With 8-15 big blinds, your strategy simplifies dramatically. Push or fold becomes your primary decision tree — but knowing when to push requires precision.
Why Push/Fold?
At 8-15 BB, raising and folding to a 3-bet wastes too many chips. Pushing all-in maximizes fold equity and simplifies your decisions.
Push/Fold Charts
Use ICM-adjusted push/fold charts as a starting point. These charts tell you which hands to push from each position based on your stack size.
Position Matters More
From the button and small blind, push much wider. From UTG, push only premium hands. Position amplifies the value of every hand at short stacks.
Reads Override Charts
Against a nit who folds 80% of hands, push wider than charts suggest. Against a calling station, tighten your pushing range significantly.
The 10 BB Sweet Spot
At exactly 10 BB, you have enough fold equity to make pushes profitable but not enough to play raise/call. This is the purest push/fold zone.
Survival vs Accumulation
Don’t just survive — accumulate. Pushing and winning adds crucial chips. Players who wait for premium hands at 10 BB often blind out before finding one.
