EV% and EQR Output
As of v186, the editor offers a toggle for displaying EV in three formats:
$ (EV), EV as percentage of the pot (EV%), Equity realization (ER%).
Defining which pot size to use is not as straightforward as it may initially appear.
Because of this, we want to clarify how EV% is calculated.
Short version: we divide EV by the pot size shown in the lower left of the table.
Why defining EV% is problematic
A decision in the interface is not a single moment in time.
Internally, each decision contains multiple time stamps, each with its own pot size.
And each of these pot sizes could be considered “correct,” depending on the interpretation.
Example scenario:
The pot is 10. Hero bets 8. Villain raises to 24, and action returns to Hero.
This single “decision point” actually consists of several internal time stamps:
- Pot is 10 and Hero has bet 8.
- Hero observes Villain calling the 8.
- Hero observes Villain raising an additional 16.
- Hero calls the raise.
- Hero reraises to 50.
An alternative time stamp would be for Hero to fold.
Each step has its own valid pot size.
Therefore, there is no universally correct answer for which pot value should be used when computing EV%.
Because EV% depends on the chosen time stamp:
- EV% values from different parts of the tree cannot be compared unless they refer to the exact same time stamp.
- No meaningful calculations can be performed with EV% unless the time stamp (and corresponding pot) is known.
Practical conclusion
EV% is not a particularly useful metric for analysis.
It does not generalize across the tree, cannot be compared between actions, and offers limited practical value without knowing the associated time stamp.
We added EV% because several users requested it, but in practice we don’t see how it offers much analytical benefit.
This is in contrast to absolute EV, which works consistently and can be used reliably throughout the tree.
