Push/Fold Stack Size Calculator
Calculate the effective push/fold threshold in big blinds for poker tournaments.
Know when to push all-in or fold based on stack depth.
Why push/fold exists
Once your tournament stack drops below 15 big blinds, post-flop play becomes mathematically inferior to open-shoving or folding. You no longer have the chips to make pot-controlled raises, you cannot afford to fold to a 3-bet, and your opponents know it. Push/fold collapses the decision tree to one question: shove or muck.
Stack depth and strategy by big blinds
| Stack (BB) | Mode | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 25+ | Full strategy | Open-raise, 3-bet, post-flop play all normal |
| 15 to 25 | Selective shove | Open-shove from late position; raise/fold from earlier |
| 10 to 15 | Push or fold | Open-shove much wider; rarely just open-raise |
| 5 to 10 | Pure push/fold | Nash ranges apply; every hand is a binary decision |
| Under 5 | Any two | Shove any two cards from button or small blind |
Nash equilibrium pushing ranges
The Nash equilibrium for heads-up push/fold (small blind shoving, big blind calling) gives the mathematically unexploitable range. For a 10 BB stack, the small blind shoves about 53% of hands; the big blind calls about 38%. At 5 BB the small blind shoves about 70% and the big blind calls about 50%. These are the ranges to beat. Memorising a 10 BB chart for both sides covers 80% of late-tournament situations.
Antes change everything
The “effective big blind” (effBB) accounts for the antes pulled in each hand:
effBB = BB + (ante × number_of_players)
A 600/1200 level with 200 antes at 9 players means each pot already contains 1200 + 600 + (200 × 9) = 3600 chips before the cards are dealt — three big blinds. Your 12,000-chip stack is 10 BB nominally, but only about 6.7 effBB. That is the number that matters for shove ranges. Antes make push/fold more aggressive, not less.
ICM and bubble factor
The chip-count math above ignores tournament payouts. Near the money bubble and on the final table, a chip you might lose is worth more than a chip you might win because busting in 10th costs you the 9th-place pay jump. Standard chip-EV push ranges over-shove in those spots. Real-world tournament players use ICM-adjusted ranges that fold more from middle stacks and shove wider as a chip leader. Software like ICMIZER or HRC is the working pro’s tool here.
The fold-equity reality
Push/fold lives or dies on fold equity. If everyone calls every shove, the math collapses — you are just gambling on equity. Look for tables where late-position opens are getting folded around enough that your shove picks up the blinds and antes uncontested. Free chips are worth more than coinflips.
How we build and check this calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
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