Shove or fold, by the numbers
Pick a mode, then fill in the spot. Every answer comes from the numbers on this page.
Two cards, such as As Kd, or choose a hand in the chart.
A9o as the small blind at 10 big blinds
Push
The chart pushes this hand every time at this depth.
- EV of pushingChips won or lost from the start of the hand+0.93 bb
- EV of foldingThe small blind is gone-0.50 bb
- Pushing beats folding by+1.43 bb
- Equity when called54.0%
- Hands the chart pushesShare of all 1,326 starting hands at 10 bb58.3%
Blinds 0.5 and 1, no ante, equal stacks, chips only. The charts are the equilibrium for all 169 starting-hand classes, with the hands that block each other counted. How this is computed
Small blind push chart at 10 bb
Choose a hand to put it in the box above.
- Push
- Mixes
- Fold
- Under 50% equity
Pairs run down the diagonal, suited hands sit above it and offsuit hands below. A red outline is a push with under 50% equity when called, so it earns its keep from the folds.
How the two modes work
Heads-up, chips only
The small blind shoves or folds. Facing a shove, the big blind calls or folds. Blinds are 0.5 and 1 with no ante, and both players hold the same stack S. Every amount is the change in big blinds from the start of the hand.
fold: -0.5 (small blind), -1 (big blind facing a shove)
shove, folded to: +1. Shove, called: S x (2e - 1)
Here e is a hand’s share of the pot at showdown, with ties split. The chart is the pair of ranges where neither player gains by changing theirs, so each hand’s EV is read against the other player’s range.
With prize money
Seats act in the order listed and the last two hold the blinds. You shove, one player may call with the top percent of hands you choose, and everyone else folds. Each outcome becomes a set of stacks, and ICM turns those stacks into prize equity.
push = f x E(steal) + (1 - f) x (w x E(win) + t x E(tie) + l x E(lose))
fold = E(fold), push edge = push - fold
f is the share of the caller’s hands that fold, with your cards blocking some of the range. w, t and l are your win, tie and lose shares against the hands that call. A tie is its own outcome because prize equity is not a straight line in chips.
How this is computed
Worked examples, chips only
| Spot | Action | EV of acting | EV of folding | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A9o, small blind | push | +0.93 bb | -0.50 bb | 54.0% |
| K8o, big blind | call | -0.11 bb | -1.00 bb | 49.4% |
A9o pushes as the small blind at every depth from 1 to 20 big blinds. At 10 big blinds the chart pushes 58.3% of all hands. K8o shoves up to 18 big blinds as the small blind and calls up to 13.5 as the big blind.
Open the A9o spot or the K8o spot in the calculator.
Worked example, prize money
Three players with stacks of 2,000, 6,000, 4,000 chips, blinds 100 and 200, and payouts of $50, $30, $20. You shove J8o from seat 1, and the big blind calls with the top 25% of hands.
| Outcome | Prize equity |
|---|---|
| You fold | $27.48 |
| Everyone folds to you | $28.49 |
| Called, you win | $34.24 |
| Called, you split | $27.65 |
| Called, you lose | $20.00 |
Everyone folds 75.2% of the time, and when called you win 33.4%, split 1.0% and lose 65.6%. Pushing is worth $27.58 against $27.48 for folding, an edge of +$0.11, or 0.11% of the pool. In chips alone the same push gains +0.37 bb. It stops paying once the caller calls with more than the top 28% of hands.
Common mistakes and what it assumes
Common mistakes
- Reading a negative EV as a fold. Folding as the big blind is worth -1.00 bb, so a call at -0.11 bb is better.
- Using a chips-only chart on the bubble or at a final table, where a lost chip costs more than a won chip earns.
- Applying the 1 to 20 big blind charts with an ante or with three or more players left. They assume heads-up play with no ante.
- Entering payouts out of order. First place goes first, and payouts never rise.
What it assumes
- Chips only: blinds 0.5 and 1, no ante, equal stacks from 1 to 20 big blinds in half-blind steps (39 depths).
- The charts cover all 169 starting-hand classes of the 1,326 two-card hands, with hands that block each other counted.
- Prize money: no ante, one player who may call, everyone else folds, and if you fold the big blind collects the small blind.
- Every player is treated as equally skilled, as ICM does.
Book a session to work through spots of your own.
Questions
What does push or fold mean?
With a short stack the useful choices shrink to two: move all in or fold. The small blind shoves or folds, and the big blind facing a shove calls or folds. This calculator gives that answer for any hand from 1 to 20 big blinds, and shows the whole chart for the depth you pick.
How are the charts worked out?
Each chart is an equilibrium: the shoving range and the calling range are each the best reply to the other. They are solved over all 169 starting-hand classes with the real chance that two hands share a card counted, at 39 depths from 1 to 20 big blinds in half-blind steps, until neither side could gain more than 0.001 big blind a hand by changing its range. Blinds are 0.5 and 1 with no ante.
Why can calling be right when the EV is negative?
Folding is not free. Facing a shove the big blind has already put in 1 big blind, so folding is worth -1.00 bb. K8o calling a shove at 10 big blinds is worth -0.11 bb with 49.4% equity against the shoving range, which loses less than folding does, so the call is correct.
Why does prize money change the answer?
In a tournament a chip you lose costs more prize equity than a chip you win earns, so a shove that is right in chips can be wrong when places pay. The prize-money mode prices the same shove with ICM, using the stacks, the blinds and the payouts you enter, and shows the gain over folding in prize money and as a share of the prize pool.
What stacks and blinds does it cover?
The chips-only mode covers 1 to 20 big blinds heads-up, blinds 0.5 and 1, no ante. The prize-money mode takes 2 to 6 players with your own stacks and blinds (each stack at least the big blind, the small blind below the big blind), no ante, and one player who may call, using a calling range you set as the top percent of hands. A stack typed between two steps is read at the nearest half big blind, and a note under the answer names the stack it used.
Related pages
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