33 Push/Fold: When to Shove Pocket Threes
33 is a Nash shove from the Button at every stack up to 25bb; from UTG it shoves up to 11bb in 6-max and up to 6bb in 9-max.
In 6-max it shoves from Under the Gun up to 11bb, the Cutoff up to 19bb, the Button at every stack up to 25bb, and the Small Blind at every stack up to 25bb.
In 9-max it shoves from Under the Gun up to 6bb, the Middle Position up to 8bb, the Cutoff up to 19bb, the Button at every stack up to 25bb, and the Small Blind at every stack up to 25bb.
Ranks #24 of 169 hands by how often it shoves · shove in 163 of 225 solved spots · 6 combos
Verdict by seat and stack
How 33 compares
33 is a shove in 163 of the 225 solved spots, 44 in 173, and 22 in 149. 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.
33 is an edge hand in 7 published spots, where the Nash solution mixes it: 6-max UTG 12bb (45%), 6-max CO 20bb (84%), 9-max UTG 8bb (16%), 9-max CO 20bb (84%), 9-max MP 10bb (11%), and 9-max UTG 10bb (7%), plus 1 more. In a true Nash mix both options earn about the same against the equilibrium callers, so a consistent default costs little.
33 push/fold FAQ
Is 33 a shove at 10bb?
At 10bb in 6-max, 33 is a shove from Under the Gun, the Cutoff, the Button, and the Small Blind. At 10bb in 9-max, 33 is a shove from the Cutoff, the Button, and the Small Blind and mixed from Under the Gun (7%) and the Middle Position (11%).
Up to how many big blinds should 33 shove from the Button?
From the Button, 33 is a Nash shove at every stack up to 25bb in 6-max and 9-max.
Up to how many big blinds should 33 shove from the Small Blind?
From the Small Blind, 33 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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