Drill PokerA stack of 5–8 blinds is the zone where a chart matters most and where players look at it least. The psychology is understandable: at 6 BB it feels like there's nothing left to lose, and decisions get emotional — a shove with 94o from UTG here, a fold of A5o on the button there while waiting for "something better". Both cost real money.
Stack
Position
The switcher above the grid lets you pick a stack from 5 to 8 BB — ranges shift noticeably even one blind apart.
The core principle of the short stack
The shorter the stack, the less fold equity you have — and the wider you shove. It sounds contradictory, but the logic is simple: the pot made of blinds (and antes) keeps growing relative to your stack, so stealing it without a showdown is profitable even if it works rarely. And losing a 6 BB stack isn't much different from a slow death in the blinds — you'll be all-in soon anyway, only on worse terms.
That's why ranges expand sharply here:
- 8 BB: UTG about 14%, CO about 33%, BTN about 44%, SB nearly 70%.
- 6 BB: UTG about 16%, BTN about 47%, SB about 73%.
- 5 BB: UTG about 20%, BTN about 51%, SB — around 80% of hands.
Add more with antes. At 5 BB with antes, shoving the button with any suited hand and any hand containing a paint card is standard.
What still gets folded
Even at 5 BB there are hands that play worse than folding from early position: 72o, 83o, 92o, 62o and the like — their equity against calling ranges is too low, and with seven players behind, someone will call almost every time. From early position on a short stack, fold the very bottom; from late position, fold almost nothing.
A separate case: 3 BB or less in the big blind. If most of your stack is already in the pot, call any shove — folding here only makes sense if you're banking on an even shorter neighbour busting first.
When to deviate
- A shorter stack at the table and the money is close. Let them bust first: a tighter shove at 7 BB is justified here, especially from early position.
- The big blind calls everything. Against a player who never folds, your fold equity is zero. Shove hands with equity — any ace, kings, pairs, broadways — and dump the pure junk that would normally get through on folds.
- You're in the big blind next hand. Shoving now at 7 BB and shoving at 5.5 BB after the blinds are two different decisions. Don't put it off.
Common mistakes
- "Waiting for a hand" at 6 BB — the stack melts, and the next hand may be worse than this one.
- Shoving 83o from UTG at 5 BB — even here the range has a bottom.
- Min-raising at 7 BB — it offers your opponent a cheap call and surrenders the initiative.
- Ignoring antes: with antes the range gap between 8 and 5 BB nearly disappears — you should already be shoving wide at 8.
Set the trainer's stack range to 5–8 BB — these are the fastest decisions in a tournament, and they need to be automatic, not agonised over.