When Does Push/Fold Kick In?
In poker tournaments, your chip stack constantly shrinks due to rising blinds. When your stack falls below 15 big blinds (BB), standard raises lose their purpose. That is when you enter push/fold mode: either go all-in or fold.
Why Does Push/Fold Work?
- Fold equity — going all-in puts maximum pressure on opponents.
- Simplicity — you eliminate difficult postflop decisions.
- Mathematics — blinds fold approximately 65-70% of the time, making stealing profitable even with marginal hands.
Push/Fold Ranges
- Below 10 BB (critical) — push with any reasonable hand from late position.
- 10-15 BB (short) — push with strong and medium hands from late position.
In RaiseWithMe, our advisor automatically detects stack depth and switches to push/fold recommendations when appropriate.
Common Mistakes
Players make two typical mistakes: pushing too wide from early positions (where someone behind likely holds a strong hand) or too tight from late positions (wasting fold equity). Position is just as important in push/fold as in regular play.