When your stack gets short, your best move is usually all-in
You’ve been playing solid poker—raising instead of limping, using position to your advantage, defending your big blind smartly, and playing with disciplined aggression from the small blind. Everything’s going well.
Then the blinds go up. And up again. Suddenly you look down at your stack and realize: you only have 15 big blinds left. Welcome to short-stack poker, where the game changes completely.
The Stack-Size Reality Check
In our tournaments, most players start getting short around level 8 (about two hours in). The average stack is around 20 big blinds, and many players are even shorter. By level 10, remaining 5 or 6 have an average of about 10 big blinds.
Quick note: When we talk about “short stacks,” we’re not talking about the absolute number of chips you have—we’re talking about how many big blinds those chips represent. A stack of 3,000 chips means something very different when the blinds are 100/200 versus when they’re 500/1,000. It’s the big blind count that matters.
Here’s the problem: most players make one of two critical mistakes.
Mistake #1: They keep playing just like they did when they had 100 big blinds. They limp or min-raise to “see what happens.” Hand after hand, they lose 1-2 big blinds until their stack is too short to matter—without ever putting up a real fight.
Mistake #2: They overcorrect and stop playing hands entirely. They fold, fold, fold, waiting for a big pair—and blind down until they’re forced all-in from the big blind with a random hand. Even if they double up, they’re still desperately short.
There’s a better way.
The Three Stack Zones
Think of your stack in three zones:
Comfortable Zone (20+ big blinds)
You can still play relatively normal poker. Make standard raises, see some flops, maneuver after the flop. This is your sweet spot.
Danger Zone (10-20 big blinds)
You can still min-raise if you want, and you can still call raises to see flops. But here’s the key change: any re-raise should be all-in instead of the usual 6-8 big blinds. If you’re going to put 30-50% of your stack in the middle, just commit fully—either force folds or get to see all five cards.
Also, the shallower you get in this zone, the more “all-in” should become your default play instead of calling or min-raising.
How to think about hand strength in this zone:
This in-between zone is admittedly one of the most complex to navigate. Here’s a simple framework based on hand strength:
Your very best hands (AA, AK, JJ, KQ): You really want to get all the chips in—this is your best chance to double up. So don’t force folds. Min-raise and hope someone calls or re-raises. If someone has already raised, just call and try to get the rest in after the flop.
Strong but not best hands (medium pairs like 77-TT, offsuit Aces like A9o-AQo, weaker suited broadways like JTs, QTs, KJs): These have a reasonable chance (30-60%) of winning when called, but they’re not so strong that you want to avoid opponents folding. Just shove. You’re happy winning the blinds or getting called.
Medium strength hands (small pairs like 22-66, suited connectors, weak suited aces, some suited Kings): You want to see what happens on the flop before committing everything. Min-raise (or call a raise) and decide after you see three cards.
Weak hands: Fold, as always.
The key question: How strong is my hand? Super strong (min-raise/call), decently strong (shove), medium strength (min-raise/call and see the flop), or weak (fold)?
Desperate Zone (Under 10 big blinds)
All-in or fold. Period. No more min-raises, no more “let’s see a flop.” Just push or fold.
Why Shoving Is Better Than Limping or Min-Raising
Let’s say you have 12 big blinds and limp with J♠️T♠️. Here’s what can happen:
- Someone behind you raises, you fold (wasted a big blind)
- Everyone sees a flop, you hit middle or bottom pair, someone bets, and now you’re facing a hard decision: call and risk your tournament life with a marginal pair, or fold and lose what you’ve already invested
- You miss completely and have to fold to any bet (wasted a big blind)
Now imagine you shove all-in instead:
When everyone folds (the most common outcome):
You win 1.5 big blinds without a showdown. That’s a 12% boost to your stack in a single hand.
When someone calls and you win:
Now THIS is the game-changer. Double up from 12 big blinds and you’re back to 24 big blinds—you’re out of the danger zone entirely and back to playing normal poker. Compare that to doubling up from 3 big blinds to 6 big blinds—you’re still desperately short.
When someone calls and you lose:
You tried. At least you gave yourself a chance with a reasonable hand while you still had enough chips to make your opponents’ decisions hard.
The key insight: Shoving while you still have 10-15 big blinds isn’t just about survival; it’s about giving yourself a real chance to get enough chips to win the tournament.
But Which Hands Are Good Enough To Go All-In?
Once you’re in the desperate zone (under 10 BB) or frequently shoving in the danger zone, two factors determine which hands you should shove with.
Just like in regular poker, position is the primary factor in determining how many hands you can play. Moving all-in doesn’t change this fundamental truth.
The key question: Would you have played this hand with 25 or 30 big blinds from this position? If yes, you should play it with 10 big blinds too—you’ll just move all-in instead of min-raising.
