Push/Fold Glossary: 13 Short-Stack Poker Questions Answered
Published 2026-10-02
Short answer
Push/fold means shoving all-in or folding before the flop with a short stack, and a Nash chart says which hands to shove from each seat — at 10BB in 9-max, the button shoves 38% of hands and the small blind 62%.
These are the questions players ask most about short-stack tournament poker. Each one gets a direct answer first, then a link to the chart, hand, or guide that shows the detail. Every percentage is read from the same range data the charts and trainer use, so the numbers here always match the charts.
What is a push/fold chart?
A push/fold chart is a precomputed table that shows which starting hands to shove all-in and which to fold when you are short-stacked and the action folds to you. Each chart covers one seat and one stack depth: at 10BB the 9-max Button shoves 38% of hands, and Under the Gun only 9%.
How do you read a push/fold chart?
Pick the chart for your table size, seat, and stack in big blinds, then find your hand on the 13×13 grid. Pairs run down the diagonal, suited hands sit above it, and offsuit hands sit below it. Each cell shows how often that hand shoves: always, never, or some of the time for the few mixed hands.
When should you use push/fold strategy?
Use push/fold when your effective stack is about 10 to 15 big blinds or less and nobody has entered the pot before you. At that depth a small raise commits too much of your stack to fold later, so shoving the right range and folding everything else gives up very little against more complicated lines.
How many big blinds should you shove with?
There is no single cutoff: your stack sets how wide you shove, not only whether you shove. On the 9-max Button the Nash range is 54% of hands at 5BB, 38% at 10BB, and 22% at 20BB. Open-shoving is the standard play below about 10BB and stays common up to 15BB.
What is the Ferguson 10BB rule?
The 10BB rule, usually credited to WSOP champion Chris Ferguson, says that with fewer than ten big blinds you should move all-in with any hand you decide to play, never limp or raise small. Nash charts sharpen it by seat: at 10BB the 9-max Button shoves 38% of hands and the Small Blind 62%.
10BB push/fold chart for every seat →
Sources: PokerWebsites: The 10 BB Rule for Tournament Play · PokerStrategy: Critical Analysis of the 10 BB Shove/Fold Rule
What is Nash equilibrium in poker?
A Nash equilibrium is a set of strategies where no player can do better by changing only their own. In push/fold it is a shoving range and a calling range that are best responses to each other, so the shover cannot be exploited however the players behind respond. Push/fold charts publish the shoving half.
How deep can you use push/fold charts?
Push/fold charts are most reliable at 10 big blinds and below and stay a sound default to about 15. Deeper than that they are a simplification, because raising small becomes better with part of your range. RangeMyHand solves every seat from 1 to 25BB, and the deepest chart page is 20BB.
What is the difference between chip EV and ICM?
Chip EV counts every chip as equal, so a play is correct if it wins chips on average. ICM, the Independent Chip Model, converts stacks into shares of the prize pool, where the chips you lose cost more than the chips you win are worth. Near the bubble and at final tables, ICM ranges are tighter than chip-EV charts.
What is dead money in push/fold?
Dead money is the chips already in the pot that no one can take back: the small blind, the big blind, and any antes. It is what a shove wins when everyone folds. RangeMyHand’s ranges assume 1.5BB of dead money and no ante; when antes are in play, correct shoving ranges get wider.
What is fold equity?
Fold equity is the part of a shove’s value that comes from everyone folding. The fewer players left to act, the more often a shove gets through, which is why ranges widen toward the blinds: at 10BB in 9-max, Under the Gun shoves 9% of hands and the Button 38%.
What hands should you shove from the small blind?
When the action folds to the small blind, only the big blind can call, so the Nash shoving range is the widest at the table: 62% of hands at 10BB and 48% at 15BB, against 38% on the Button at 10BB. These are chip-EV ranges with no ante.
What does 10BB mean on a push/fold chart?
10BB means the effective stack is ten big blinds: the smaller of your stack and the stacks left to act, divided by the big blind. On RangeMyHand the number counts chips behind the blinds already posted. Many other charts count the total stack, so small-blind ranges can differ between sources at the same number.
What is a mixed hand on a push/fold chart?
A mixed hand is one the solver shoves only part of the time, because shoving and folding earn almost the same. On the 9-max Button at 10BB, 98o shoves 56% of the time. Either play is fine at the table; mixed hands are the ones that flip when the stack moves by a big blind.
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