then playing tight is the biggest mistake you can make. Don’t listen to the grizzled old-timers who laugh at you when you shove K5s from the SB off 6bbs. They are wrong. You are right. Keep doing it.
for every time they wait for another pocket pair or broadway hand and get an easy double, there will be 2 times that they just blind out and end up shoving with something even worse than K5s, or something that LOOKS better but is actually lower EV, like shoving A9 from UTG at a 9-max table.
just wanted to put this out there since I’ve heard some chatter at the table recently, over-tight players berating other players for playing correctly… you hate to see it lol
It certainly is a balancing act. An all-in with 6 BB sends a much stronger message and an all in with 2 BBs and is far more likely to punish any limpers in front of you; however, someone calling a 6 BB shove likely has a better hand vs someone calling with 2 BB. But being aggressive out of the SB with a K5 is a much higher EV strategy than hoping to catch AA when you are down to 1.5 BB. Shoving to steal is a toll you lose if you wait too long.
When I get down pretty low I will go all in with an A or any pocket pair to try and double up. I try to not get down to where I’m down to the point where I have to go all in with total junk.
When you are playing shove/fold, post flop position DOES NOT MATTER. You will not be playing post flop. However, if you are ready to jam K9o and you are in late position pre, you get to see how confident the rest of the table is, so jamming (or not) from the blinds can help you in this way.
Also, always check the blinds schedule before you play. If there are no antes, you can take it orbit by orbit rather than hand by hand looking for a good shove.