The Sklansky-Chubukov strategy, or how to shove profitably. Starting Hand Chart Nash Charts for 3 Max

In order for you to learn how to play well in tournaments, and not crash out of them on “stupid cards”, you should master such a strategy as “push / fold”. Because even professionals often resort to it, and it is it that sometimes allows you to take much higher prizes and get more money in the tournament.

In essence, the Push/Fold strategy is fairly simple to understand, as it only offers the player two possible paths: either he bets all-in (“push”), or he folds his cards (“fold”). Accordingly, the main problem for the player in this strategy is the question, on which cards can you bet all-in, and on which it is better not to do this?

It is to resolve this issue that there are special hand charts (for example, the Nash table in poker), which show when and on which cards you can put all-in. Moreover, these tables are arranged differently: some of them show when you can go all-in depending on your place at the gaming table and the number of players in the hand, while others, for example, the same Nash table, show when you should go all-in. all-in depending on your stack.

When can I start playing push/fold strategy?

There is no single answer to this question, however, professionals advise resorting to this strategy if your stack is less than 12 big blinds. There is no point in playing further tight or waiting for pocket aces - this way you will simply spend your entire stack on the blinds. Also, with such a small stack, it makes no sense to periodically enter the hand, waiting for the flop to hit - most likely, you will not hit it, gradually losing your stack in parts.

At the same time, if in the initial stages of the tournament you can play tight, and losing any hand at the beginning of the tournament will not force you to leave it, then in the later stages any hand can be fatal for you. Therefore, it is sometimes much more profitable to push all-in immediately preflop in order to stay in the game against one or two opponents. And if you succeed, you can double or even triple your stack and "return to the game."

In addition, when our stack is so small, then the score goes to each blind. And if several players before you have already limped into the hand, then it is likely that they can fold their cards after your all-in, albeit such a small one. In this case, we will also be in the black, as we will win additional blinds “for no reason”.

Moreover, if your stack has increased again to the level of 20-25 big blinds, then you can move away from this strategy and return to the tight-aggressive style of play, as the most effective both in tournaments and at cash tables.

Nash table - what is it?

The Nash table is the most popular chart of starting hands to push all-in with. The table itself is built quite simply - it shows combinations of cards, and at the intersection of the columns there is the size of your stack (in big blinds), at which you can put all your chips into the game on such cards.

In this case, there are two different tables - for the player who is the first to show aggression (table "Pusher") and for the player, to whom someone has already shown aggression (table "Caller").

Let's see what we should do if we get, for example, 8-9 offsuit, and our stack is only 1000 chips with a big blind of 200 chips? Using the table above, we can see that we should only push all-in with such cards if we have a stack of 20+ big blinds. Since we have it much less than this value (only 5 BB), we can put all the chips into the game, and this will be a mathematically correct solution.

Note that the Nash table was designed by a famous American mathematician who was fond of playing poker. Accordingly, it is a mathematical model that will maximize your chances of success, however, of course, it cannot fully guarantee you victory in tournaments. Because any "all-in" and any promotion of chips is the risk of losing your entire stack, no matter what cards you play. Therefore, any poker professional will always advise you to build your game correctly in advance so as not to bring your stack level to critically low levels.

In tournament play, stack size is of particular importance. Having lost all the chips, you will be eliminated from the tournament, and if there are not enough chips, then you will lose the opportunity to play comfortably - make significant raises for your opponents, enter trades with speculative hands, steal blinds, etc. It is not uncommon for players to use the Push-Fold tactic in MTT tournaments if the stack does not allow them to play the usual strategy.

Push-fold is a tactic of playing in tournaments, when a player has only two options left to decide on the preflop - discard cards (Fold) or go all-in (Push). He cannot make other decisions, such as Bet, Call or Raise, since the stack size does not allow him to conduct full-fledged trades and does not pose a significant threat to opponents with large stacks.

When to Use the Push-Fold Tactic in MTTs

If you are familiar with the basics of tournament strategy, you should remember that in tournaments it is reasonable to choose a strategy based on the stack-to-blind ratio. The larger the stack, the more comfortable you can play the game. Tournament players often face situations where the stack size drops to 12-13 big blinds. This is a critical point at which the number of chips ties the player's hands. Push-Fold tactics in MTT in this case becomes the only way to continue the game. In this case, the player can make two decisions based on the following conditions:

• Fold - if the position, starting hands and the behavior of opponents do not provide favorable conditions for a bet;
• Go all-in - if the starting hand is promising to play in the current situation, given the position and behavior of opponents in the auction.

Favorable all-in situations can be determined using starting hand charts and rebound tables. We suggest using visual materials provided by the PokerStrategy poker school.

