Push Fold Charts for Poker Tournaments, Plus More Advanced Strategies

Note: Updated February 2026. For the original article and charts scroll to the bottom.

In the mid-2010s, the emergence of push-fold charts resourced the poker tournament world with a money-printing, easy-to-execute, short-stack strategy.

Today, push-fold charts have their place in relevant formats like SNGs and Spin-N-Goes. However, in MTTs, things have really changed.

In today’s article, you’ll learn what a push-fold strategy is, what has changed in the MTT landscape since then, and how to best execute short stack play in 2026.

What is a Push-Fold Strategy?

Push-Fold is a simplified preflop strategy where only all-in and fold are the allowed options. It has merit in instances when you are short-stacked, up to ~15bb. It is still used across tournament formats like SNGs and Spin-N-Goes but in MTTs, it has lost some relevance.

The Sunset of the Push-Fold and the Dawn of the Postflop Solver

As poker’s tools have evolved, so have its strategies.

Push-fold charts first became prominent because, up until then, preflop had been a matter of intuition more than anything else. Tools like ICMizer and HRC (both still important today) provided some of the first granular takes of +EV (expected value) preflop play, a digestible, easy to learn short-stack strategy: the push-fold.

But they weren’t the most profitable.

Postflop solvers, requiring greater computational power and time, emerged. Over time, it became evident that the all-in or fold binary was grossly suboptimal, suffering an EV loss relative to more sophisticated strategies.

An easy example is a hand like pocket aces. Do you really want to open shove all-in, the most powerful move in No-Limit Hold’em with the most powerful hand in the game? Today, we understand that doing so would be a waste.

Let’s take a look.

Lucid Poker ChipEV 10bb Effective Strategy. 8-handed UTG with AA. Min-raising off 10bb is worth 5.79bb while going all in is worth 5.51bb. Going all in produces an EV loss of 0.28bb

Similarly, we’ve learned there are hands that don’t want to be folded or go all-in but make money as a raise-first-in (RFI). Hereafter, you’ll see min-opens off short stacks but there is a case to be made to utilize a limping strategy which I won’t get into in this article.

However, there are more issues with push-fold charts.

Risk premiums (ICM) are dynamic throughout a tournament. A chipEV short-stack push-fold chart is problematic since it is most accurate at the beginning of a tournament when there really aren’t any short stacks. You only start to see symmetric short stacks at the end of late reg when risk premiums will produce meaningful strategic adjustments.

In the following section, I’ll compare chipEV charts with HRC outputs for 30% of the field remaining in a 900-runner field (approximate end of late reg) for 10bb and 15bb effective stacks.

You’ll see similarities and differences, but the point is to understand how short-stack ranges expand and constrict.

Okay. Let’s go.

Comparing cEV Push-Fold, chipEV and End of Late Reg Short-Stack Strategies

To begin, let’s compare the Under-the-Gun (UTG) strategies for three types of preflop outputs: ICMizer push-fold, Lucid Poker ChipEV, and a closer-to-real-life HRC solution.

See below.

ICMizer 10bb push-fold strategy – UTG plays a 13.1% range. Green: All-In. Red: Fold.

Lucid Poker ChipEV – UTG playing 10bb effective stacks. UTG plays a combined 17% range. Light Red: Min-raise (4% range). Dark Red: All-In (13% range).

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. 10bb effective strategy. UTG plays a combined 16.1% strategy. Red: Min-Raise to 2bb (7.6% range). Purple: All-In (8.5% range).

Without getting into the nitty gritty, notice that the strategies are markedly different.

The chipEV push-fold strategy results in UTG playing a 13.1% range.

By including the min-raise as an option, the Lucid GTO chipEV solution allows UTG to play a 17% range, ~30% more hands.

By factoring in the stage of the tournament where these stack sizes become more likely (approx. end of late reg) and allowing the min-raise option, the HRC output plays slightly tighter (16.1%) than the chipEV solution with the min-raise option (Lucid Poker).

