Big Blind Poker Tourney

OK, so this can be a good time to swat up on our NASH push fold ranges for when we are short stacked in tournaments, we have constructed 8 charts which show profitable shoves from all the positions on a nine-handed table…

1. Big Blind Poker Tourney Brackets
2. Big Blind Poker Tourney Tournament
3. Big Blind Poker Tourney Tournaments
4. Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament

UTG Ranges

Big Blind Ante In the later levels of poker tournaments, an ante is introduced to further drive the action besides the incentive to enter the pot formed by the small blind and big blind. This means that a tournament with a starting stack of T2,000 should have starting blinds at 10/20 at least and 25/50 at most. Blind increases. Blind increases are usually 50-100% of the last blind and the blind intervals are usually 20-30 minutes. Near the end of a tournament the big blind should be no larger than 2-4% of the average stack. The following blind schedule is for a tournament with 10 people, set to last 3 hours with 20-minute rounds. Each player will begin with 5000 chips and the small and big blinds will start at 25/50. By manipulating the size of the big blind or the amount of time between increases it's possible to control the duration and stakes of a poker game. For an exaggerated but simple example of the importance of big blinds, imagine a tournament in which players start with $15,000 in chips.

So it’s fairly common for players with 10 Big Blinds to think that any pair is an All in, however as we can see from this chart that includes antes of 12.5% pairs 22 and 33 are actually -EV for us to move all in with.
Another big mistake are shoves from small Aces, suited or Off suit are all -EV until we get to hands as strong as A7s+ and A9o+.

Our Range: 44+ A7s+ A9o+ QJs+ KTs+ & KQo+

Biggest mistakes are players thinking hands like KT0 and QTo are shoving, from this position we want to have a solid range, even with just 10 Big Blinds.

UTG+1

This is where things already start to change a little bit with 33 now becoming a Jam, and we can start to shove some suited connectors like T9s+.

KJo is still very borderline so you could look to move in with this hand if you think players will be calling too light for example.

Our Range: 33+ A4s+ ATo+ KJo+ K9s+ Q9s+ J9s+ T9s+

Next, we are going to look at how our ranges open up as we get to the Mid-Position.

MP1 (Mid Position 1)

This is where 22 starts to get a borderline shove and so too do hands like T8s and A3s.

Our Range: 22+ A3s+ ATo+ KJo+ K9s+ Q9s+ J9s+ T8s+ 98s+

MP2 (Mid Position 2)

This is where we can start adding in some offsuit aces and any suited Ace is a profitable move. Its when we start getting closer to the blinds, now far less players to get through we can start opening our range a little more…

Our Range: 22+ A2s+ A8o+ KJ0+ K9s+ QJo+ Q9s+ J8s+ T8s+ 98s+

This is really when we start to get going, late Mid-Postion and the Cut off is where we open up and start shoving some borderline hands!

Big Blind Poker Tourney Brackets

MP3 (Mid Position 3)

Hands like 22 and KTo are now much more profitable from this position and once pretty borderline suited connector Jams are now printing EV.

Our Range: 22+ A2s+ A3o+ KTo+ K9s+ QT0+ Q9s+ JT0+ J8s+ T8s+ 97s+ 87s+ 76s+

CO (Cut Off)

This is where we can really start to widen our ranges, with even hands like Q6s becoming part of our All in wagering range.

Our Range: 22+ A2o+ A2s+ K9o+ K4s+ QTo+ Q6s+ JT0+ J7s+ T7s+ 97s+ 86s+ 76s+ 65s+

The Widest of all our ranges in late position, it’s time to look at Button and Small Blind Jams.

BTN (Button)

Even hands like K5o, Q3s and 64s are going to be gamble worthy on the Button, with just two players left to get through we can push them off a huge portion of their range, as players aren’t going to call ten big blinds with any old hand, they will need a solid part of their range to want to gamble for a 20bb pot!

