Calculate optimal push/fold ranges for short-stacked tournament poker. Nash equilibrium shoving charts based on position and stack size.
Your current stack in BB
Position at the table
Players behind you
Effective Stack
10 BB
No ante adjustment
Range Width
~48%
of starting hands
Strategy
Push or Fold
No limping or min-raising
Based on 10 BB Nash equilibrium chart. Fold all other hands.
Button is one of the best positions to shove. Only blinds can call, and they're out of position.
Quick-start with common scenarios
Push/fold strategy is optimal when short-stacked in tournaments (under 10-15 big blinds). At 10 BB from the button, shove: Any pair, A2+, K5s+, K8o+, Q8s+, QTo+, J8s+, JTo, T8s+, 98s, 87s. At 5 BB, shove much wider: any ace, any pair, K2+, Q5+, J7+, T7+, 97s+. Nash equilibrium ranges ensure you can't be exploited.
Shove very wide. Any ace, any pair, most kings, suited connectors. Fold equity is minimal but you need to accumulate chips.
Pure push/fold. Good fold equity makes shoving profitable. Never limp or min-raise - it's all or nothing.
Mostly push/fold but can occasionally play standard poker with premium hands. Position is crucial.
Can play normal poker but push/fold is still optimal with marginal hands. Open-raising becomes viable.
Push/fold (shove/fold) is a simplified strategy for short-stacked tournament play where you either go all-in or fold - no limping or min-raising. It maximizes fold equity and prevents you from being pot-committed with weak hands.
Use push/fold when your stack is 10 big blinds or less (some use it up to 15 BB). Below this threshold, standard post-flop poker becomes suboptimal because you don't have enough chips to make meaningful raises and calls.
Nash equilibrium is a mathematically optimal strategy where neither player can improve their results by changing their approach unilaterally. Nash push/fold charts show the optimal shoving and calling ranges that cannot be exploited.
Position dramatically affects ranges. From UTG (first position), you should only shove premium hands. From the button, you can profitably shove a much wider range because fewer players can wake up with a calling hand.
Yes. Near the bubble or pay jumps, tighten your shoving range because survival has extra value. Don't shove marginal hands when being eliminated costs more ICM equity than a double-up gains.