How stack depth changes preflop play in poker
The same seat plays a different range at every stack size, and shorter does not always mean wider. This guide follows each seat through the five depths solved on this site, 10, 15, 20, 40 and 50 big blinds, and shows what changes and why.
Updated
How much each seat plays at each depth
| Seat | 10bb | 15bb | 20bb | 40bb | 50bb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTG | 17% | 13% | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| UTG+1 | 20% | 15% | 19% | 21% | 19% |
| Lojack | 24% | 18% | 22% | 24% | 23% |
| Hijack | 30% | 22% | 26% | 28% | 28% |
| Cutoff | 34% | 30% | 32% | 37% | 37% |
| Button | 44% | 37% | 43% | 52% | 54% |
| Small blind | 74% | 64% | 84% | 85% | 88% |
The share of all 1,326 starting combinations each seat plays when everyone before it has folded, in an 8-max tournament with a big blind ante. Each figure links to its full chart.
Every seat plays its fewest hands at 15bb, not at the shortest stack. Under the gun plays 13% at 15bb, against 17% at 10bb and 17% at 20bb.
Above 20bb the late seats open up again as the stack grows. The button plays 43% at 20bb and 54% at 50bb; the cutoff 32% and 37%. Under the gun hardly moves between 20bb and 50bb.
Why 15bb is the tightest stack
What a seat can afford to try depends on what it risks against what it can win. Before anyone acts, the blinds and the big blind ante put 2.5bb in the pot.
- At 15bb and below the charts are push/fold: the only way in is all-in. A 15bb shove risks 6 times the pot to win it; a 10bb shove risks 4 times. The less a shove risks, the more hands it pays to shove, so 10bb shoves wider than 15bb.
- From 20bb a seat can open to 2bb instead, less than the pot. A small open that is shoved on can still fold, so a seat can try with hands it could not shove for its whole stack.
- So 15bb sits at the worst point: a shove there risks more than at any shorter stack, and the cheap small open only arrives at 20bb. That is where the ranges are narrowest.
How the chips go in: all-in, raise or limp
The share of hands a seat plays is only half of it. How it plays them changes too, and the button shows it most clearly:
| Stack | Button plays | Goes all-in | Raises |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10bb | 44% | 44% | none |
| 15bb | 37% | 37% | none |
| 20bb | 43% | 13% | 30% |
| 40bb | 52% | none | 52% |
| 50bb | 54% | none | 54% |
At 10 and 15bb every hand the button plays goes all-in. At 20bb it mixes: it raises to 2bb with some hands and shoves others. From 40bb every open is a raise. The small blind adds a third way in, the limp, because only the big blind is left behind it:
| Stack | Small blind plays | Goes all-in | Raises | Limps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10bb | 74% | 74% | none | none |
| 15bb | 64% | 64% | none | none |
| 20bb | 84% | 33% | none | 51% |
| 40bb | 85% | none | 33% | 52% |
| 50bb | 88% | none | 9% | 79% |
Raises are to 2bb, and to 3bb from the small blind. Shares are of all 1,326 starting combinations.
Eight hands from the cutoff, through every depth
The tables above add up whole ranges. Single hands show the change more sharply. Here is what the cutoff does with eight of them when it is folded to:
| Hand | 10bb | 15bb | 20bb | 40bb | 50bb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | All-in | All-in | Fold 67%, all-in 33% | Fold 95%, raise 5% | Raise |
| 55 | All-in | All-in | Raise 73%, all-in 27% | Raise | Raise |
| A5s | All-in | All-in | All-in 94%, raise 6% | Raise | Raise |
| ATo | All-in | All-in | All-in 57%, raise 43% | Raise | Raise |
| KQo | All-in | All-in | All-in 91%, raise 9% | Raise | Raise |
| JTs | All-in | All-in | All-in | Raise | Raise |
| 65s | All-in | Fold | Fold | Raise | Raise |
| Q9o | Fold | Fold | Fold | Raise | Fold 51%, raise 49% |
Where the solver plays a hand more than one way, the table gives how often it takes each play.
The hands that move the most are small pairs and small suited connectors, such as 22 and 65s. They are worth a shove at 10bb, where winning the blinds and ante straight away is enough, and worth a small raise at 50bb, where they can win a big pot after the flop. In between they come and go: 65s folds at 15bb and 20bb, and 22 folds most of the time at 20bb and 40bb. Hands with high cards, ATo and KQo here, are played at every depth; what changes is whether they go in all at once.
The big blind against the button
The other side changes with the stack too. Here is the big blind once the button has come in and the small blind has folded:
| Stack | Button | Big blind re-raises | Calls | Folds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10bb | shoves | none | 38% | 62% |
| 15bb | shoves | none | 27% | 73% |
| 20bb | raises to 2bb | 21% | 64% | 14% |
| 40bb | raises to 2bb | 12% | 78% | 10% |
| 50bb | raises to 2bb | 14% | 79% | 6% |
Against a shove the big blind can only call or fold, and it calls wider against the shorter one. Against a 2bb open it gets a price: it puts in one more big blind to see a flop, so it defends far more hands. At 20bb every re-raise is all-in; at 40bb and 50bb it can 3-bet to a size, and it calls more and re-raises less than at 20bb.
What to take from it
- Count your stack in big blinds before every hand. The right range for a seat can move by several points between neighbouring depths.
- Do not treat a shorter stack as a reason to play more hands. Around 15bb the ranges are at their tightest; it is at 10bb that shoving opens up again.
- With a stack between two solved depths, neither chart is exact: use the closer one.
- These charts are for eight players with a big blind ante, and they maximise chips. Near the bubble or at a final table, prize jumps usually call for tighter play than any chip chart shows.
10bb push/fold charts15bb push/fold charts20bb preflop charts40bb preflop charts50bb preflop charts
How to read a poker range chartHow to memorize poker ranges10bb vs 15bb: when to shove in pokerWhat does 20bb mean in poker? Stacks explainedPreflop charts by positionPush/fold chartsPush or fold? lookup
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