Our Range: 22+ A2o+ A2s+ K2o+ K2s+ Q2o+ Q2s+ J9o+ J6s+ T9o+ T6s+ 96s+ 85s+ 75s+ 64s+ 54s+

Big Blind Poker Tourney Tournament

SB (Small Blind)

The last of all our possible shoving positions, we are not always just going to want to shove from this position, you can view our guide to playing from the small blind for some slightly deeper stacked play, however we are just looking at unexploitable shoves today, so our range to move all in from the SB is going to be wide, as we only have to make one player fold. Let’s take a look:

Our Range: 22+ A2o+ A2s+ K5o+ K2s+ Q9o+ Q3s+ J4o+ J2s+ T6o+ T2s+ 96o+ 93s+ 86o+ 84s+ 76o+ 74s+ 650+ 63s+ 53s+ 43s+

As you can see we are shoving a huge portion of our range here, including any high card combination of hands with a Jack in them or higher and then nearly all suited hands from 43s+, pretty much the only combinations of hands we are not going to be jamming with are offsuit combinations with low cards.

Sum Up

To sum up as you can see from working through all these ranges there is a big drop off when it comes to non-suited hands, suited hands will always have a lot more value than the offsuit combinations. A big example of this is from UTG+1 we will profitably be able to shove with A4s+ but the offsuit aces we will move in with is only ATo+. That is a huge difference, these are the subtle points of knowing your ranges, it can be a good idea to print these off and have them above your grind station.

Big Blind Poker Tourney Tournaments

In coming posts we are going to look up some 6 handed charts for you to refresh your knowledge with.

Many players tense up when their stack reaches 15 big blinds and below. In truth, you should relax; with a stack this short, poker just became really easy to play. Instead of having to figure odds and read players, all you have to do is decide whether to shove or fold. At this stage of a tournament, I can give you as close to a poker 'system' as there is available.

11-15 Big Blinds

First in with this size stack you're too short to raise and then fold, but too deep to risk your whole stack on poor holdings. Stick to very premium hands in early position -- throw away AQ offsuit and KQ suited under the gun, and stay away from the smaller pairs. In late position, you can open it up a great deal, but if there are no antes, don't get too crazy. With the right type of opponents, you can make a small raise or limp with Aces or Kings if you are near certain that it will be raised behind you so you can go all in when the action gets back to you. But if there's any doubt, you're better off just pushing your chips in the middle with your big pairs.

Ten Big Blinds and Under

Poker is real easy now. With this stack, you can play unexploitable poker. Using Independent Chip Modeling and the Nash Equilibrium you can solve every situation with your stack size and hand versus however many random hands are left to act behind you. Don't know what ICM and Nash Equilibrium are? Professional card player, Chris 'Fox' Wallace and myself did the heavy lifting for you and put our charts up at​ pushfoldcharts.com. Go to pushfoldcharts.com and study the charts—or buy one to take with you to the card room. They give you all the information you need on what cards to push with and what cards to fold.

Big Blind Ante Poker Tournament

Though the charts give you the unexploitable ranges, there are still some adjustments you should be making, listed below.

The Six-Big Blind Rule

When you reach six big blinds, it can become correct to raise even wider than the charts suggest. This is because six big blinds is about as low as you can go and still expect people to fold to your raises. Once you fall below that number, people begin to call very loosely—often with any two cards—and the potential profit from people folding (which is the most important part of these small stack calculations) drops to nothing.

Under Five Big Blinds

You're almost certainly going to get called when you go all in with a stack under five big blinds. Due to the pot odds and the fact that there are still a few opponents who will fold their trash incorrectly, it's still correct to push with most of your hands here. But the knowledge that you are likely going to get called can still affect your choices. If you have a true trash hand (seven-deuce offsuit springs to mind) and the next players on the blinds are very weak you might fold and hope to get it in first next hand. If there are no antes and you can look at a bunch more hands for free, you might fold. But if there are antes and you are first in, your best option for most hands is to push and pray.

Table Image

Another good reason to play very tight early in a tournament is so that when you get to the late stages people will give your raises respect. As above, the potential profit from people folding—called Fold Equity—is key to successful push/fold strategy. If you can convince your opponents that you only put all your chips in the pot with a nut hand, your fold equity, and your entire tournament equity, goes way up.