Drill Poker
push-fold

Small Blind Push Chart at 5 BB: Shove Almost Any Two

SB shoving range at 5 big blinds: 80% of hands — any king, Q7o+, T8o, 54s and J4s. Nearly any two cards against a single opponent.

The small blind with five bigs is the limiting case of push/fold: 143 hands out of 169, almost 80% of combos. Four hands out of five correctly go all-in.

Push from SB, 5 BB stack

AA
AKs
AQs
AJs
ATs
A9s
A8s
A7s
A6s
A5s
A4s
A3s
A2s
AKo
KK
KQs
KJs
KTs
K9s
K8s
K7s
K6s
K5s
K4s
K3s
K2s
AQo
KQo
QQ
QJs
QTs
Q9s
Q8s
Q7s
Q6s
Q5s
Q4s
Q3s
Q2s
AJo
KJo
QJo
JJ
JTs
J9s
J8s
J7s
J6s
J5s
J4s
J3s
J2s
ATo
KTo
QTo
JTo
TT
T9s
T8s
T7s
T6s
T5s
T4s
T3s
T2s
A9o
K9o
Q9o
J9o
T9o
99
98s
97s
96s
95s
94s
93s
92s
A8o
K8o
Q8o
J8o
T8o
98o
88
87s
86s
85s
84s
83s
82s
A7o
K7o
Q7o
J7o
T7o
97o
87o
77
76s
75s
74s
73s
72s
A6o
K6o
Q6o
J6o
T6o
96o
86o
76o
66
65s
64s
63s
62s
A5o
K5o
Q5o
J5o
T5o
95o
85o
75o
65o
55
54s
53s
52s
A4o
K4o
Q4o
J4o
T4o
94o
84o
74o
64o
54o
44
43s
42s
A3o
K3o
Q3o
J3o
T3o
93o
83o
73o
63o
53o
43o
33
32s
A2o
K2o
Q2o
J2o
T2o
92o
82o
72o
62o
52o
42o
32o
22
PushFold
Small blind shoving range at 5 BB (Nash equilibrium, no antes).

It's easier to list what folds: the offsuit bottom with no connection and no paint — 72o, 82o, 92o, 62o, J2o and their nearest neighbours. Everything else is a shove: any king (K2o included), any queen from Q7o and any suited queen, connectors down to 54s, J4s, T8o.

Why so wide: against a single opponent the fold equity is large, half of your blind is already in the pot, and if you fold, one hand later you'll pay the big blind — a fifth of your stack — with no say in the matter. Shoving "junk" from the SB at 5 BB isn't gambling; it's collecting your own money back.

The spot's main mistake is folding "embarrassing" hands like T4s or Q8o. Over a month of tournaments those folds add up to a real loss the player never even notices: each one looks sensible on its own. The grid above is the best way to see the scale. How the picture changes as the stack grows — on the 8 BB and 10 BB pages.

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