You already knew poker was hard. Here, we’re only talking about UTG 10bb strategies.

There are two really important things to recognize here.

1. The Most Profitable Strategies Allow Min-Raising. By giving yourself an alternative to risking all your chips, you get to play a wider range profitably.
2. ICM is Already a Factor if There are Short Stacks. It is fairly common that towards the end of late reg, the starting stack will be between 10-15bb. At this point or slightly earlier is when knowing how to play a short-stack will matter. However, notice that the ICM-adjusted output (HRC) is tighter than the chipEV chart, while still far from the money. The point is if you’re playing chipEV short stack play halfway through the tournament or later, it’s probably losing money.

Ok. Let’s toggle to the other extreme and see how things change.

We’ll look at the Button playing 15bb and compare the solves.

ICMizer 15bb push-fold strategy – BTN plays an 18.6% range. Green: All-In. Red: Fold.

Lucid Poker ChipEV – BTN playing 15bb effective stacks. BTN plays a combined 38% range. Light Red: Min-Raise (18% range). Dark Red: All-In (20% range).

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. BTN 15BB effective strategy. BTN plays a 38.9% range. Red: Min-Raise (16.6%). Purple: All-In (22.3% range).

Again, there are marked differences.

The push-fold chart produces the tightest range given the binary.

By including a min-raise option, Button is able to open over 2x more hands – consistent between the Lucid Poker chipEV solve and the HRC solve.

However, there is a difference between the two.

Notice the shape of the ranges.

With some ICM, Button shoves more often than in chipEV (Lucid Poker). Or look at it another way: with some ICM, Button shoves more often than the chipEV push-fold strategy.

The goal isn’t memorization. Tournaments are too dynamic for that.

Rather, you want to deduce why stack size, raise size, and tournament stage interact and adjust your strategies.

In any case, if you’re here for charts, I got you.

10bb Short-Stack Strategy Charts

Below we have 8-handed, 10bb short-stack strategies solved for ~280 remaining in a 900-runner field. Note: These approximate end of late reg. Again, the tournament stage that you’re in will impact the ranges.

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. 10bb effective strategy. UTG plays a combined 16.1% strategy. Red: Min-Raise to 2bb (7.6% range). Purple: All-In (8.5% range).

UTG1

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. UTG1 10bb effective strategy. UTG1 plays an 18.8% range. Red: Min-Raise (7.4% range). Purple: All-In (11.4% range).

LoJack

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. LJ 10bb effective strategy. LJ plays a 21.5% range. Red: Min-Raise (6.9% range). Purple: All-In (14.6% range).

HiJack

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. HJ 10bb effective strategy. HJ plays a 26.3% range. Red: Min-Raise (6.7% range). Purple: All-In (19.6% range).

Cutoff

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. CO 10bb effective strategy. CO plays a 32.2% range. Red: Min-Raise (6.5% range). Purple: All-In (25.7% range).

Button

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. BTN 10bb effective strategy. BTN plays a 38.4% range. Red: Min-Raise (9.1% range). Purple: All-In (29.3% range).

Small Blind

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. SB 10bb effective strategy. SB plays a 75.2% range. Red: Min-Raise (4% range). Purple: All-In (54.3% range). Green: Call (16.9%).

An Aside – The Small Blind

SB short-stack strategy is worth discussion.

Notice that in all the other charts, you have a raise or all-in as the VPIP options. SB is unique in their ability to choose to just call. This further reinforces the inefficiency of the push-fold model.

In the same spot, ICMizer is limited to playing a 67.1% range when locked into the all-in or fold binary.

ICMizer 10bb push-fold strategy – SB plays a 67.1% range. Green: All-In. Red: Fold.

By including some calls, some raising and some all-in (HRC output), taking ICM into account, SB gets to play a 75.2% range. The removal of the binary makes more hands profitable to play.