Starting hand chart and push-fold tactics in MTT tournaments

It should be noted right away that the chart of starting hands is not suitable for all game situations. It is important that all of the following conditions are met:

• All opponents making decisions in front of you have folded;
• Players making decisions after you have a stack no larger than yours - less or 13 big blinds.

The following table is used, which describes in detail how to act with certain starting cards, based on their position. In the first column, it is not difficult to guess, the starting cards are indicated by numbers and letters. The numbers below the positions show how much stack you need to have in order to bet all-in. For example, if the number is 5, then with the cards indicated in this line, you need to go all-in if there are no more than 5 big blinds in the stack. Otherwise, you should fold your cards.

The starting hands chart is only suitable for situations where you are the first to enter the auction!

Rebound tables and push-fold tactics in MTTs

In many situations, the conditions described for using the starting hands chart will not be met. However, for exception situations, there are also visual tables that will help you make the right decision. You can use rebound tables in cases where there have already been entries into the game before you (regardless of the size of bets) and opponents who make decisions after you have a stack of more than 13 BB. Here it is necessary to single out three positions of the player at the table, taking into account the position, for each of which there is a separate table.

Not in the blinds

In the small blind

In the big blind

Please note that each table is created for your specific position. However, the positions are also indicated in the header of the tables - this is not your position at the table, but the positions of the opponent who entered the auction first, making the decision before you!

Professional poker players do not use charts and rebound tables, as they conduct a deeper analysis of game situations and choose the best moments for an all-in bet. These tables are intended for novice players who do not yet know how to deeply analyze the situation at the table and their position in the tournament.

If you play in tournaments, Push-Fold tactics in MTTs will come in handy more than once. Using it, you will often get out of the most difficult situation - games with a small stack. Print out the table data and keep it always in front of your eyes when you play tournaments.

Our topic for today's conversation is all-in fold or push fold, depending on who likes which option. It is used more often with a short stack.. If only two options remain for the player (fold the hand to go all-in), the chances of doubling up will increase, therefore, the likelihood of a deep tournament progression will improve.

Everyone who takes an individual training course at the Poker Academy (see ) improves their performance. These are not just words. That being said, the savvy might allow us to use the stack for ante and steal. Also, save your chips and don't splurge on very sensible raises or limps. And quickly double. Push fold can mean exactly what is put in the name of such a player forgets what a call is, works exclusively on the preflop - either fold or all-in. In cases where the stack drops to the level of 10 BB, raising or limping is already inappropriate, since it is no longer possible to fold the hand post-flop. Therefore, you need to use the remaining full potential preflop. Push fold applies in and , where it is best to become a short stack due to the increase in constant blinds. Usually, push-fold is the last weapon and resort to this weapon at 10 AP and below.

How to push fold

And then I accidentally got on the page of the site "Academy of Poker". I listened to the lecture “The Beginning of a Career of a PRO-Player” and got very interested. The push-fold strategy is based on make decision making as easy as possible especially for beginners. After mastering some basic concepts, playing with short stacks will no longer be a torment, but an easy walk. The percentage of mistakes will be very sharply reduced, which will naturally increase the survival rate in tournaments. Just in case, "short stack" is a loose term. Many players, of course, will have their own definition, but in most cases, a stack with 10 big blinds or less is assumed. You need to constantly monitor your own stack. And it is especially important not to miss the 10BB mark.

There is also such advice from: in order to better understand stacking and taking into account the blinds with antes, you need to read about, which was introduced by Dan Harrington in the poker zone system. Also, why is a raise worse than an all-in? The main thing for a short stack is just to survive, and what needs to be done to survive? Avoid confrontations. It is necessary to imagine that we have 10 BB and we are on the button. For example, if the player is watching T J in the big blind, we raise 3x. The vast majority of players would have called our raise in this situation, but when they saw a 10BB shove they would likely just fold. And with a short stack, you need to enjoy every little thing. In all situations (of course, except for those when we have aces, kings and other monsters), we want to take the blinds from the antes, and not compare, while risking being eliminated from the tournament. And on the way to a fat stack, instead of trying to double up on all-ins, we should aim to progressively increase the stack., through the use of aggression and position.

Tournaments need to master strategy. When playing in many tournaments, tactics such as pushing and folding help us to reach much higher levels, and therefore win a large amount of prize money.

It all happens because of wrong decisions or just a combination of circumstances. Currently, there are many strategies for playing poker, as well as all possible poker tricks, and in such positions, they sometimes have to be forgotten. The point is, when with short stacks, there may be a shortage of chips, and therefore we will not be able to successfully use a bluff in poker or other poker tricks. Further, we cannot afford to see the flop for the blind, to make a standard raise, because even such bets in poker will simply completely ruin our stack. And for a player with a good, large stack, any of our bets will not be threatening, because even if he loses, he will not jump out of the tournament, but will retain the advantage. The only, as it were, serious bet that we can make is all-in.

