Push/fold guides
From your first short stack to the final table.
14 guides in four stages, each built on the same solved charts you practice against. Read them in order, or jump to the one you need.
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Prefer us in Google Top Stories(opens Google in a new tab)Start hereShort Stack Poker StrategyWhat it means to be short stacked, why it's worth learning on purpose, and how push/fold, ICM, and opponent reads fit together - the starting point for every guide below.Updated Oct 2
Stage 1
Foundations
What a short stack is, how to read a solved chart, and the two numbers behind every shove.
Drill open-shoves →- 1.1Start hereShort Stack Poker StrategyWhat it means to be short stacked, why it's worth learning on purpose, and how push/fold, ICM, and opponent reads fit together - the starting point for every guide below.Updated Oct 2
- 1.2How to read a chartWhat the 169 cells, colors, and split fills on a push/fold chart actually mean, worked through one real solved range.Updated Oct 28
- 1.3What Is an Effective Stack? A Guide to Stack DepthWhy the shortest stack in the hand - not your own - sets the pot ceiling and the strategy, how to read it multiway, and where ICM breaks the shortcut.Updated Sep 9
- 1.4What Is Fold Equity? The Math Behind Every ShoveHow often your opponent folds, multiplied by the pot you win when they do - and why that number and your equity when called have to be read together.Updated Oct 28
Stage 2
Ranges in practice
The solved ranges, spot by spot: every 6-max seat at 10bb, how depth reshapes them, and the big blind's answer.
Drill 10bb spots →- 2.1When to Shove in a Poker TournamentHow your stack and position decide when to go all in, with every 6-max seat's shove percentage from 4bb to 15bb and why waiting too long costs you fold equity.Updated Oct 28
- 2.210bb ranges for 6-maxFive 6-max opening ranges at 10bb, with chart assumptions, a worked hand, links to 9-max references, and matching practice.Updated Oct 8
- 2.3Push/Fold Strategy by Stack Depth: 5bb vs. 10bb vs. 15bbHow the button's opening range actually changes from 5bb to 15bb effective, with the three solved charts side by side.Updated Oct 28
- 2.4Big Blind Defense: How to Build a Calling and Shoving RangeWhy the big blind's defending range is wider than its opening range, and why it depends on who opened.Updated Oct 28
- 2.5Why You Should Shove Wider Than You CallWhy the button can shove K2s at 10bb but the big blind should fold it against that shove - fold equity, price, and how the gap changes with stack depth.Updated Oct 22
Stage 3
Equilibrium and exploits
What GTO actually means, and how to tell when a real opponent makes a different range worth more.
Drill calling spots →- 3.1What Is GTO Poker? Game Theory Optimal ExplainedWhat game-theory-optimal actually means, how equilibrium baselines depend on the game model, and what a GTO range looks like when the decision is only shove or fold.Updated Sep 24
- 3.2GTO vs. Exploit: When to Deviate From Balanced RangesWhy an equilibrium-based range and the highest-EV range against one opponent aren't the same thing, and how to know which one you should be playing.Updated Oct 28
- 3.3Exploiting Tight and Loose OpponentsWhat actually changes in a solved shove range once you tag an opponent as folding too much or calling too much - the real hands that move, both directions.Updated Sep 9
Stage 4
Tournament pressure
Why tournament chips change value, and a three-step method that puts every stage together.
Drill 15bb spots →- 4.1What Is ICM? A Guide to the Independent Chip ModelWhat the Independent Chip Model is, why a tournament chip's value is variable rather than fixed, and how that makes correct play tighter in some spots and far more aggressive in others.Updated Oct 28
- 4.2CapstonePush/Fold Strategy for Low StakesDoes push/fold work when nobody at your table plays GTO? Yes - but only if you adjust in the right order. The three-step method, with the solved charts at each stage.Updated Oct 28
Quick reference
Need a definition or a number rather than a guide?
Comparing trainers?
The roundup compares tools rather than teaching a step, so it sits outside the path.