Creating a Tree
The first step in any solve is creating a game tree. The New Tree dialog (Cmd+N / Ctrl+N) defines the fundamental parameters: how many players, the blind structure, stack depths, and which street to start from.
Players
Choose between 2 and 9 players. The number of players determines the position names and the complexity of the resulting tree.
Position names by player count:
| Players | Positions |
|---|---|
| 2 | BTN, BB |
| 3 | BTN, SB, BB |
| 4 | BTN, SB, BB, UTG |
| 5 | BTN, SB, BB, UTG, CO |
| 6 | BTN, SB, BB, UTG, MP, CO |
| 7 | BTN, SB, BB, UTG, MP, HJ, CO |
| 8 | BTN, SB, BB, UTG, UTG+1, LJ, HJ, CO |
| 9 | BTN, SB, BB, UTG, UTG+1, MP, LJ, HJ, CO |
In IkaSolver, positions are listed in action order starting from the BTN. For a standard preflop tree, the order of action is UTG first through to BB (with the BTN acting last preflop when there are 3+ players, and first when heads-up).
Starting Street
Select which street the tree begins on:
- Preflop - The standard starting point. Players post blinds and act in full preflop order.
- Flop - The tree starts on the flop. You set a starting pot and choose board cards before solving.
- Turn - Starts on the turn with 4 community cards.
- River - Starts on the river with 5 community cards.
Starting from a later street is useful for studying specific postflop situations. See Postflop Trees for details on how postflop settings differ.
Blinds and Antes (Preflop)
When starting from preflop, you configure:
- Small Blind - The forced bet posted by the SB (default: 10 chips)
- Big Blind - The forced bet posted by the BB (default: 20 chips)
- Ante - Per-player ante added to the pot before action begins (default: 0)
- Dead Money - Extra chips in the pot not belonging to any player (default: 0). Useful for modeling antes from players not in the hand.
Starting Pot and Big Blind (Postflop)
When starting from flop, turn, or river, the blind fields are replaced with:
- Starting Pot - The total chips in the pot at the start of the street (default: 40 chips). This represents whatever action occurred before this point.
- Big Blind - Kept for display purposes only (EV is shown in bb/100 format). No blinds are actually posted.
Stack Sizes
Each position has its own stack size field, defaulting to 2000 chips (100 big blinds with default blinds). You can set different stacks per position to model uneven-stack scenarios.
Stacks are measured in chips, not big blinds. With a BB of 20, a stack of 2000 chips equals 100 big blinds.
Bounty Mode
If your license includes bounty support, you can choose a bounty mode for the tree:
- Off - Standard cash game / tournament solving (no bounty adjustments)
- Progressive - Progressive Bounty mode, where bounty markers accumulate as players are eliminated. Markers per player are configured in the next step.
- Standup - Standup Bounty mode, where each player has a fixed bounty (on or off). Players are either "standing" (have a bounty) or not.
Bounty mode is selected here but configured in detail after tree creation.
What Happens Next
After clicking Create, IkaSolver creates an initial tree structure. Depending on your starting street, you may be presented with additional dialogs:
- Postflop trees: The Starting Ranges dialog appears so you can set hand weights for each position.
- Bounty trees: The bounty configuration dialog appears for setting prices, markers, and multipliers.
- All trees: The Tree Configuration dialog opens, where you set bet sizes and build the full tree.
The tree creation step only sets the game parameters. The actual game tree (with all decision nodes and bet sizes) is built in the Tree Configuration step.