Ok, let’s take a look at 15bb strategies next.

15bb Short-Stack Strategy Charts

Below we have 8-handed, 15bb short-stack strategies solved for ~280 remaining in a 900-runner field. Note: These approximate end of late reg. Again, the tournament stage you’re in will impact the ranges.

UTG

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. UTG 15bb effective strategy. UTG plays a 14.8% range. Red: Min-Raise (14.8% range).

UTG+1

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. UTG1 15bb effective strategy. UTG1 plays a 16% range. Red: Min-Raise (16% range). *Ignore the negligible all-in frequency – noise*

LoJack

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. LJ 15bb effective strategy. LJ plays an 18.5% range. Red: Min-Raise (16.6% range). Purple: All-In (1.8% range)

HiJack

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. HJ 15bb effective strategy. HJ plays a 22.1% range. Red: Min-Raise (16.7% range). Purple: All-In (5.5% range).

Cutoff

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. CO 15bb effective strategy. CO plays an 18.7% range. Red: Min-Raise (16.4%). Purple: All-In (12.3% range).

Button

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. BTN 15bb effective strategy. BTN plays a 38.9% range. Red: Min-Raise (16.6%). Purple: All-In (22.3% range).

Small Blind

HRC Output ~280 remaining from ~900. SB 15bb effective strategy. SB plays a 78.7% range. Red: Min-Raise (8.2% range). Purple: All-In (34.5% range). Green: Call (35.9%).

Final Thoughts

Push-fold strategies are simplified, profitable but suboptimal short-stack approaches. If you’re new, you can consider using them. However, as you improve you want to play a more sophisticated strategy since this will be more profitable.

If you are experienced at tournaments:

• Don’t memorize charts. Tournaments are too dynamic to use static preflop strategies.
• Work out how ranges constrict or loosen based on the stage of the tournament.
• Pay attention to the way the solver likes to build the min-raise part of the strategy and compare it to the all-in part of the strategy.

In-game, it is the trained intuition that wins.

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Original Article

This article was updated with new strategies and nuances. The original article is below if you want to reference the same binary push/fold charts you’ve looked at over the years.

It happens in most poker tournaments.

Your stack gets short and your preflop options are reduced to two: push all-in or fold.

Playing optimally in these push-or-fold situations is one thing that separates tournament crushers from average joes.

But the thoughts on playing optimally here have changed. Today, push-fold charts have their place in relevant formats like SNGs and Spin-N-Goes. However, in MTTs, things have really changed for advanced players.

If you are looking for advanced strategies beyond push/fold, stay tuned we have an upcoming article for you. If you want to keep things simple, and have some easy decisions in your back pocket for your local live or online Sunday tournament, we’ve got you covered with charts at a few key stack depths.

In this article, we’ll cover:

1. What is Push/Fold Strategy?
2. ICMIZER and Chip EV Explained
3. 10bb Push/Fold Charts
4. 15bb Push/Fold Charts
5. Conclusion

Let’s dive in.

What is Push/Fold Strategy?

Push/Fold is a common strategy used in tournaments in which you either go all-in preflop or fold. Push/fold should be utilized when your stack becomes short — around 15 big blinds (bb) or fewer.

There are a ton of different push/fold charts available. Bare in mind that the charts in this article are not the be-all end-all when it comes to push/fold poker.

In fact, the best push/fold range can change depending on a number of factors, including but not limited to:

• Stack sizes behind.
• Ante size.
• The structure of the tournament.*
• ICM conditions.

*E.g. 10bb in the $11 buy-in Sunday Storm is different than 10bb in the $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event.

ICMIZER and Chip EV Explained

The program used to generate these ranges (ICMIZER) measures the expected value in chips (chip EV or simply cEV) of each hand if played as a push. Chip EV is measured in big blinds.

