One of the more controversial strategies in texas hold ‘em tournament poker these days is going all in pre-flop, otherwise known as the “Push”. Those who consider themselves better players want more decisions to make, believing that if they make more decisions correctly than their opponent, they will win most of the time. The other camp will point you to Independent Chip Models and show you mathematically that they are ‘right’ to push.

So, who’s right?

Both.

Absolutely, if you know you are the superior player, you want to take luck out of the equation, slow the game down, and outplay your opponent. And, it can be mathematically proven that getting all of your chips in the pot with 1 or 2 or 3 players to act behind you is the proper play. Depending, of course.

So, when is it right to push pre-flop? Surprising, there are several clear-cut STRATEGIC situations where this is the best play, and not necessarily mathematically correct. First, is the easiest: The Short-Stack.

In general, you’re considered a short stack if your M (as defined by Harrington, the size of your stack divided by the sum of the blinds and antes for one orbit) is less than 10. You have very few moves you can make here, because the big stacks, and some middle stacks, will call standard raises with any two cards to try to hit a flop and bust you. You’re playing for fold equity here, as much as you are for an opportunity to double-up. To truly understand this situation, read the second volume of ”>Harrington on Hold ‘Em.

This situation is most frequently played out in SNGs, especially Turbo SNGs, where blinds rise rapidly and it’s not unusual for all remaining players to have M’s below 10 just 30 minutes into the tournament. Many multi-table players, especially at the highest levels, rely exclusively on this strategy. It is not unusual to see well-known, respected players fold every hand until levels 4-5, allowing the field to narrow and play to tighten up near the bubble. At this point, they have a very wide open-pushing range, and utilize it with any hand that can conceivably be considered a favorite over a random hand, knowing other players (including themselves) will respect the gap concept and wait for big hands before calling for the majority of their chips. They’re content to chip back up with blonds and antes, and will shift gears as they move in and out of the danger zone.

Next post: When you’re a ‘dog to your opponents (like me!)

It’s late in a NLHE MTT and you’re getting short stacked with 3K in chips and blinds of 200/400. You’re UTG and you’re dealt 7d7c. You limp for 200, hoping to see a cheap flop. It folds around to the button, who raises to 1,000. It folds back to you, and you call 800 more.

The flop is 2c 4h 6d. You shove your last 2,000 chips into the pot, the button calls with QcQd, and you lose.

Should you have pushed on the flop? Yes, you should have. That decision is absolutely correct, given the circumstances and the texture of the flop. The problem, though, is that you made a mistake pre-flop, and never should have put yourself in this position to begin with.

The pre-flop decision to try to limp with 77 isn’t a horrible one, but you have to fold when it’s raised. You simply can’t call off 800 more chips, nearly a third of your stack, praying to flop a set. If you don’t flop a set, you’ll be forced to check/fold flops with overcards, as you’re out of position with just a pair of 7s, or you’ll be in the spot outlined above, shoving and praying that the button doesn’t have the overpair that he or she is strongly representing.

Don’t let the fact that pushing on the flop was the correct play for you to make confuse matters. That decision was indeed correct, but you never should have been in that position, as you should have folded to the pre-flop raise. When analyzing your NL hands, don’t just focus on the final decision as it’s often earlier decisions that play a much more critical role in determining whether you’re a winner or loser.