Push/Fold

Also known as: push or fold, shove or fold, jam-fold

A short-stack strategy where your only preflop options are open-shoving all-in or folding, with no postflop play.

When stacks are shallow, raising small and playing postflop loses too much equity relative to simply jamming. Push/fold collapses the decision tree to two actions: shove or fold. It becomes the dominant strategy roughly under 10-12bb for opens, and below ~8bb it is almost purely push/fold; with antes in play the threshold rises slightly because there is more dead money to win.

The ranges come from Nash equilibria — see the Nash Push/Fold Chart — solved for chip-EV, then adjusted for ICM near the bubble. A jam wins the pot via fold equity or showdown; the math compares your Chip EV (cEV) of shoving against folding.

Position matters enormously: a button shove risks two callers but attacks the blinds' dead money, while a resteal jam over an open exploits openers who fold too much.