Push or fold chart at 2bb heads-up

Which hands should the small blind shove at 2bb?

Shove or fold is the whole decision for the small blind at 2 big blinds. The chart below moves all in with 89.4% of hands (1,186 combos out of 1,326) and gives up the small blind with every other hand.

In shorthand the shoving range is 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+, 92s+, 82s+, 72s+, 62s+, 52s+, 43s, A2o+, K2o+, Q2o+, J2o+, T2o+, 92o+, 84o+, 74o+, 64o+, 54o. By equity against a random hand, 62s is the lowest-ranked hand that still shoves and 83o is the highest-ranked hand that folds. No hand mixes here: every hand either shoves or folds, so the chart has no coin flips.

Which hands should the big blind call with at 2bb?

The big blind has already put in one big blind, so folding costs -1. At 2bb the chart calls 100.0% of hands, 1,326 combos out of 1,326, and gives up the rest.

In shorthand the calling range is 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+, 92s+, 82s+, 72s+, 62s+, 52s+, 42s+, 32s, A2o+, K2o+, Q2o+, J2o+, T2o+, 92o+, 82o+, 72o+, 62o+, 52o+, 42o+, 32o. Every hand calls at this stack, down to 32o. No hand mixes here: every hand either calls or folds, so the chart has no coin flips.

Which kinds of hands make up the 2bb ranges?

Pairs, suited hands and offsuit hands thin out at different speeds as the stack grows. The table counts the hands of each kind that act at 2bb, out of the 13 pairs and the 78 suited and 78 offsuit hands, and the share of each kind's specific combos that act once mixed hands are weighted by how often they act.

Which decisions are closest at 2bb?

A hand's edge is its EV for acting minus the EV of folding, in big blinds. Folding is worth -0.500 for the small blind and -1.000 for the big blind facing a shove. Hands with an edge near zero change their answer first as the stack moves.

Which seat is ahead at 2bb?

At 2bb the small blind's seat is worth +0.010 big blinds per hand dealt, so the shove range steals enough blinds to come out ahead of the big blind's seat. The small blind stays ahead until the stack reaches 8bb, where the value per hand turns negative. Value per hand dealt counts folds, shoves and calls together, from the start of the hand before the blinds go in.

How does the chart change around 2bb?

Going from 1bb to 2bb, 83o, 42s, 82o, 73o, 53o and 8 more leave the small blind's shoving range; the big blind's calling range keeps the same hands.

The biggest single move for the small blind between 1bb and 2bb is 42s, which goes from shoving 100% of the time to 0%. For the big blind it is AA, from calling 100% of the time to 100%.

The stack is the effective stack, the smaller of the two, because only that many chips can change hands. At 2bb it is 2 big blinds even if the other player has more.

Where can I check one hand or a different stack?

Pick a hand below to see where it flips, or open the calculator for any hand at any stack from 1 to 20 big blinds. The ICM pages show what changes with prize money.

How was this chart computed?

The game has two players, blinds of 0.5 and 1, no ante and one effective stack. Every one of the 169 starting-hand classes is dealt in proportion to the card-compatible pairs of specific hands, and a showdown is settled with the exact equity from our preflop table. Each side keeps answering the other's average strategy until neither can gain, then the borderline hands are solved exactly. Exploitability is the most the two players could gain together by switching to a best response, in big blinds per hand. At 2bb the published strategies have an exploitability of under 0.000001 big blinds per hand, against a limit of 0.001.

Source: GeorgeLiPoker's own heads-up solver, run on its exact preflop equity table.

Questions

What is the push or fold range at 2bb heads-up?

The small blind shoves 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+, 92s+, 82s+, 72s+, 62s+, 52s+, 43s, A2o+, K2o+, Q2o+, J2o+, T2o+, 92o+, 84o+, 74o+, 64o+, 54o, which is 89.4% of hands. The big blind calls 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+, 92s+, 82s+, 72s+, 62s+, 52s+, 42s+, 32s, A2o+, K2o+, Q2o+, J2o+, T2o+, 92o+, 82o+, 72o+, 62o+, 52o+, 42o+, 32o, which is 100.0% of hands. Both ranges are for a chips-only game with blinds of 0.5 and 1 and no ante.

Is 62s a shove at 2bb?

62s is one of the closest decisions on the small blind chart. Shoving is worth -0.493 big blinds against -0.500 for folding, so the chart shoves it, and it is rank 156 of 169 by equity against a random hand.

Does the big blind call every hand at 2bb?

Yes. At 2bb calling with any hand is worth at least as much as the -1.000 from folding, so the chart calls all 169 hands.