to perform the equity and strategy calculations.

1. Position label - Identifies each seat by position. Coorisponds to the Stacks labels in the Game Setup panel.
2. Big blind icon
3. Small blind icon
4. Dealer button icon
5. Stack/Equity - Displays the chip count and calculated value of those chips at the beginning of the hand. Equity units are the same as what was used for the Payouts in the Game Setup panel.
6. Opponent's Range (interactive) - Displays the implied action choice and hand range for that action.
   
   The choice of action is based on the actions of the prior seats. The Hero is assumed to "Push" for the purposes of the seats following the Hero.
   
   The opponent ranges default to approximate Nash equilibrium ranges as calculated by SnG Solver. The entire equilibrium solution can be referenced via the Equilibrium Strategy Tree tab. Any range can be changed from its default by clicking on it. Clicking on it will bring up the Range Selection dialog that can be used to modify that range. A range that is set to the default equilibrium value will have "(Equil.)" displayed beside it. If the range has be changed from its default, "(User)" will be displayed after it instead.
   
   Ranges for player actions that are not visible on the Table View can be found and edited from the Details View.
7. Opponent's Action (interactive) - Displays the action for each opponent that acts before the Hero. The opponent's action can be toggled between "Push" and "Fold" by clicking on it. A maximum of 2 opponents may be set to "Push" for a given game.
8. Hero/Villain label - The Hero is indicated by an orange "Hero" label. Those opponents that have their action set to "Push" or are set to be the focus of one of the EV graphs will be labeled as a "Villain".
9. Graph focus indicator - The seat that is the focus of one of the EV graphs will be indicated by "***" at the top of its seat box.
10. Hero's hand (interactive) - A graphical represntation of the Hero's hand. The presence of two Jokers (the default) indicates that no hand has been selected for the Hero. Clicking on the cards will bring up the Hand Selection dialog.
11. Hero's recommended action - If a hand has been selected, this will display either "Push" or "Fold" represnting the action recommended for the Hero. SnG Solver will recommend the action (either Push or Fold) that has the highest EV. If the EV of the action exceeds the calculated RMSD for the Hero's hand, then an exclaimation mark (!) will follow the action label. This inidcates that the recommendation is likely to be accurate even in the face of a relatively large amount of uncertainty about the opponents possible ranges.
12. Hero's +EV range - This is the percentage of hands that are +EV for the Hero. This value might differ slightly from the range listed in the Equilibrium Strategy Tree for the same seat/action. This is because while the equilibrium ranges are calculated using a fixed linear hand ranking, the selection for Hero's +EV range is unrestricted. This range represents the perfect +EV response to the specified ranges of the opponents.

1. Action (Position) column - This column lays out the hierarchy of all possible action combinations that SnG Solver will consider (up to 3 players "all-in" simultaneously). If an opponent's action is set to "Push" on the Table View, it will appear in boldface in this column. If an opponent's action has been set to "Fold", or is otherwise not a possibility due to other player's actions, it will appear dimmed.
2. Range% column (interactive) - Indicates the hand range % for each possible position and action combination. Clicking on the range will bring up the Range Selection dialog that can be used to modify that range. A range that is set to the default equilibrium value will have "(Equil.)" displayed beside it. If the range has be changed from its default, "(User)" will be displayed after it instead.
3. 4. Hero Push/Fold columns - Displays the frequency and equity for each possible action combination given the Hero's decision to either Push or Fold. The "Frequency" is the likelyhood of a particular row being the final action in the hand. So, if a "call" row has a frequency of 60%, it inidicates that 60% of the time, the remaining players in the hand will fold (based on their given overcall ranges). The "Equity" for a row indicates the contribution of that particular combination of actions to the Hero's overall equity.
5. Hero's action - The Hero's action decision point (and position) are indicated in orange.
6. Hero's range/hand (interactive) - If the Hero has been assigned a hand, it will be reflected in the "Range %" cell. Additionally, the frequency and equity calculations will reflect the Hero's specfic hand. Clicking on the Hero's range cell will open the Hero Hand Selection dialog.

1. Strategy column - Hierarchy of all the possible combiniations of action and position that are possible.
2. Range% column - Percent of hands that make up the "Push" range for an action/position.
3. Range column - A list of the actual hands that make up the range.

Hero hand - The hand selected for the Hero.

EV Push (EVP) - The calculated EV should the Hero push all-in with this hand.

EV Fold (EVF) - The calculated EV should the Hero fold this hand.

EV RoI - The RoI (Return on Investment) for the Hero to push all-in with this hand.

1. Title/Cycle focus (interactive) -
2. Hero's hand (interactive) -
3. EV scale -
4. EV Push line -
5. EV Fold line -
6. EV-RMSD band -
7. Summary -

Hand selection dialog

Range selection dialog

File Menu

• File->Exit - Close the SnG Solver application.

Game Menu

• Game->Solve It! - Equivalent to pushing the "Solve It!" button.

Graph Menu

• Graph->Scale
  • Max/Min EV - Set the EV graph's vertical extents to match the max/min calculated EVs.
  • +/- X% RoI - Sets the EV graph's vertical scale to +/- the specified RoI %.
  • Zoom in/out - Indexes the graph's vertical scale in or out.

Tools Menu

• Tools->Options... - Opens the Options dialog.

Help Menu

• Help->Activate License Key - Opens a dialog to activate your copy of SnG Solver with a purchased license key.
• Help->Check for Updates - Checks to see if a newer version of SnG Solver is available. If an update exists, you will be asked if you want to open the download page in you web browser.
• Help->About SnG Solver - Display a dialog containing version, license, and copyright information.