If a player goes all-in, you have him covered and you have a hand you want to play, you must decide whether to call or re-raise. This decision generally depends on your stack size, the size of the push, your hand and your position. The purpose of re-raising the pusher is to get heads-up and maximize your chances of winning the hand.
When the pusher is very short-stacked, around 6BBs or less, you should almost always re-raise because if you just call, more opponents behind you may do the same. Even if the button pushes for 5BBs and you are in the small blind with less than 35BBs, push with any hand you want to play. If you have more 35BBs, you can min-re-raise to around 11BBs and fold if the big blind pushes. In fact,
if you decide to isolate a 5BB push from any position, you should usually min-re-raise because few players will push without a very premium hand. Notice that if you have less than 35BBs and re-raise to 11BBs, you’ll be getting around 2-to-1 if a player behind shoves, forcing you to call, so shoving is almost always the best play.
To determine which hands are best for isolating, think about the short stack’s pushing range, which will usually be fairly wide, and determine how your hand performs against that range. Since you should already know how to figure this out, I will be brief.
If the short stack pushes from the button for 5BBs and you and the player behind you both have 50BBs in the small and big blinds, respectively, re-raise to 9BBs with every hand you plan to play. You need to figure out what odds you need in order to determine with which hands you can call. There are 7BBs in the pot and you have to call 4.5BBs more, so you need to win 40 percent of the time. If the short stack pushes 80 percent of hands from the button, re-raise to 9BBs with all except your worst hands, hoping the big blind folds. I would cut hands like 10-4 or J-2 from my range because you can find better spots. Also, once the table sees you isolate with a total junk hand, you will have to be careful about doing it in the future because they will be quick to play back at you.
If your opponent goes all-in for something like 10BBs, you can now call with weak hands and monsters. You should still isolate with medium-strength hands. You call with weak hands so you can get away if a player pushes behind you. You call with monsters to balance your calling range. You will also set some nice traps from time to time. Re-raise your medium-strength hands because you don’t want players coming along with random hands, and you might occasionally re-raise them off a better hand. You should generally min-re-raise if you have at least 4 times the initial push, and push if your stack is smaller than that.
If a tight player pushes from early position, your range should be pretty tight. Suppose you have 30BBs. You can consider calling with monsters but should fold most weak hands, like A-10, because they are behind the raiser’s range. You should actually call with your entire range to keep it balanced, as it contains no weak hands. You can also shove your entire range, but that will cause large losses when a player behind you picks up a monster.
So, you need to determine a decent calling range if your opponent is only pushing 10-10+ and A-J+. Once again, you need about 40-percent equity because your opponent is pushing 10BBs. And remember that you actually need better than 40-percent because you will find better spots later, plus you have to worry about the players behind you. Your range is fairly interesting, as you can profitably call with 10-10+ and A-Q+. In early position with a 30BB stack I would only call with 10-10+ and A-K+, and call if someone behind me pushed. If I had a 50BB stack instead, I would still call the entire range.
If the pusher has a wide range and pushes for 10BBs, I will tend to call with hands like A-10, 4-4, A- A and A-K, and push hands like A-Q, 7-7, and K -Q if I have less than 50BBs. With a deeper stack I will min-re-raise the hands I would normally push. If someone behind me pushes, I want to be able to fold A-10 and 4-4 while at the same time trapping with A-A and A-K. With A-Q, 7-7 and K -Q , I am much more likely to re-raise or push because if I get shoved on by a player behind me, I have no clue as to whether I should call.
As I have stated throughout this book, make your decisions simple. If you just call, know ahead of time what you will do if someone behind you pushes. If you are unsure, then either fold or re-raise pre-flop. Think ahead and consider everyone’s range, and you will be way ahead of the curve.