99 Push/Fold: When to Shove Pocket Nines
99 is a Nash shove from the Button at every stack up to 25bb; from UTG it shoves at every stack up to 25bb in 6-max and up to 18bb in 9-max.
In 6-max it shoves from Under the Gun at every stack up to 25bb, the Cutoff at every stack up to 25bb, 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 18bb, the Middle Position up to 23bb, the Cutoff at every stack up to 25bb, the Button at every stack up to 25bb, and the Small Blind at every stack up to 25bb.
Ranks #9 of 169 hands by how often it shoves · shove in 216 of 225 solved spots · 6 combos
Verdict by seat and stack
How 99 compares
99 is a shove in 216 of the 225 solved spots, TT in 225, and 88 in 209. 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.
99 is an edge hand in one published spot, where the Nash solution mixes it: 9-max UTG 20bb (78%). In a true Nash mix both options earn about the same against the equilibrium callers, so a consistent default costs little.
99 push/fold FAQ
Is 99 a shove at 10bb?
At 10bb in 6-max, 99 is a shove from Under the Gun, the Cutoff, the Button, and the Small Blind. At 10bb in 9-max, 99 is a shove from Under the Gun, the Middle Position, the Cutoff, the Button, and the Small Blind.
Up to how many big blinds should 99 shove from the Button?
From the Button, 99 is a Nash shove at every stack up to 25bb in 6-max and 9-max.
Up to how many big blinds should 99 shove from the Small Blind?
From the Small Blind, 99 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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