If the hand you are looking to push is above +0.2cEV, then it’s a slam dunk situation to go all-in. To put this in perspective, winning at +0.20cEV every hand would mean you are winning 20bb per 100 hands over the long term. That’s an incredible win-rate and is simply too great to pass up.

10bb Push/Fold Charts

We will go over push/fold ranges for the following positions at a 9-handed table:

• Under the Gun (UTG) and UTG+1
• UTG+2 and Lojack
• Hijack
• Cutoff and Button
• Small Blind

Note: UTG/UTG+1, Middle Position/Lojack, and Cutoff/Button are grouped together because the push/fold ranges are virtually identical for these position pairings.

UTG and UTG+1 (10bb)

As you can see from these results, the *slam dunk* all-in hands are highlighted in bright green as they are above +0.2cEV. The hands highlighted in light green have a positive expectation if played as a push, but the profit is small enough that doing so may not be worth risking your stack in some situations.

UTG+2 and Lojack (10bb)

Hijack (10bb)

Button and Cutoff (10bb)

Small Blind (10bb)

As you can see from the screen grabs from ICMIZER, the further around the table you go, the wider of a range you can profitably push all-in.

The main reasoning behind this without going into too much math is the fact that there are less players you are ‘pushing’ into. If you only need to push your 10bb stack through 2 players as opposed to 7, then you are more than likely going to get it through with little resistance.

We generally need a stronger range pushing from Under the Gun due to the fact that if someone does call you, they are generally going to have a stronger range due to you also having a tighter / stronger range.

15bb Push/Fold Charts

Same positions as last time:

• Under the Gun (UTG) and UTG+1
• UTG+2 and Lojack
• Hijack
• Cutoff and Button
• Small Blind

UTG & UTG+1 (15bb)

UTG+2 and Lojack (15bb)

Hijack (15bb)

Button & Cutoff (15bb)

Small Blind (15bb)

You may have noticed there are significant differences in EV when pushing all-in with 15bb as opposed to 10bb. For simplicity’s sake, you should still only be using Push / Fold when you are slightly deeper (up until around 20bb+) until you are more comfortable with your postflop game (which the UpswingLab will definitely help you develop!).

Once stack sizes generally become larger than 20bb there are definitely more +EV lines you can take by just Raising First In.

2 Observations from the Push Fold Charts Above

1. Be wary of jamming your weak off-suit aces. While they may seem like profitable hands to push at any stack depth under 15bb, they are not.

This is a major leak for newer players. As seen in the charts above, weak aces are losing pushes from UTG and middle position, even with 10bb stacks. This is because they are often dominated and thus do not perform well when the push is called.

That is why a hand like J♠ T♠ is a WAY better all-in hand than, say, A♥ 3♣. Jack-Ten suited is flipping vs almost all Ace-x hands and all pairs below 99, and it has some equity vs AK and QQ+.

But don’t just take my word for it. As you can see from the equities below, JTs has almost 40% equity vs a pretty strong range:

Versus the same range, A3o has a quarter less equity:

2. Your chip EV is higher versus players who call too tight versus all-ins.

The best way to show this is with a small blind vs big blind example. If you push with as wide of a range as you should from the small blind, but the big blind isn’t calling as much as he should, you actually win way more chipEV than usual.

Check out the big blind’s equilibrium calling range versus a 10bb all-in from the small blind:

As you can see from this range, the big blind is “supposed” to call very wide.

In practice, however, many players are not calling with marginal hands like Q2s or J9o, especially at low stakes. If your opponent is folding hands like these, your marginal hands will win way more chips by going all-in than ICMIZER initially calculated.

Final Thoughts

Remember to push all-in with a relatively tight range when you are in earlier positions around the table, and wider your range the closer you get to the button/small blind.

By the way, we are having a handy PDF made with all of the push/fold charts from this article. Check back mid-next week to download it.

Ready for more tournament knowledge? Check out 3 Key Hands from a Sunday Million Final Table.