Game rules

All-in or Fold (AoF) Poker: Rules and Push/Fold Strategy (2026)

In All-in or Fold poker every decision is a single click: shove your whole stack or throw your hand away. There are no flops to play, no bet sizes to choose — just short stacks and preflop maths. It’s the fastest format in club poker and one of the most solvable. Here are the rules, the push/fold logic behind good play and the mistakes that cost most players money.

Updated: 16 October 2026

Key takeaways

In AoF you have two actions only: go all-in or fold. Calling a shove also puts your whole stack in.
Stacks are short and set by the table, so every hand is decided preflop — the board just runs out.
Good play follows push/fold ranges: push wider the fewer players are left behind you, call tighter than you push.
Variance is very high: every pot you play is an all-in.
AoF is a table format, not an app. In our catalog, clubs that run it list AOF among their games.

2possible actions: all-in or fold

1betting round — preflop only

0postflop decisions

100%of your stack in every pot you play

What is All-in or Fold poker

All-in or Fold (AoF) is a Hold’em format where the usual betting options are removed. When it’s your turn preflop, you can only shove all your chips or fold. If someone has already shoved, your options are the same: call all-in or fold. Once the betting is over, the five board cards are dealt with no further action and the best hand wins.

Clubs run AoF as cash tables and as sit-and-gos. Because hands take seconds and there is nothing to decide after preflop, it attracts recreational players who want fast action — and rewards players who know their ranges.

Blinds and antesposted as usual

Two hole cardsstandard Hold’em deal

Your turnall-in or fold

Board runs outflop, turn, river — no betting

Showdownbest hand wins

An AoF hand: one decision, then the cards decide

AoF rules step by step

1
Everyone sits with a short stack set by the table, measured in big blinds.
2
Blinds (and on many tables antes) are posted, and each player gets two hole cards.
3
Starting to the left of the big blind, each player either goes all-in or folds. There are no calls of the blind, no small raises.
4
Players after a shove can call all-in or fold. Several players can be all-in in the same pot; side pots work as usual.
5
If everyone folds, the last player in (usually the big blind) wins the blinds and antes. Otherwise the board is dealt to showdown.

	Regular No-Limit Hold’em	All-in or Fold
Preflop options	Fold, call, raise any size	All-in or fold
Stack depth	Usually deep	Short, set by the table
Postflop play	Three more betting rounds	None — the board runs out
Key skill	Hand reading across streets	Preflop ranges and maths
Hands per hour	Normal	Much higher

Exact settings — stack size, antes, whether a hand-strength helper is shown, fast-fold — depend on the app and the club. Read the table info before you sit down.

Why short stacks change everything

With a short stack, your shove is a big bet relative to the pot, so opponents need strong hands to call. That gives you fold equity: a share of the time you win the blinds and antes without a showdown. When you are called, you still have equity — even a modest hand wins a fair share of all-ins against a typical calling range.

Fold equityThe more often everyone folds, the more hands you can profitably shove.

Equity when calledYour hand still wins part of the time. Pairs and aces hold up best.

Players behindEvery player still to act is another chance someone wakes up with a hand. Fewer players behind = wider shoves.

AntesAntes put more dead money in the pot, so stealing becomes more profitable and ranges widen.

Push/fold charts: what they are and how to use them

Because AoF has only two actions, it can be solved mathematically. Push/fold charts (often called Nash charts) show, for each position and stack size, which hands to shove and which hands to call a shove with, so that no opponent can exploit you. They are the baseline every serious AoF player learns.

How to use a chart
Pick the chart that matches your stack in big blinds and whether there are antes.
Find your position: the fewer players left to act, the wider the range.
Use separate ranges for pushing (first in) and calling (facing a shove) — they are not the same.
Adjust to the table: push wider if players fold too much, call wider if someone shoves too often.
In sit-and-gos, tighten up near the money — survival has extra value there (ICM).

Situation	Range	Why
Early position, many players behind	Tight: big pairs, strong aces, best broadway hands	Many players can wake up with a hand
Late position (cutoff, button)	Much wider: most pairs, most aces, good suited kings and broadway	Only the blinds are left to act
Small blind, folded to you	Widest pushing range	Only the big blind can call
Big blind facing one shove	Calling range, wider vs late-position shoves	You already have a blind in — better pot odds
Facing a shove and a call	Very tight: premium hands only	You need to beat two ranges, one of them strong

The maths of pushing and calling

Is this shove profitable?

A simplified example with illustrative numbers. You are on the button with a 10 BB stack, the pot holds 2.5 BB (blinds plus antes). Assume the blinds fold 70% of the time, and when the big blind calls, your hand wins 35% of the time.

Outcome	How often	Result
Everyone folds	70%	+2.5 BB
Called, you win	30% × 35% = 10.5%	+11.5 BB
Called, you lose	30% × 65% = 19.5%	−10 BB
Expected value		≈ +1 BB per shove

Even though you lose most of the times you are called, the shove makes money because the blinds fold so often. That is the core idea of push/fold: fold equity pays for the times you get called.

Should I call this shove?

Calling is different: you have no fold equity, only your hand’s equity against the shover’s range. Compare it with the price. Example: you are in the big blind (1 BB posted), the small blind shoves 10 BB, there is 1 BB of antes. The pot is 12 BB and you need 9 BB to call — so you need about 43% equity (9 ÷ 21) against the hands they shove.

Pot12 BB

To call9 BB

Needed equity9 ÷ (12 + 9) ≈ 43%

Decisioncall if your hand beats that vs their range

Pot odds when facing a shove

AoF hand examples

Your hand	Situation	Typical play	Why
A♦ 9♣	Folded to you on the button	Push	Strong fold equity, an ace holds up well when called
K♠ 7♠	First to act at a full table	Usually fold	Many players behind; when called, often dominated
4♥ 4♣	Small blind, folded to you	Push	Only one player can call; a pair is close to a coin flip or better against most calls
Q♦ J♦	Big blind facing an early-position shove	Often fold	An early-position range is strong and often dominates Q-J
A♠ K♣	Facing a shove from any position	Call	Top of almost every calling range

Common AoF mistakes

What costs players money
Calling shoves as wide as you push — calling needs a stronger hand.
Shoving weak hands from early position with many players behind.
Folding too much from the small blind and button, where shoves are most profitable.
Ignoring antes, which make wider ranges profitable.
Tilting after a few lost flips and abandoning your ranges.
Playing stakes your bankroll can’t support — every pot is all-in.

Before you sit at an AoF table
Check the stack size in big blinds and whether there are antes.
Have the matching push/fold ranges ready.
Ask about the rake: with fast hands it adds up quickly (see rake in poker apps).
Set a stop-loss for the session.

Variance and bankroll

AoF is one of the highest-variance formats in poker: every hand you play is an all-in, and many of them are close to coin flips. Your results over a few hundred hands say little about your skill. Play with a solid buffer of buy-ins and judge yourself by decisions, not by the last session — see poker variance explained and bankroll for club poker.

Fast hands plus all-in pots make AoF easy to over-play. Take breaks and stick to your limits.

Where to play AoF

AoF isn’t a separate app — it’s a table format that some clubs run inside club apps. In our catalog, clubs that offer it list AOF among their games: open the club catalog for your app and check the games on each club card, or ask the agent before you join.

Нужен скриншотA club lobby in a club app showing AoF tables: stack size in big blinds, blinds and antes, and the number of players.

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