A♠ 8♣ is too good to fold at 10bb. It’s ahead of the hands that call, and shoving wins the blinds uncontested most of the time.

A8o from SB with 10bb — push or fold?

Q: A8o from SB with 10bb — push or fold?

Push. At 10 big blinds there’s no room to play a normal pot. Raise and fold to a re-raise and you’ve wrecked your stack for nothing. So it’s simple: shove all-in or fold. A♠ 8♣ is too strong to fold at this depth. It beats the hands that call you, and most of the time everyone folds and you win the blinds for free. Push.

The answer

Push

all-in

The math: 10bb · shove or fold. A8 is a clear shove.

Why

At 10 big blinds there’s no room to play a normal pot. Raise and fold to a re-raise and you’ve wrecked your stack for nothing. So it’s simple: shove all-in or fold. A♠ 8♣ is too strong to fold at this depth. It beats the hands that call you, and most of the time everyone folds and you win the blinds for free. Push.

The spot

POT · 1,500

preflop

Folded to you

A♠

8♣

500 / 1,000 · 10bb

Your seat: SB
Stakes and stacks: 500 / 1,000 · 10bb
Your hand: A♠ 8♣
Board: Preflop — no board yet
Pot: POT · 1,500
Action on you: Folded to you

Every option

Foldgive it up
Why not: A♠ 8♣ is too good to fold at 10bb. It’s ahead of the hands that call, and shoving wins the blinds uncontested most of the time.
Pushall-inCorrect

The idea behind it

Under about 15 big blinds, poker becomes push-or-fold: you shove all-in or fold, because there’s no stack left to play a real pot after the flop. The shoving range is much wider than the hands you’d open deep.

Concept: Push or fold

See the glossary Read the methodology

Terms in this spot

All-in ICM

Play it instead of reading it

The trainer deals this hand with hints, grading and spaced repetition — and randomized variations of it once you have seen it.