Short-Stack Preflop Strategy: Push/Fold Basics
With 10-15bb, preflop is shove or fold. Learn push/fold ranges, why shoving beats min-raising, fold equity, and a worked 12bb spot.
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Short-stack preflop strategy means playing a stack too small to maneuver after the flop — roughly 10–15 big blinds or fewer. At that depth, preflop collapses into a single decision: shove all-in or fold. A normal raise leaves you awkwardly committed, so open-shoving is simpler, harder to play against, and mathematically better. Below are push/fold ranges, the fold-equity logic, and a worked spot.
Why push/fold beats raising when short
At 100bb you have room to raise, get called, and outplay opponents over three streets. At 12bb you don’t. Consider what a small raise short-stacked actually does:
- It commits a big chunk of your stack, so folding to a re-raise wastes chips.
- It gives opponents a cheap price to call and outflop you.
- It hands you no-win postflop spots with a stack too small to bet-fold or bet-call cleanly.
Open-shoving fixes all three. You maximize fold equity — the chance everyone folds and you win the blinds uncontested — and when called, you simply run your hand’s equity to showdown. No hard decisions, no leaks.
Fold equity is the engine
Fold equity is why a short-stack shove profits even with a mediocre hand. Your all-in wins two ways:
- Everyone folds and you scoop the blinds and antes right now.
- Someone calls and your hand still has raw equity to win at showdown.
The more often opponents fold, the wider you can profitably jam. That’s why late-position shoves are so wide — with only the blinds behind, folds are frequent. The same positional edge that shapes normal opening applies, just amplified.
A push/fold shoving chart
These are approximate open-shove ranges at ~12bb effective, folded to you. Ranges widen dramatically as you approach the button:
| Position | Shove range (~12bb) | Approx % |
|---|---|---|
| UTG / early | 66+, A-J+, A-10s, K-Qs | ~10% |
| Middle | 44+, A-9+, A-8s, K-10s, Q-Js | ~16% |
| Cutoff | 22+, A-2s+, A-7o+, K-9s+, suited connectors | ~28% |
| Button | 22+, any ace, K-5s+, K-9o+, most broadways, suited connectors | ~45% |
| Small blind | 22+, any ace, most suited, offsuit broadways | ~40%+ |
The shorter your stack, the wider these get — at 8bb you can jam an even larger portion, and at 15bb+ you tighten back toward normal opening. The full depth-by-depth logic is in opening ranges by stack depth.
Calling a shove is different from making one
Shoving and calling a shove use different ranges. When you call an all-in, you have zero fold equity — you only win at showdown — so your calling range is tighter than your shoving range. Call with hands that beat the shover’s range; jam with hands that either fold them out or run well when called. Confusing the two (calling as wide as you’d shove) is a classic short-stack leak that the underlying equity math exposes quickly.
A worked example
You have A♣ 5♣ on the button with 12bb, folded to you.
- Fold equity: only the two blinds remain, and both fold most of their weak hands to a jam. You win the blinds outright a large share of the time.
- Equity when called: a suited ace is never in terrible shape — it beats many bluff-catchers and flips against pairs, with the nut-flush and wheel-straight backup.
- Why not raise small? A 2.5bb open leaves you 9.5bb behind, pot-committed, with no clean way to continue. Shoving captures the fold equity a small raise throws away.
Decision: open-shove. Now shrink the stack to 8bb and the shove is even clearer; grow it to 25bb and you’d switch back to a standard open-raise.
Common short-stack leaks
- Min-raising when you should jam. It commits you without the fold-equity payoff.
- Calling shoves too wide. No fold equity means your calling range must be tighter than your shoving range.
- Waiting for premiums. Fold too much short-stacked and the blinds and antes grind you to nothing — you have to fight for pots.
- Ignoring position. Button and small-blind shoves are far wider than early-position ones; jamming the same range from every seat leaks chips.
Where to go next
Push/fold is the endpoint of the depth spectrum. See how ranges shift across the whole range in opening ranges by stack depth, anchor it against your full-stack opening ranges, and sharpen the seat-by-seat logic in the positions hub. The complete framework lives at the preflop strategy hub.
Frequently asked
What is push/fold in poker?
Push/fold is a short-stack strategy where your only preflop choices are to move all-in (push) or fold. It kicks in around 10–15 big blinds, where a normal raise commits so much of your stack that shoving is simpler and more profitable.
When should I start using push/fold?
Roughly at 10–15bb effective and below. The shorter your stack, the more the math favors open-shoving; by 8bb or fewer, shove-or-fold is almost always correct when you enter a pot.
Why shove instead of raising small?
A small raise short-stacked leaves you awkwardly committed and gives opponents a cheap look. Shoving maximizes fold equity — the chance everyone folds — and removes tough postflop decisions with a stack too small to maneuver.
What hands can I shove from the button at 12bb?
A wide range — all pairs, most aces, most suited kings, offsuit broadways, and many suited connectors. With only the blinds behind, fold equity is high, so you can profitably jam far more than you'd open at 100bb.