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When to reshove at 15-20 BB

October 28, 2026 · 7 min read · Reshoving

Why the reshove zone exists

With 15-20 BB you're too deep for first-in shoves to be great and too shallow to raise and fold to a 3-bet. Someone else's open is a gift, though. By the time the action reaches you in the big blind after a 2.2 BB button open, the pot holds 4.7 BB: the open (2.2), the small blind (0.5), your blind (1) and the BB ante (1). Shoving 15-16 BB to win 4.7 BB uncontested is a great deal if the opener folds often enough.

The formula

EV of reshoving = (fold %) × (pot you win now) + (call %) × (your equity × final pot). Compare that with your stack after folding.

Example: you're in the big blind with 16 BB. The button opens 2.2 BB with a typical wide range (about 40% of hands). After posting, folding leaves you 14 BB. Shove and get a fold and you end on 18.7 BB. Get called and the pot is 31.5 BB, which you win in proportion to your equity.

Opener type changes everything

We ran three hands through the trainer's equity engine against two kinds of button opener. One calls a reshove only with 77+, ATs+, AJo+, KQs (about 20% of the hands he opens, so he folds about 80% of the time). The other calls wider with 22+, A2s+, A7o+, K9s+, KJo+, QJs (folds about 52%).

Two lessons:

• Against a frequent folder, fold equity does almost all the work. Bluff candidates like A5s do as well as real value hands.
• Against a caller, real equity matters. Pairs and strong aces hold up and weak offsuit hands lose most of their edge. Keep A5s-type bluffs for players who fold.

Those numbers compare reshoving with folding. In position, calling the open or a small 3-bet can be better with some hands, especially at 20-25 BB. That's why the trainer's key is narrower than "everything that beats folding".

Early-position opens are different

Now the opener is under the gun with 77+, ATs+, AJo+, KQs (about 8% of hands) and calls a shove with TT+, AQs+, AKo. He folds only about half the time, and when he calls you're usually crushed:

On paper they're still positive, but the margins are thin. If the opener calls one hand wider (say JJ+ becomes 99+ plus AJs), the hands at the bottom of that list can quickly turn into losers. That's why the trainer's live training key for UTG/UTG+1 opens is just 99+, AQs+, AKo, with no bluffs.

The trainer's reshove table (12-25 BB, single open of 2-2.2 BB)

This is a training heuristic, not solver output: a conservative, repeatable policy for live play.

Adjusting by depth

• 12-14 BB: add more marginal value hands against wide opens (one step wider).
• 15-18 BB: use the table.
• 19-20 BB: drop the marginal bluffs unless the opener folds unusually often.
• 21-25 BB: switch to a real 3-betting strategy. Premiums (TT+, AQs+, AKo) 3-bet small or jam, and some pairs and suited broadways call in position.

Biggest leak to fix

Opening and then folding to a reshove at 15-20 BB. If your open size plus the dead money makes the call cheap, either call with a solid range or don't open hands you'll fold. The trainer's "Facing a 3-bet" drill covers this spot.

Training content, not financial advice. Numbers come from the Play Perfect Poker trainer's own models (labelled reference, approximate or heuristic) and simplify real play. No real-money gambling is offered on this site.