Calling an all-in

Shoving collects the pot whenever everyone folds. Calling never does.

So at the same depth, a calling range is clearly narrower than a shoving range.

Confusing the two is how stacks disappear.

• push/fold

  Play so shallow that the only sensible choices are all-in or fold. A middling raise would commit you anyway.

• break-even equity

  How often you must win for a call to be neither profitable nor losing. It is the call divided by the final pot. Win more often than this and calling makes money.

• blocker

  A card in your hand that your opponent therefore cannot hold, which removes some of their strongest combinations.

20 hands or more, with an optimal rate of 70% and average EV loss no worse than 0.10BB