22 Push/Fold: When to Shove Pocket Deuces
22 is a Nash shove from the Button up to 24bb in 6-max and 9-max, and from the Small Blind at every stack up to 25bb.
In 6-max it shoves from Under the Gun up to 9bb, the Cutoff up to 15bb, the Button up to 24bb, and the Small Blind at every stack up to 25bb.
In 9-max it shoves from Under the Gun up to 5bb, the Middle Position up to 7bb, the Cutoff up to 15bb, the Button up to 24bb, and the Small Blind at every stack up to 25bb.
Ranks #30 of 169 hands by how often it shoves · shove in 149 of 225 solved spots · 6 combos
Verdict by seat and stack
How 22 compares
22 is a shove in 149 of the 225 solved spots and 33 in 163. A pocket pair is rarely dominated — against two overcards it is a coin-flip or better — which is why pairs keep shoving deeper than unpaired hands with similar high cards.
Small and middle pairs win mostly by holding up unimproved or flopping a set; once called they are usually racing two overcards.
22 is an edge hand in 5 published spots, where the Nash solution mixes it: 6-max CO 20bb (44%), 9-max CO 20bb (44%), 6-max UTG 10bb (58%), 9-max MP 8bb (32%), and 9-max UTG 8bb (6%). In a true Nash mix both options earn about the same against the equilibrium callers, so a consistent default costs little.
22 push/fold FAQ
Is 22 a shove at 10bb?
At 10bb in 6-max, 22 is a shove from the Cutoff, the Button, and the Small Blind and mixed from Under the Gun (58%). At 10bb in 9-max, 22 is a shove from the Cutoff, the Button, and the Small Blind and a fold from Under the Gun and the Middle Position.
Up to how many big blinds should 22 shove from the Button?
From the Button, 22 is a Nash shove up to 24bb in 6-max and 9-max.
Up to how many big blinds should 22 shove from the Small Blind?
From the Small Blind, 22 is a Nash shove at every stack up to 25bb in 6-max and 9-max.
What stack size do these verdicts assume?
Stacks are measured in big blinds behind the posted blinds, chip-EV, no antes, solved from 1 to 25bb. Shove means the Nash solution pushes the hand at least 95% of the time, fold at most 5%, and anything between is a mix.
How these numbers are computed: methodology and open dataset.
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