CRT Handbook · November 7, 2026 · 7 min read

CRT Entry Model: 4 Entry Triggers After the Turtle Soup

A CRT Handbook lesson on precision entries: the purge OB, IFVG, BPR and CISD, why they only count after the turtle soup, and where O.T.E. fits in.

Most traders who struggle with Candle Range Theory don't have a range problem. They can mark Candle 1. They can see Candle 2 run a side. Where it falls apart is the next thirty minutes: where exactly do you get in? They enter on the first red candle, or the first green one, or the moment the sweep "looks done" — and then they wonder why the same idea works one day and stops them out the next.

The direct answer: in my CRT model, an entry is valid only when one of four entry requirements prints after a lower-timeframe turtle soup — a purge order block, an inverse FVG, a balanced price range or a CISD. Before the turtle soup, none of them count. That's the core of Chapter 3 of the CRT Handbook, Precision Entry Mechanics: every entry follows a mechanical checklist, so there's no emotion and no hesitation. This post walks through how I apply it.

Why entries need a sequence, not a signal

A signal is something you react to. A sequence is something you verify. The difference matters because the market prints order blocks and fair value gaps all day long, in both directions. If you go looking for "an entry," you'll always find one.

So I don't look for an entry first. I look for the chain:

1. Candle 1 sets the range — its high and low (CRH and CRL).
2. Candle 2 purges one side of that range into a past key level: an order block, rejection block, FVG, volume imbalance, or a previous day or week high or low.
3. A turtle soup prints inside Candle 2 — a candle on the turtle soup timeframe runs the previous candle's high or low and closes back across it.
4. Only then do I look at the entry timeframe for one of the four entry requirements.

Steps one to three are the why. Step four is the where. If you skip to step four, you're trading the where without a why. I wrote a whole post on what happens when a link in that chain breaks: six signs a CRT setup is invalid.

Entry trigger 1: the purge order block

The purge OB is the last opposing candle at the purge extreme. If Candle 2 purged a high, it's the last up-close candle before price turned down from that high. If it purged a low, it's the last down-close candle before price turned up.

Why this one first? Because it sits right where the manipulation happened. The purge OB is the footprint of the move that took the liquidity and failed. When price comes back to it, you're entering as close to the invalidation as the chart allows — and your stop goes beyond the purge extreme, not somewhere random.

On its own, the purge OB is just a level. It gets interesting when something else sits on it.

Entry trigger 2: the inverse fair value gap (IFVG)

An IFVG is an opposing fair value gap from the purge leg that price closes back through. Say Candle 2 runs up into a key level. On the way up, the push leaves a bullish FVG. After the turtle soup, price drops and closes through that gap. The gap that supported the run is now broken — it has flipped.

That flip is what I'm interested in. A bullish gap that fails becomes resistance; a bearish gap that fails becomes support. The IFVG tells you the move into the purge has lost its footing, and it gives you a defined zone to enter on the retest.

Entry trigger 3: the balanced price range (BPR)

A BPR is the overlap of opposing FVGs — a gap from the push into the purge and a gap from the move back out, stacked over the same prices. Price was delivered aggressively in both directions through that zone, which makes it a precise area to work with.

When a BPR or an IFVG sits right on the purge OB level, that's the kind of agreement I want. One level, two reasons. On my charts the OB label tags only an IFVG or BPR sitting on that level — not one somewhere nearby — because "nearby" is how you talk yourself into trades.

Entry trigger 4: the CISD

CISD stands for change in state of delivery. In my model it's a close back through the open of the candle that ran into the purge. If a bullish candle drove price up into the purge, the CISD is a close back below that candle's open. Price isn't just pausing — it's delivering the other way.

The CISD is the most "confirmation-heavy" of the four. It usually comes a bit later, so the entry is a little further from the purge extreme. In exchange, you're entering after the market has already shown its hand. Which one suits you depends on the session and on your temperament; the rule that they all come after the turtle soup doesn't change.

Where O.T.E. fits

Optimal Trade Entry is a fifth tool, but it has its own condition: structure before retracement. O.T.E. only arms after a market structure shift and a displacement leg with an FVG in it. Then the zone is the 61.8%–79% retracement of that leg, with a 70.5% sweet spot, and the swing origin is the invalidation.

I treat O.T.E. as a way to refine an entry, not to replace the sequence. If there's no turtle soup, there's no structure worth retracing into.

Which timeframe the entry lives on

The entry requirements print on the model's entry timeframe, which sits at or below the turtle soup timeframe. These are the pairings I use:

I used to run M5 entries almost everywhere and moved most models to M15 because the faster entries were noise outside London and Asia. The full reasoning is in Multi-Timeframe CRT: How to Align Your Timeframes.

The checklist I run before I click

Here's the mechanical part — the bit that's supposed to make execution boring:

1. Is Candle 1 marked, with CRH and CRL written down?
2. Did Candle 2 purge into a past key level, and is it still able to close back inside Candle 1?
3. Did a turtle soup close back across on the turtle soup timeframe, inside Candle 2?
4. Did my entry requirement — purge OB, IFVG, BPR or CISD — print after that turtle soup?
5. Is my stop beyond the purge extreme?
6. Is my target the opposite side of Candle 1, written down before entry?

Six yeses or no trade. If I'm hesitating, one of those answers is a "maybe," and a maybe is a no.

The mistakes I see most

• Entering on an OB that formed before the turtle soup. It looks identical on the chart. It isn't. Sequence is everything.
• Hunting entries on a chart that's too fast. On M1 you'll find an IFVG every few minutes. Use a chart at the entry timeframe or slightly lower, not three levels down.
• Moving the stop to "give it room." A precise entry with a vague stop isn't a precise entry. The stop is beyond the purge, or the trade isn't taken.
• Treating a tight stop as a guarantee. A small stop means a small, defined loss. It doesn't mean the loss won't happen — plenty of mine end at the stop. Every trade I take, wins and losses, goes on the results page.

Practise it without any indicator

You don't need software to learn this. Pick one model — the Classic H4 → M15 is the easiest — and for two weeks, mark every Candle 2 purge, every M15 turtle soup and every entry requirement that follows it on a screenshot. Label which of the four triggers printed and when. You'll quickly see how many "entries" you'd have taken before the turtle soup, and how differently those played out.

Rule the candle, rule the trade.

Go deeper

Chapter 3 of the CRT Handbook lays out the full entry mechanics, and the chapters around it connect them to ranges, stops, targets and killzone timing. The Handbook is the method; it doesn't include indicator access. If you'd rather the chart enforce the sequence for you, the CRT Radar only prints the purge OB, IFVG, BPR and CISD after the required turtle soup on each preset.

New to Candle Range Theory? Start with what CRT is, and read up on the pattern this whole lesson depends on in the turtle soup hub.