The second consideration is how many big blinds you have. The fewer big blinds remain in your stack, the more you can (and should) move all-in with some weaker hands. With 15 big blinds, you can afford to be a bit more selective. With 5 big blinds, you need to move all-in with some weaker hands because you’re running out of time.
But don’t over-adjust. Position is the main driver. The number of big blinds you have just allows you to move all-in with a few more weak hands.
What to Do When Another Player Is Already in the Pot
Here’s where things change a bit more: when you’re short-stacked, you need much stronger hands after someone else has already entered the pot—whether they min-raised or moved all-in.
Why This Matters
It’s one thing to move all-in against a bunch of players with random hands. It’s very different to commit all your chips against one or more players whose hands are at least good enough to play. They’ve announced they have something—now you need a real hand to compete because the odds of getting called just went up. The question you need to ask yourself: is this hand worth all my chips or not? If you are not happy risking all your chips, just fold and wait for something better.
When Someone Moves All-In (Calling a Shove)
This same principle applies even more when someone moves all-in rather than raising small.
The simple rule: You need stronger hands to call an all-in than you would need to move all-in yourself.
Why? Because when you move all-in first, you have two ways to win: everyone folds (immediate win) or someone calls and you win at showdown. When you call someone else’s all-in, you can only win at showdown—you have no chance of making them fold.
Suggested calling guidelines:
- Against an early position shove: Pairs (66+), strong Aces (AT+), and KQ
- Against a middle position shove: Any pair, Aces (A8+), KQ, and suited broadways
- Against a button shove: Any pair, any Ace, and broadways (offsuit or suited)
Remember: the fewer big blinds the shover has, the weaker their hands are on average, so the weaker your calling hands can be.
Why Shoving Feels Scary (And Why You Should Do It Anyway)
We know what you’re thinking: “Shoving with J♠️T♠️ feels reckless. What if someone has Aces?”
Here’s the truth: shoving when short-stacked isn’t reckless—blinding away is reckless.
Think about it this way:
- When you shove and get called by a worse hand: Great! A good chance to double up.
- When you shove and get called by a better hand: You still have 30-40% to win. That’s a decent shot.
- When you shove and everyone folds: Even better! Free chips with no risk.
- When you fold and blind away: You’re CHOOSING to slowly lose with 0% chance of winning those chips back.
The fear of “looking bad” by shoving J♠️T♠️ and losing to AK? That’s ego talking. The reality is you’ll look worse when you blind down to 2 big blinds and bust with 7♣️2♦️ in the big blind.
A Tricky Situation: Playing Short When Others Have Big Stacks
One tricky situation you’ll face is being short-stacked when everyone else still has plenty of chips. This plays differently than when everyone is short.
When you shove 10 big blinds and someone has 40 big blinds, calling you only risks 25% of their stack. They can call you with weaker hands than they normally would. This creates both challenges and opportunities:
The challenge: Big stacks can afford to gamble against you with marginal hands. Don’t assume everyone will fold just because you moved all-in.
The opportunity: When those bigger-stacked players call with weaker hands, you’re more likely to double up when you win—getting you back to a comfortable stack.
How to adjust: Tighten up slightly when you’re the only short stack and recognize the difference between this and when everyone is short (where players become more cautious trying to outlast each other).
Your Challenge for Our Next Game
Go all-in with a larger stack before you blind all the way down. Next time you’re short-stacked in late position, shove with weaker hands than you think you should. Track how often you just win the blinds—you’ll be surprised how effective it is.
One special note about the bubble: When you’re close to making the money or moving up the pay ladder, it can occasionally make sense to fold hands you’d normally shove—but ONLY if there’s another player who’s likely to bust before you. Don’t get too fancy with this. The most common mistake is being too conservative on the bubble and blinding down to nothing.
What We’ve Learned So Far
Over these six strategy tips, we’ve completely rebuilt your pre-flop game:
- Tip #1 (Raise or Fold): Stopped limping and started building pots with strong hands
- Tip #2 (Position): Played more hands in late position and folded more early
- Tip #3 (Big Blind Pre-Flop): Used your discount to see flops with more hands profitably
- Tip #4 (Big Blind Post-Flop): Moved many of your folds from pre-flop to post-flop
- Tip #5 (Small Blind): Played more selectively from the worst position at the table
- Tip #6 (Short Stack): Learned to push aggressively when stacks get shallow
What’s Next?
We’re taking a publishing break during the off-season, but when we return for our first game next year, we’ll shift our focus from pre-flop play to post-flop play.
We’ll tackle questions like:
- How likely is my hand to connect with different types of flops?
- How should I play when my hand doesn’t connect?
- When should I bet, why should I bet, and how much?
- How does my strategy change on different types of flops?
We look forward to seeing you implement our tips at the tables!