Your strategy when the Blinds become very large
1. Introduction
The game only really starts now. You've waited for this moment the whole time and have been saving your chips in order to survive. The push-or-fold phase starts now. The Blinds are high and the chip stacks are small in comparison.
There are only two moves you can use. You either move all-in (push) before the flop, or you fold your hand.
Everything is decided by these two alternatives. Only playing good cards in the beginning of a tournament is not rocket science. However, hitting the right button in the push-or-fold phase isn't that easy. You don't have to worry though because the tournament experts from PokerStrategy have found a way to teach you this science, through learning by doing, so you don't have to study eight semesters of tournament play. More about this later.
In this article you will learn, ...
- … how to recognize when you are confronted with a push-or-fold decision.
- … what your decision is dependent on.
- … how you can practice the perfect game with the ICM-Trainer from PokerStrategy in the push-or-fold phase.
2. When are you confronted with a push-or-fold decision?
You are confronted with a push-or-fold decision, if ...
- … you have 13 Big Blinds or less.
- … all players behind you have 13 Big Blinds or less.
| Important | |
| If you have 13 Big Blinds or less or all players behind you have 13 Big Blinds or less, you have to decide whether to push or to fold. | |
Example 1
There are three players left in the tournament. The Blinds are at 300 chips for the Small Blind and 600 for the Big Blind. You are on the Button and therefore first to act.
Chip counts:
- Big Blind 5100
- Small Blind 2700
- Button (you) 1300
This is a clear push-or-fold situation. You have just over two Big Blinds. Both other players also have less than 13 Big Blinds.
Example 2
Five players are left in the the tournament. The Blinds are at 100 chips for the Small Blind and 200 for the Big Blind. You are on the Button and both players in front of you folded.
Chip counts:
- Big Blind 1700
- Small Blind 400
- Button (you) 4800
- Cutoff 1600
- MP 1200
You have 4800/200 = 24 Big Blinds. The Small Blind only has two Big Blinds left. The player in the Big Blind has 8,5 Big Blinds. Therefore you should push or fold because all opponents behind you have stack of less than 13 Big Blinds.
| QUIZ | |
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Question 1: You have 2400 chips. The Big Blind is 100 chips. Are you confronted with a push-or-fold decision? a) yes Question 2: You have 1200 chips. The Big Blind is 100 chips. Are you confronted with a push-or-fold decision? a) yes |
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3. How do you play in the push-or-fold phase?
You are sitting at the poker table and played well so far. Maybe there are five, four or even three players left and you are definitely in the money. You are holding two cards, the situation is as follows: What do you do? The oldest question of them all.
Basically you can remember which five factors your decision is dependent on:
- How many chips do you have?
- How many chips do your opponents have?
- What did the players in front of you do?
- Which position are you in, how many players are left to act behind you?
- What cards are you holding?
How many chips do you have?
The less chips you have, the more pressure you'll be under. Therefore you'll move all-in more often.
How many chips do your opponents have?
The interesting question is: What are the chip stacks like in comparison with one another? For example, assume there are four players left. You have 13 Big Blinds, two other players have 13 Big Blinds and the fourth has 3 Big Blinds. You are one spot away from being in the money. You don't really want to attack the players who have 13 Big Blinds because they could eliminate you in one hand. The player with three Big Blinds is under a lot of pressure and there is a good chance that he'll be eliminated from the table before you will. Therefore you'll become more tight.
Another situation in which you'll be tighter is, for example, when you're playing against an opponent who has enough chips that it won't hurt him to lose against you once. The more it would hurt someone to lose against you, the more aggressively you can play against him.
For players who think and play strategically like you, their number of chips can create clarity about which hands they would move all-in with and which hands they would call an all-in with. Someone with 13 Big Blinds will move all-in with a smaller and stronger range of hands than someone who has four Big Blinds.
What did the players in front of you do?
The author Dan Harrington first shaped the concept in his book series "Harrington on Hold'em". Behind this, is the simple fact that you can move all-in far more often if you are the first player to enter the hand than if some players have already entered the hand. You will play far less hands in this situation because the chance that someone will call your all-in is much higher.
Another case is if someone raised all-in in front of you and you're thinking about calling. It makes a big difference whether you move all-in yourself or call an all-in, because in the second case, you have to have the better hand, while the profit from the first case is made by making better hands fold.
Which position are you in, how many players are left to act behind you?
It is obvious that the more players there are that still have to act behind you, the bigger the chance of someone holding a good hand which he'd still want to play. Your position is very important even in the push-or-fold phase.
