Updated on 21 Feb 26 by
Barry Carter
Poker Expert

Is JJ a call against a 34BB shove at the final table?

It's a snap call when ICM is not a factor but what the hell is Villain over shoving with at this WSOP final table?





A new hand review from the Unibet sponsored Chip Race this week and this time it is a rare review because it only includes one decision point. 

Ari Engel was at the final table of a $2,500 WSOP event where he raised under the gun +1 with JJ and the player next to act open shoved for 34 big blinds. As he said in the video if this was a ChipEV spot he would snap call, but ICM plays a massive part in this hand where the top prize was over $400,000.

As the guys say, this move screams of being Ace King which is often best to open shove and take it down with. Chip Race co-host Dara O'Kearney put the hand through a solver and it brought back some surprising results about what hands shove here. Like a lot of things ICM related, blockers were a big factor here. 

Expect a detailed discussion of ICM vs 'playing for the win' and also how solvers actually make poker more interesting, rather than make the game boring. 

What is your calling range against a 34BB shove here?


Poker Expert

Barry Carter is the editor of PokerStrategy.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2, Poker Satellite Strategy, PKO Poker Strategy, Endgame Poker Strategy, GTO Poker Simplified, Mystery Bounty Poker Strategy and Beyond GTO. In 2025, he won the Global Poker Awards for Best Book and Twitter Personality of the Year.