Push fold: charts for short stacks
With a short stack you have two buttons left: everything in, or throw it away. A push fold chart tells you which.
A push fold chart is a table telling you, per starting hand, position and stack size, whether you go all in (pushing: betting your whole stack) or fold. As soon as your stack drops below ten big blinds, this is practically your entire strategy. The good news: this part of tournament poker has been solved mathematically, so here you can simply learn what is correct.
Why short means all or nothing
With eight big blinds a normal raise to two or three big blinds is a half measure. You commit yourself to the pot almost entirely, while keeping too little back to apply pressure after the flop. Going all in solves that: you put maximum pressure on the blinds, you can win the pot immediately without a confrontation, and you never have to make a difficult decision after the flop. Those last two advantages together make pushing profitable with surprisingly many hands, including hands that do not look strong on their own.
How to read a push fold chart
Every chart holds for one combination of stack size and position. At ten big blinds on the button you push a wide range: all pairs, many ace hands, kings with a reasonable side card and a substantial group of suited hands, two cards of the same suit. From early position, with many players still behind you who could wake up with a top hand, that same range shrinks considerably. The common thread: the shorter your stack and the later your position, the more hands you push. If you do not yet have the basics of position sharp, read our tournament strategy for beginners first.
Calling a push is a different story
Pushing yourself and paying off somebody else's all in are two different decisions. The pusher also wins all the times everybody folds; the caller does not have that escape and therefore needs a stronger hand. Rule of thumb: your calling range is clearly tighter than your pushing range in the same situation. Add prize money pressure, as on the bubble, and calling gets more expensive still. Why chips and money diverge there you can read in what is ICM.
From chart to reflex
Nobody remembers hundreds of squares, and nobody needs to. Learn the boundary hands per stack size and position: the worst hands that still just about push. Everything better goes in as well. Then practise with separate situations, ten a day is enough, and check yourself against the chart. Within a few weeks you recognise the patterns faster than you can look them up, and that is exactly the moment short stacks turn from a problem into a weapon.
frequently asked questions
Push fold questions.
From how many big blinds do I switch to push fold? +
As a rule of thumb: below ten big blinds push fold is almost always your best approach, between ten and fifteen it depends on position and table. Above that you have enough chips again to raise normally and play after the flop.
Why not simply raise small with a short stack? +
Because a small raise gives you two disadvantages: you have to play on after the flop with too few chips to apply pressure, and you give opponents the chance to see the flop cheaply. Going all in solves that: it applies maximum pressure and avoids awkward decisions after the flop.
Are push fold charts the same for every tournament? +
The mathematical basis is the same, but prize money pressure changes the ranges. On the bubble or at a final table ICM makes your pushing range tighter and above all your calling range much tighter. Standard charts hold purely for situations without big pay jumps.
How do I learn those charts by heart? +
Not square by square, but in shapes: pairs, ace high, suited connectors. Remember one boundary per position, for instance which are the worst hands that still push, and train yourself on separate situations until the boundaries come by themselves.
short stack, fast choices
Push or fold, without hesitating.
Train short stack situations in Pokiq until the right choice becomes a reflex. With an explanation of why a push is or is not profitable.