Reshoving: 3-Bet All-In Ranges in Tournaments

The reshove — moving all-in over someone else’s open — is the most powerful weapon a 12–30 big blind stack has. The opener has already put chips in, the blinds and antes are sitting in the middle, and most of the opener’s range can’t call an all-in. Used well, reshoving lets a medium stack grow without seeing a flop. Used badly — against the wrong opener, with the wrong stack — it’s how tournaments end.

Key takeaways

• A reshove wins the opener's raise plus the blinds and antes — often almost 5bb — without a flop.
• It works best against wide openers (cutoff, button, small blind) who must fold most of their range.
• The best stack sizes are roughly 12–25bb: big enough to threaten, small enough not to over-risk.
• Good reshoves are strong-but-awkward hands: A-x, K-Q, K-J, pairs that don't play well post-flop.
• Calling a reshove needs a much stronger range than making one.

Why reshoving works

When a late-position player opens to about 2bb with a big blind ante, the pot is 4.5–4.6bb before you act. If you shove and they fold, you win all of it — nearly a quarter of a 20bb stack. And a player who opens 30% of hands can only happily call an all-in with a small slice of that range.

A worked example

You have 20bb on the button with A♣ J♦. The cutoff (a normal player with a bigger stack) opens to 2.1bb with about 27% of hands. With the blinds and ante, the pot is 4.6bb.

• If the cutoff folds (most of the time), you win 4.6bb.
• If they call — say with TT+, A-Q and A-K, about 48 combinations after your cards — A-J has about 28% equity. The final pot is about 42.5bb, so a call costs you on average: 0.28 × 42.5 − 20 ≈ −8bb.
• Those calling hands are about 15% of the cutoff’s opening range, so they fold about 85% of the time.

EV(reshove) ≈ 0.85 × 4.6 + 0.15 × (−8) ≈ 3.9 − 1.2 = +2.7bb

Folding is worth 0. Calling and playing a bloated pot with 18bb behind out of the blinds’ reach is awkward and often dominated. The reshove is clearly the best option — and that’s with a hand that’s behind every calling hand.

Which hands to reshove

The ideal reshove is a hand that’s too good to fold, but plays poorly as a call at this stack depth:

• Ace-x hands: A-J, A-T, A-9 and suited aces (they also block the opener’s A-A, A-K and A-Q).
• Broadway hands: K-Q, K-J suited, Q-J suited.
• Medium pairs: 6-6 to J-J — strong enough, but hard to play post-flop out of position or facing overcards.
• Premium hands (Q-Q+, A-K) — shove these too, so your range isn’t just “awkward hands”.

As stacks get shorter, the range widens; as the opener gets tighter, it narrows.

Stack sizes

Your stack	Reshove?
Under ~10bb	Usually shove first in rather than wait; reshoving still works, but the opener is often priced in to call
12–25bb	The sweet spot: enough fold equity, not too much at risk
25–35bb	Still possible against wide openers, with a tighter, stronger range
35bb+	Usually too many chips to shove; use a normal 3-bet

Remember the effective stack: if the opener has only 12bb, your 30bb shove is really a 12bb decision for both of you.

Who not to reshove

• Early-position openers with strong ranges.
• Players who open and call everything, “because it’s only 20 more”.
• Very short openers who are priced in to call with almost anything.
• Big stacks near the bubble if you’re a medium stack — see Bubble Play.

Calling a reshove

Now flip it: you opened and someone reshoves. Your call is a pot odds decision against their reshoving range. Because you already put in 2bb, you’re getting a slightly better price — but remember the gap concept: calling needs a stronger hand than shoving. Against a typical 20bb reshove range, calling with hands like T-T+, A-Q+ is standard; wider against players who reshove very often.

A small blind reshove

Tournament · 16bb · big blind ante

Hero (SB)KJ

▶ Replay

1. Preflop

   Pot 2.5bb

   • Button (40bb) opens to 2bb — they open about 45% of hands

Your moveYou have 16bb in the small blind with K♥ J♥. A 40bb button opens to 2bb with about 45% of hands. Your move?

FoldCallReshove all-in

Lock it in

K-J suited is too strong to fold against a wide opener. Calling out of position with 14bb behind invites a squeeze from the big blind. A reshove wins 4.5bb often and has good equity when called.

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Quick check

Which opener makes the best target for a 20bb reshove?

A tight early-position playerA wide button opener who rarely calls all-insA 6bb stack who is priced inA player who calls every all-in

Check answer

Reshoves profit from fold equity. A wide opener who folds most of their range is ideal.

Quick check

Why is A-J often better as a reshove than as a call with 20bb?

It's the nutsIt wins the pot often right away, and as a call it's awkward and often dominated after the flopCalls are not allowedA-J always wins all-in

Check answer

Shoving uses fold equity and avoids tough post-flop spots with a hand that's often dominated when it gets action.

Next up: the moment every tournament turns on — Bubble Play.