When is it time to push or fold?

radartodd69

radartodd69

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I've heard a lot of different advice on how many big blinds you should have left when it's time to push or fold. What do you guys think?Also, what type of hands or position should you do it with?
 
ddg373

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I'd say when you don't see it possible to grind your way through, then look for hands/positions to shove
 
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JustSoPro

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When in push/fold territory, you want to be the FIRST person to give action(Much easier to win hands heads up than against multiple players). < 5 BB push ANY ace, K5+, Q10+, any pocket pair
< 10 BB push any A10+, K10+, 77+
10-15BB push any A10+, KJ+, 99+
You don't need to worry about suits as much when you are in push/fold territory as the goal is to make the hands heads up, reducing the significance of flushes.
 
Anjo

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Advice is not always good.
I myself like to listen to them, but I also like to think later about some of them to understand if they are valid or not.
It's always good to hear what other players think to improve the way we play.
Sometimes you are making small mistakes or you may be sinning with big mistakes.
 
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Richardszabo

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I think this is the most important strategy for tournaments. The standard Push - Fold straggle, to my knowledge 13-14 BB, but there are professionals who are pushing for 16-20 BB.
My personal opinion 14 BB is better especially at the end of the tournament.
 
MrGrace

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I say 20 hands two big/small blinds is when you should push if the cards are good. Everyone has a different opinion and it does very for me based of how close i am to making money and what the table is doing but 20 hands is getting pretty low.
 
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TpaEnforcement

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you can play much tighter on cash tables. in tournament play sometimes playing tight is not good cause the chip leaders I find win if you are one of the low stacks. I find once I start a tournament I do well on one table then get moved like 3 to 5 times then I wait and always get my head handed to myself even when I get AAs or KKs.
 
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wacosteel

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Around 10-15 big blinds I start pushing with decent hands.

Around 5 bb I push with any two, as long as I'm the first one to raise, and will call of my stack with any decent hand.
 
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wacosteel

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Of course it also depends on how loose/tight the table is.
 
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wacosteel

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How close you are to the money is also a factor. Sometimes I'm more aggressive on the "bubble".
 
mariale_1990

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for me it depends on what stage of the tournament you are and how many blinds you have, if you are just starting the tournament that serves push fold, only if someone pays the play and you win, but you can get a lot of value, also if you are not yet ITM and you have more chips than many opponents will want to make time to collect, there are many possibilities .. gl
 
ammje

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There are many factors you must take into account, you should not always play like the books say, there are some who say you should go all in with 12bb, 14BB.
I've been watching some pros, I saw a play of sasuke234, he had 30BB, from MP I climbed X3, the BB did 4bet, and sasuke was all in, sasuke TT vs QQ.
 
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dlam

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10BB for sure. I start to think about it at 15-20 BB If you are running well and not the short stacked then seldom have to think about
Never short stacked below 20BB through the whole tournament in a MTT only happens maybe once or twice to me
 
gardin555

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For me it's time to push /fold when i have 10 bb or less.
I cant always choose the position to shove, so when I have decent cards with that stack then i go. It is not bad to surprise shoving from UTG with a medium pair 88+ trying to double up, if the cards arrive in that position.
 
Last edited:
kowrip

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It's definitely a judgement call. Besides stack size, I also keep an eye on when the blinds/antes will be going up next and how big of a jump that is. In general, I follow something like this:

15BB - 20BB : Look for good opportunities to re-steal from the blinds
10BB - 15BB : Push with high pairs and high broadway cards
< 10BB : Push with Ax, Kx, all pairs
< 5BB : Push with any 2 cards

Generally, it's going to be easier to push from early and middle positions since there's less of a chance that somebody already initiated action. In later positions, it can be tough to do. Even a half way decent hand like 88 can be tough to push into if somebody already raised.
 
pancho_1954

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for me it depends on how I am in the tournament, and what I see of my opponents, although I do not use the push-fold strategy very much, I think that we have to have a lot of confidence and confidence to do it
 
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freestocks

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Under 10 big blinds, I pick good positions to push.
 
inflmara

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10-12 BB if you wait any longer you will most likely need to double up again and you don't want to flip two coins or more
 
Andrei Korolev

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Basically push all in with 10-12 BB from any position...
 
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tb87

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Generally I would say 10-12 however I would up that range to 12-16 providing you are near bubble for ITM and others are playing extremely cautious. I try to take advantage of that and take down some blinds.
 
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Aslama01

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I'd say its less stack related as much as it is situational. I mean clearly you should almost never push fold with 30+ bb. If I feel like they need a top pair of hole cards of their mediocre range or better to call, then push. More often than not they'll have to let it go. Even when you do get called, you don't always lose. Unless Im down to a couple to five rotations left, ill try to pick suited or double gappers at the minimum to shove with.
 
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Jamuka7657

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15 BBs or less it is best to push or fold most hands, but a lot of pocket pairs you may want to shove with 25 BBs or less depending on position since they have good showdown value and set mining becomes unprofitable.
 
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Pwohar43

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I believe 10 BB is a better point for a decision, 25 is to high. A lot of variables come into play here, but just think 25 is to many. Not being critical of the other poster, just saying
 
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