# Push-fold primer

> Nash as an idea, not a solved-game cosplay. 10bb, 12bb, and 15bb shapes in 9-max Hold'em.

Canonical: https://unmatchedpoker.com/tools/push-fold-primer
Publisher: Unmatched Poker — https://unmatchedpoker.com/
Last reviewed: August 31, 2026
Note: Educational Hold'em magazine. Not a poker room, not financial advice, not a signup funnel. 18+/21+.

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Tool

 

# Push-fold is a tree with two nodes. Until it isn't.

 

At some stack depth, min-raising is just a way to give the blinds a cheap peel. Nash push-fold is the idea that you jam or fold because calling ranges behind you are supposed to be tight, and your equity when called still shows a profit.

 

Last reviewed August 31, 2026

 

 
 

This page does not ship a 13×13 Nash chart and then pretend it solved Hold'em. Antes, ICM, and the specific calling stations in the blinds move every cell. Use a real chart or a solver for the pixels. Use this to understand the shape before you memorize one.

 [Nine-max table positions from UTG to the blinds] 
 Effective stack
 
 10bb
 12bb
 15bb
 
 Position
 
 UTG
 CO
 BTN
 SB
 
 
 
 

## The idea, not the religion

 

When you jam 10bb UTG, you are not "representing aces." You are putting a price on the entire table that only big pairs and strong aces should call. When you jam 10bb on the button, the blinds have to wake up with a calling hand that can stand a 10bb raise into a dead pot. That is why the range gets wider as you go later. Position still exists when you are short. UTG 76s is still a fold. Button 76s is often a jam. Same two cards, different node. Full pillar: [short-stack push-fold](/strategy/short-stack-push-fold).

 

ICM makes this meaner. A chip-EV jam on the bubble can be a $EV punt. See [ICM](/strategy/icm-and-tournament-ladder) and the [bubble fold that feels sick](/hands/bubble-fold-that-feels-sick).