Bubble factor drill

What the bubble factor actually measures

The bubble factor compares two things over the effective stack — the smaller of hero and villain’s stacks, which is all either player can actually put at risk: how much prize-pool equity hero loses if that stack goes to villain, against how much hero gains if it comes hero’s way, both measured on the current payout ladder rather than in chips. A bubble factor of 1 means the two are equal — chips are worth exactly what they look like. A bubble factor above 1 means losing the effective stack hurts more than winning it helps, which is the usual state of affairs the closer the stacks are to the money.

How close your guess needs to be

A guess within 0.15 of the exact figure counts as correct — this is a feel drill, not a long-division exercise, so the tolerance is wide enough to reward a reasonable estimate of how uneven the stacks and payouts are without demanding the solver’s precision. The ten spots are fixed and never change, so a score here means the same thing on every attempt.

Related pages

• ICM calculator →
• ICM lesson →
• ICM bubble drill →

Frequently asked questions

What is the bubble factor?

A single number comparing, over the effective stack — the smaller of hero and villain’s stacks, which is all either player can actually put at risk — how much prize-pool equity hero loses if it goes to villain against how much hero gains if it comes hero’s way, on the current payout ladder. A bubble factor of 1 means a chip is worth exactly what it looks like; above 1 means losing hurts more than winning helps.

How close does my guess need to be?

Within 0.15 of the exact figure counts as correct — a feel drill for how uneven the stacks and payouts are, not a demand for solver-level precision.

How many questions are there?

Ten fixed stack-and-payout spots per attempt, in a repeatable order. Play again for another pass at the same ten.