• The charts do not cover stacks larger than 14 big blinds (again, 8 bb pre-ante). This too is by design. Over 14 big blinds you should not use a push-or-fold strategy, but rather minraise most of your range and push just some small part of it in certain situations. Refer to the lesson 'Playing Preflop: Open Raising' for more details.
• Push Fold Charts These Push Fold Charts will help you understand when you need to either fold or shove your entire stack when you are short stacked in poker tournaments. Please use these charts as a study tool to help you improve your understanding of push fold scenarios.
• The result of this is something called Push-Fold charts. Google/Bing/Yahoo the term and you'll find lots of information on this approach to short stack play. Or, even better, let Uncle Bug do it for you: Just go to a site like Exceptional Poker to get the charts. For instance, here's a chart for open-shoving when you're at 10 big blinds at a.

• Push Shove Poker Charts
• Push Shove Chart Poker
• Push Shove Chart Poker Tournament
• Push Shove Charts Poker

Push/fold poker charts can be very useful in tournament strategy – by highlighting when, in certain situations, it is better for you to go all-in or to fold.

Push Shove Poker Charts

Episode 7 of the World Series of Poker on ESPN kicked off with a short discussion between Jason Mcconnon and Kenny Hallaert about a piece of paper.

Mcconnon, with 1,995,000 in chips just under the average of 2,526,500, brought a so-called push-fold chart that tells players which hands they should push and which hands they should fold in what position once down to a certain amount of big blinds.

Hallaert immediately objected to the use of the information on the sheet of paper. Mcconnon, however, seemed sure he was allowed to use it.

The first hand, action folded to Mcconnon and he picked up in middle position. With the blinds at 40,000/80,000 and an ante of 10,000, he reached for the papers in his lap to see how to play his 50 big blind stack. Hallaert objected and asked for a ruling.

What wasn't shown in the broadcast was that the floor initially did not forbid the use of the sheets of paper. Hallaert asked for a second opinion and Tournament Director Jack Effel came to the table and ruled the following:

So listen, the way that any of those things work, it's just like anything else. While you're in a hand, you can't use any kind of tools, you can't use any aide, anything like that. When you're out of the hand, you're more than welcome to reference anything that you have, your notes or anything like that, but not during the play of hands.

Mcconnon wasn't convinced just yet, but proceeded to play the hand without checking the charts again. Mcconnon must have checked the WSOP rules before he started playing Day 6 of the Main Event because he seemed so sure.

What Do the Rules Say?

Let's see what the WSOP 2016 Rules say on this subject.

The first rule in the 2016 WSOP rule book under the 'Participant conduct and tournament integrity' section is no cheating allowed. Technically, the use of the push fold chart could be ruled a cheating device, though that would be a very liberal interpretation of the rule.

40. The competitive integrity of all Tournament play at the WSOP is paramount. All participants must adhere to the spirit and letter of the Official Rules of the WSOP that forbid play or any action that is illegal, unethical or constitutes cheating or collusion in any form.

• 40.a. Cheating is defined as any such act engaged in by a participant to break the established rules of play to gain an advantage.

1. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, acts such as: Collusion; chip stealing; transferring non-value tournament chips from one event to another; introducing chips not intended for an event into an event; card marking; card substitution; or the use of any kind of cheating device.

One could rule the use of the sheet compromises the competitive integrity of the WSOP, as stated in rule 40.f. That's not, however, what Effel refers to in his explanation in the broadcast.

• 40.f. Anyone found to have engaged in or attempted to engage in any act that tournament officials believe in their sole and absolute discretion compromises or could compromise the competitive integrity of the WSOP will be subject to sanctions imposed by Rio.

Two rules that hint at relevance to the issue here are Rule 63 and Rule 110. They don't, however, come close to the situation at hand; Mcconnon does not use an electronic device (Rule 63), nor does he have the piece of paper on the table itself (Rule 110):

63. Communication: All cell phones and other voice-enabled and “ringing” electronic devices must be silenced during tournament play. Participants not involved in a hand (cards in muck) shall be permitted to text/email at the table, but shall not be permitted to text/email any other participant at the table. If Rio, acting in its sole and absolute discretion, believes a participant is communicating with another participant at the table, both parties will be immediately disqualified from the tournament and face imposition of additional penalties as described in Rule 40. [...] No cell phones or other electronic communication device can be placed on a poker table.

110. Foreign Objects: There will be no foreign objects on the table except for a maximum of one card cap (also known as a card protector). Card caps can be no larger than two (2) inches in diameter and no more than one-half (1/2) inch in depth. Participants may not place any food or beverages on the poker table with the exception of one (1) capped bottle of water.

In fact, the entire rule book does not mention anything concerning the use of an 'aide' or 'tool' or anything concerning getting 'assistance' during a hand from something other than a player (collusion). In the end, it's Rule 56 that really plays here, the rule that warrants the tournament floor and director to do what's in the best interest of the game:

56. Floor People: The tournament director, managers and supervisors are to consider the best interest of the game and fairness as the top priority in the decision-making process. Unusual circumstances can on occasion dictate that decisions in the interest of fairness take priority over the technical rules. The tournament director (“TD”) reserves the right to overrule any floor decision.

The Right Decision?

In my eyes, Jack Effel absolutely made the right decision forbidding the use of the documentation during the hand. To me, it's clear that a specific rule concerning the use of any outside help is missing from the rule book at the moment and should be included next year.

But where do we draw the line if such a rule would be included next year? For example, are people allowed to have the payouts printed and consult those when the tournament is on a bubble? What do you think?

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  2016 World Series of Poker2016 WSOPWSOPJack EffelESPN

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In Holdem, when you have a very short stack of 10bb or less, your preflop strategy is basically limited to shoving or calling a shove. An optimal strategy will depend on your opponent’s flaws, as exploiting their flaws will be the most profitable approach.
However, it is essential to comprehend what a balanced preflop gto strategy is so that you can spot their leaks and avoid making errors yourself. The Texas Holdem poker hands charts that we will present below will help you master preflop gto strategy when playing with a short stack.

Gto based Preflop Shove Strategy – Early Position

From an early position, even with a short stack, you must play your strongest hands. This means playing mostly premium starting hands and suited Broadway cards.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for shoving under the gun in a 9 handed-table with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Preflop Shove Strategy – Middle Position

From a middle position, you still play strong hands. Now you can add some more suited starting hands, notably suited aces, some more additional unsuited Broadway cards, like KJo and small pairs.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for shoving from middle position 2 in a 9 handed-table with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Preflop Shove Strategy – Late Position

From late position, as the players left to act are reduced, your push range starts to become much wider.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for shoving from the cutoff with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

From the button, your range can be even looser. Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for shoving from the cutoff with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Preflop Shove Strategy – Small Blind

From the small blind, you can become super aggressive. Now you only have to worry about the big blind having a strong hand!

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for shoving from the small blind with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Calling a Shove Strategy – Early Position

When you are facing a shove, as the gap concept suggests you need a stronger hand than what you would shove with in the same position if you were first in.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from utg +1 an utg shove with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Calling a Shove Strategy – Middle Position

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from middle position a shove from middle position with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Calling a Shove Strategy – Late Position

Push Shove Chart Poker

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the button a shove from middle position with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the button a shove from the cutoff with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Calling a Shove Strategy – The Blinds

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the small blind a shove from under the gun with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the small blind a shove from middle position with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the big blind a shove from the cutoff with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Push Shove Chart Poker Tournament

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the big blind a shove from the button with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Push Shove Charts Poker

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the big blind a shove from the small blind with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.