What is a push or fold chart?
A push or fold chart says which hands to move all in with, and which to fold, once the stacks are short enough that those are the only two choices. This page covers heads-up play: the small blind either shoves or folds, and the big blind either calls the shove or folds. Every chart is a solved equilibrium, so neither player can do better by changing the strategy alone.
The charts use big blinds as the unit and assume chips only: no ante, no prize pool, blinds of 0.5 and 1. Depth runs from 1 to 20 big blinds, and every stack from 1 to 20 has its own page with both charts drawn out hand by hand.
Which stack size do I need?
At 1bb the small blind shoves 100% of hands. By 10bb that is 58.3% and by 20bb it is 40.2%, while the big blind's calling range falls from 100% to 37.4% and then 21.7%. Pick the stack closest to yours and read both charts.
| Stack | Small blind shoves | Big blind calls | Small blind value per hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bb | 100.0% | 100.0% | +0.000 |
| 2bb | 89.4% | 100.0% | +0.010 |
| 3bb | 78.0% | 92.3% | +0.052 |
| 4bb | 73.8% | 74.1% | +0.066 |
| 5bb | 71.5% | 62.1% | +0.056 |
| 6bb | 68.3% | 54.4% | +0.038 |
| 7bb | 66.3% | 48.6% | +0.017 |
| 8bb | 61.9% | 45.0% | -0.004 |
| 9bb | 59.9% | 40.6% | -0.025 |
| 10bb | 58.3% | 37.4% | -0.045 |
| 11bb | 54.5% | 35.0% | -0.065 |
| 12bb | 53.2% | 33.0% | -0.083 |
| 13bb | 51.6% | 31.0% | -0.099 |
| 14bb | 48.4% | 29.3% | -0.114 |
| 15bb | 45.7% | 28.5% | -0.127 |
| 16bb | 44.8% | 26.5% | -0.139 |
| 17bb | 42.9% | 24.8% | -0.151 |
| 18bb | 42.3% | 23.8% | -0.162 |
| 19bb | 40.9% | 22.6% | -0.173 |
| 20bb | 40.2% | 21.7% | -0.183 |
Which seat is ahead heads-up at short stacks?
The small blind's value per hand is positive at the shortest stacks and turns negative at 8bb. Below that, shoving wide steals enough blinds to beat the big blind's seat; from 8bb the big blind, who acts last and sees the shove, is the one ahead. The value reaches -0.183 big blinds per hand at 20bb.
How does one hand change its answer across stacks?
Each hand has a page showing the deepest stack at which it shoves as the small blind and calls as the big blind, with its EV at every stack. 127 of the 169 hands change their answer somewhere between 1 and 20 big blinds and have a page; the other 42 both shove and call at every stack in this range, so there is nothing to look up. The grid below is the small blind's 10bb chart, and each linked hand opens its page.
Small blind shove chart at 10 big blinds heads-up. Shoves: 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J3s+, T4s+, 95s+, 84s+, 74s+, 64s+, 53s+, 43s, A2o+, K2o+, Q7o+, J8o+, T8o+, 97o+, 87o, 76o.
- Shove
- Mixes
- Fold
- Under 50% equity
What changes when there is prize money?
These charts count chips, so they fit a heads-up match or a cash game. In a tournament, losing your last chips costs more than winning the same chips gains, and the ranges tighten. The ICM pages show how much, and the push or fold calculator has a prize-money mode that prices a shove for up to six players.
How are the charts computed?
We solve a chips-only game for two players: small blind 0.5, big blind 1, no ante, equal stacks. Starting hands are the 169 classes, weighted so that shared cards are impossible, and equity comes from counting every five-card board. The solver plays itself with best responses, averages them, and fixes the hands on the edge so they are exactly indifferent.
Source: GeorgeLiPoker's own heads-up solver, run on its exact preflop equity table. The strategies at every stack have an exploitability of at most 0.001 big blinds per hand.
Questions
- What does push or fold mean in poker?
- It means the only choices are moving all in or folding. It applies when the stack is short enough that a raise followed by a fold would leave too little behind, which these charts take as 20 big blinds or less heads-up.
- What is the heads-up shove range at 10bb?
- At 10bb the small blind shoves 58.3% of hands: 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J3s+, T4s+, 95s+, 84s+, 74s+, 64s+, 53s+, 43s, A2o+, K2o+, Q7o+, J8o+, T8o+, 97o+, 87o, 76o. The big blind calls 37.4%: 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q7s+, J8s+, T9s, A2o+, K5o+, Q9o+, JTo.
- Do these charts work for 6-max or full-ring tournaments?
- No. They are solved for two players. With more players left, the players still to act make the shoving ranges tighter, and prize money changes them again, so use the push or fold calculator for those spots.