Push/Fold Basics (MTT) — playing short stacks

Push/fold is the short-stack strategy where your main options are:

• shove all-in (push), or
• fold.

This becomes important in tournaments when stacks get small and raising/folding too much loses chips fast.

What “10bb” means

bb = big blind. “10bb” means your stack is ten big blinds.

Example: blinds are 500/1000 and you have 10,000 chips.

That stack is 10bb (10,000 / 1,000 = 10).

Big blinds (bb) are used because they stay meaningful as blinds increase.

Why short stacks change the game

• There is less room to maneuver postflop.
• Antes and blinds eat your stack quickly.
• Winning the pot preflop becomes very valuable.
• All-ins create maximum pressure on opponents.

Core push/fold logic

When you shove, two things can happen:

1. Everyone folds and you win the pot now.
2. Someone calls and you have equity to win at showdown.

A shove can be good even with a hand that is not “strong” because:

• you have fold equity (they might fold),
• and you still have some showdown equity when called.

When push/fold is most common

• 10bb and below: push/fold becomes a main strategy.
• 11–15bb: still many shoves, but raises can exist in some spots.
• 16bb+: you usually have more options (raise, call, 3-bet).

Position matters even more

With short stacks, position becomes a shove-frequency knob:

• Early position: shove tighter.
• Late position (CO/BTN/SB): shove wider.

Why? Because fewer players remain to wake up with a strong hand behind you.

What hands shove well?

Good shove candidates usually have:

• high card strength (Ax, Kx, broadways),
• pairs (especially small and medium pairs),
• decent equity when called and some blockers (ace is a great blocker).

What hands shove poorly?

• weak offsuit hands with low equity
• hands that are dominated often (like weak Kx offsuit in early position)
• hands that do not block strong calling ranges

Calling a shove (basic rule)

Calling all-in is usually tighter than shoving because you lose fold equity. When you call, you must win at showdown often enough.

Beginner rule: call tighter than you shove, especially when:

• the shove comes from early position,
• ICM pressure is high,
• you are covered (they have you at risk).

Examples

Example 1: 10bb on the Button

You are on the Button with 10bb and everyone folds to you.

This is a strong shove spot because:

• you have maximum fold equity (only blinds left),
• you win blinds and antes often,
• even when called you often have decent equity.

Example 2: 10bb UTG

You are UTG with 10bb.

This is a tighter shove spot because many players can wake up with a calling hand behind you.

Example 3: Small blind vs big blind (classic)

It folds to you in the SB with 8–12bb.

Shoving can be very profitable because only one player remains and you win the pot immediately very often.

Common mistakes

• Min-raising too much with 10bb and then folding to a shove.
• Calling all-ins too loose because “the pot is big.”
• Shoving too tight and bleeding out from blinds and antes.
• Ignoring position and shoving the same hands everywhere.
• Forgetting ICM near bubbles and final tables.

Mini checklist (push or fold)

1. What is my stack in bb? (10bb, 12bb, 15bb?)
2. What is my position? (early = tight, late = wide)
3. Who is behind me? (tight callers or loose callers?)
4. How much do I win if everyone folds? (blinds + antes)
5. If called, do I have decent equity?

Next step: Push/Fold Quiz

Try the Push/Fold Quiz to practice short-stack decisions by position and learn profitable shove ranges.