What cards do you have?
Although, depending on your chip stack, you would move all-in with many hands in the push-or-fold phase, your cards aren't irrelevant. The higher your cards, the better. On the other hand, for example, an ace is not always good because if another player calls, he mostly calls with a better ace. You have to look at this from a relative point of view. A ten and a nine of one colour could definitely represent a better hand than, for example, an ace and a three.
In order to put this science of the push-or-fold phase into a mathematical perspective, the Independent Chip Model ICM was created. It basically converts chips into real money values. Of course, you're not playing for chips but to reach a paid place in the tournament. The principle of staying alive in the tournament is the basis of the calculation made in the ICM. The ICM shows how any action affects which place you'll make and with what probability.
Playing according to the ICM is very complex. Suitable articles for advanced players in the strategy section on PokerStrategy, will deal with this topic in detail. However, this won't help you all that much. You have to be able to do it. Due to this, our IT-expert created a program with which you can practice the game in the push-or-fold phase and learn the Independent Chip Model by using it in practice.
With this free tool, the PokerStrategy ICM-Trainer, you can practice the game in the push-or-fold phase. Sample situations will be presented to you in which you have to decide whether to move all-in or fold. Your decision will be evaluated and analysed. The program will show you how you should generally play in these situations.
The next chapter explains how to use the program and how you can bring your push-or-fold game to perfection.
| QUIZ | |
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QUESTION 3: The less chips you have, ... a) the more hands you move all-in with. QUESTION 4: If a player entered the hand in front of you, ... a) You play more hands because the pot is larger. QUESTION 5: In which situation do you move all-in with the most hands? a) If a player entered the hand in front of you. |
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4. How do you practice with the ICM-Trainer from PokerStrategy?
The first step is to download and to install the program. You can find the program on the following site:
Download the software; open the file and execute the Setup.exe file to install the program.
Once you have installed and started the ICM-Trainer and the initialising phase is finished, you start a new lesson by clicking the "Start lection" button.
Now the program will create game situation in which you have to decide whether to move all-in (Push) or to (Fold). You're always the player "Hero". You'll see your own cards and what actions your opponents made.
You also know all the chip stacks. Look at the situations and try to make the correct decision by clicking on the "Push" button for moving all-in or the "Fold" button to give up your hand. To aid you in your decisions, tips and advice is given to you in the right column.
If your decision was correct it is displayed afterwards. The program will also show you which hands you could have profitably moved all-in with in this situation. You will see a list of the complete hand ranges. In this example you see that you could have moved all-in with any pair from a pair of deuces (22+) onwards and also with any suited ace from A8 (A8s+) onwards and so on.
The best thing to do would be to take some time, play through the lessons and practice your push-or-fold strategy. The more hands you play the more certain you'll get. Do look at the evaluation and the advice on the right side to understand the connection between the situation, chip counts and the hands you move all-in with. It's obvious that you cannot learn the perfect strategy within minutes. If it were that easy, your opponents would be able to do this as well. Invest a little bit of time and you will soon be awarded with good placing and lots of winnings.
5. Conclusion
You have now been taught that the push-or-fold phase is probably the most complex phase in a tournament, even though there are only two possible moves: all-in or fold. You know that the number 13 marks the crucial level. If you, or all opponents who have to act behind you, have 13 Big Blinds or less, you are faced with a push-or-fold decision.
A mathematical model, the Independent Chip Model ICM, determines the strategy in this special phase. You can prepare yourself for this part of the game with the ICM-Trainer from PokerStrategy and learn about this model even without going into this material any further.
You should also watch the videos and coachings in which the push-or-fold game is shown and explained in practice. By doing this, you'll soon know how to play in the the most profitable manner.
In the closing article How to follow your path: The Bankrollmanagement, you'll discover how to manage your poker money in the optimal manner in order to rise in limits as fast as possible and maximise your winnings while keeping the risk of going bust to a minimum.
6. Appendix: Solutions |
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| Question 1: You have 2400 Chips. The Big Blind is 100 chips. Are you confronted with a push-or-fold decision? |
b) |  |
No |
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| Question 2: You have 1200 chips. The Big Blind is 100 chips. Are you confronted with a push-or-fold decision? |
a) | |
Yes |
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| Question 3: The less chips you have, ... |
a) | |
The more hands you move all-in with. |
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| Question 4: If a player entered the hand in front of you, ... |
b) | |
You play less hands. |
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| Question 5: In which situation do you move all-in with the most hands? |
c) | |
If no player entered the hand in front of you. |