With 15–25 big blinds you’re in an awkward zone of a tournament: too deep for pure push/fold and too short for a standard 3-bet and postflop play. The tool that dominates this zone is the 3-bet shove: going all-in directly over an open. Used well, it’s one of the most profitable plays in tournament poker.
What is a 3-bet shove?
A player opens (for example, to 2bb from the button) and instead of calling or making a small 3-bet, you go all-in. It’s called a 3-bet shove (or “resteal”) because it’s a re-raise, but with your whole stack. Your opponent can only call for everything or fold.
Why it’s so profitable
The key is the dead money already in the pot. In a tournament with a big blind ante and a 2bb button open:
- Button open: 2bb
- Small blind: 0.5bb
- Big blind (you): 1bb
- Ante: around 1bb
There’s about 4.5bb in the pot. If you have 20bb, winning that pot without seeing a flop is worth over 20% of your stack. And the opener is in a tough spot:
- From late position they open a wide range, so they have to fold most of their hands.
- They’ve already put in 2bb, which they lose if they fold.
- When they call, your hand still has reasonable equity.
It’s the same fold equity logic as push/fold, with more money in the pot.
When to use the 3-bet shove
| Factor | More shoves | Fewer shoves |
|---|---|---|
| Opener’s position | CO, BTN, SB (wide ranges) | UTG (strong range) |
| Your effective stack | 15–20bb | 25bb or more |
| Open size | Min-raise (2bb) | Large opens |
| Antes | With big blind ante | No antes |
| Opponent | Opens a lot and folds | Opens little or calls a lot |
With more than 25–30bb the all-in risks too much to win the pot, and it’s better to switch to a standard 3-bet (see when to 3-bet).
Which hands make good 3-bet shoves
The best ones are hands that are too good to fold but awkward to call and play postflop with a short stack:
- Small and medium pairs (22–99): calling to set-mine doesn’t pay off with 20bb, but all-in they have good equity against almost anything.
- Medium aces (A9o, ATo, A8s…): they block your opponent’s strong aces and do well against wide ranges.
- Suited broadways (KTs, QJs…): plenty of equity when called.
Very strong hands (AA, KK, AK) also go all-in, although some players mix in a call to trap. What goes wrong are hands that lose a lot when called, like weak offsuit hands.
Build your 3-bet shove charts by stack depth (15, 20, 25bb) and drill them in Burn EV: practice mode asks you every hand at its effective stack.
Sample 3-bet shove ranges
Approximate examples without ICM pressure. Exact ranges depend on the stacks, the open size and the antes.
BB vs button open, 20bb
Sample range · 3-bet shove BB vs BTN · 20bb · 17.9%
All-in: 22+, A2s+, K9s+, QTs+, JTs, A9o+, KJo+.
Against a cutoff open, 25bb
With a deeper stack and against a somewhat stronger range, the shove tightens: the smallest pairs and weak aces drop out.
Sample range · 3-bet shove vs CO · 25bb · 10.4%
All-in: 88+, A9s+, KTs+, QJs, ATo+, KQo.
The other side: calling the shove
If you’re the one who opened and you face a 3-bet shove, do the math. With 20bb effective, opening to 2bb with 4.5bb of dead money, the pot after the shove is about 23.5bb and you have to call 18bb more: you need around 43% equity against their shoving range.
That’s why, against a wide shove, you can call with more hands than it seems (all the medium pairs, AJ, AQ, KQs), and against a tight one, only with the best. And if you’re close to the money, remember that ICM forces you to call quite a bit less.
Common mistakes
Common mistake
Calling the open with 22–66 and 18bb “to hit a set”. You almost never win enough when you hit to make up for the times you miss. All-in or fold is usually better.
- 3-bet shoving against UTG opens with marginal hands: their range is strong and they call with hands that dominate you.
- Making a small 3-bet and folding to the all-in with 20bb: you lose a huge chunk of your stack.
- Forgetting the effective stack: if the opener has 12bb, your 40bb shove is a 12bb shove.
- Not having the charts memorized: there’s no time to think on the clock. Review them with the method in how to memorize poker ranges.
Frequently asked questions
What is a 3-bet shove?
Going all-in over another player’s open instead of calling or making a standard re-raise. It’s used mostly in tournaments with 15–25 big blinds.
At how many big blinds should you 3-bet shove?
Mainly between 15 and 25 effective big blinds. With fewer, you’re already playing push/fold; with more, a standard 3-bet is usually better.
Which hands are good for a 3-bet shove?
Small and medium pairs, medium aces and suited broadways: hands that do well all-in but play poorly as a call with a short stack.
How much equity do I need to call a 3-bet shove?
It depends on the money in the pot and how much you have to call. With 20bb and a 2bb open, around 43% without considering ICM.
Read next: what ICM is and how it changes your ranges.