Only in this case there will be hope that our bet will be called by a certain number of opponents or opponents will all fold. For this reason, when playing with a short stack of twelve or less big blinds, we recommend using push-fold tactics. Which implies that the player will have only two solutions: he goes all-in or folds. This strategy can allow you to play as efficiently as possible while still having a short stack. And based on mathematical miscalculations, experts make a chart of starting hands that allows beginners to make decisions with a push-fold strategy.

Ranges when entering the game

There are poker starting hand charts that should be followed if we are the first to enter the auction. That is, when all the opponents who made the decision before us have folded and our stack is twelve big blinds or less. Guided by such tables is quite simple, they indicate hole cards when it is recommended to go all-in, when the amount of blinds in the stack corresponds to the indicated number for the position at the poker table in which we are. Other charts already regulate when you should go all-in if one of the opponents is already trading before us. This table cannot take into account the size of the opponent's poker bet because in most cases, when we put all the chips, the opponent who made the bet will call. The correct and only decision that we need to make is to go all-in in this hand or not to go.

In any poker tournament, the size of your stack is of paramount importance. After all, it depends on the number of chips you have for how long you can still play in this tournament. In addition, if you lose all your chips, you are simply out of the tournament (unless there is a rebuy option in the tournament). And if you have very few chips (that is, the stack will be critically small), then you will not be able to play on a par with other players, and all your raises will not scare anyone. And how can you, for example, if you have a stack of only a few big blinds?

This is why players in MTT tournaments often use a push/fold strategy, especially if their stack size becomes critically low. This strategy is something like a last attempt to correct all the mistakes made earlier and regain the former number of chips again.

Push-fold in MTT tournaments is a strategy in which a player does not get involved in hands against other opponents. The player has only two options - either throw his cards in ("fold"), or put all his chips in ("push"). All other possible solutions ( , ) will be ineffective, because due to the small stack, he does not pose any danger to his opponents.

When Should You Play Push/Fold Strategy?

Of course, you should only switch to this strategy if you have already lost a large enough number of your chips, and compared to the stacks of the surrounding players, your own bankroll does not seem so significant. If you have enough chips to enter into a trade, we do not recommend switching to “push / fold”.

Many pros point out that you only need to play push/fold if your stack is less than 12 big blinds. That is, if you play in a tournament at the 100/200 blind stage, and your stack is 2400 chips, then you need to switch to this game strategy. However, if you have 3000 chips (with the same blinds), then you should not rush things.

Description of the strategy

Of course, just because you have only 12 big blinds left doesn't mean you should shove the first hand you see. There is no point in this, because due to your small stack, you are likely to receive several calls from your opponents at once, so you need to choose your hand wisely. No one talks about waiting for two aces, but there are special tables (for example, ) that show which hands and in what situations are suitable for shoving them.

Also important is your position at the table. And the point here is not so much in the strategic advantage (after all, you will put forward all-in preflop), but in knowing the strength of the cards of your opponents. It goes without saying that if you are sitting in the last position, and several players have all-in before you, then it makes no sense to support them, having, say, a pair of sevens in your hands. On the other hand, if everyone else has folded before you, then a pocket of sevens is a great hand to shove with a small stack.

Starting hand charts

We have selected several charts, according to which even beginners can follow the push/fold strategy in MTT tournaments. However, please note that the following tables are only suitable for certain situations in the game:

1. First of all, it is necessary that all opponents before you fold their cards.
2. The player behind you also has a small stack (13 big blinds or even less).

The table below shows when it is profitable for you to go all-in. It shows the cards that can be pushed all-in, as well as your place at the table. Let's take the third row as an example (hole cards from 2-2 to 5-5). As you can see, if we are in early position, then we can push all the chips into the game if our stack is equal to 8 big blinds (or less). At the same time, on the button and in the small blind, we can shove on such cards even if our stack is already 13 big blinds.

In general, there are quite a few tables that allow you to understand how profitable it is to push all the chips all-in with a particular stack. However, consider the fact that professionals rarely use these tables. Basically, they rely on their own experience, as well as on the assessment of the game of opponents. After all, when playing in an MTT tournament, you must always notice who we are playing against and what kind of opponents we are opposed to.

However, in general, the push/fold strategy in MTT tournaments is a great and sometimes the only way to get out of a difficult situation in a tournament and regain a comfortable stack that will allow you to continue to stay afloat.