DECISION POINT: You are 1 of 7 players at the final table of a $100 daily tournament with a standard escalating payout structure where 7th pays $350 and 1st plays $2,200. The blinds are 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante. Most stacks are around 5BBs and the chip leader (in the Big Blind) has 13.5BBs. Action folds to the Cutoff who shoves for 5BBs, the Button folds, and you are in the Small Blind with A♠5♠ and approximately 9BBs back.

Action is on you, what do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We are at the final table of a $100 daily tournament with seven players remaining. The payout structure is fairly standard, escalating with seventh paying $350 and first paying $2,200. Like many daily tournaments at this point, several of the stacks are around 5 big blinds with the chip leader only having 13.5 big blinds, so knowing how to play a short stack properly and how various stacks are impacted by ICM is of the utmost importance.

The blinds are 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante and we start the hand with A♠5♠ and 182,000 chips after posting the small blind. Everyone folds to the Cutoff who moves all-in for 100,000 chips. The Button folds and action is on us.

When faced with an all-in, the key factors to consider are our opponent’s likely range, the odds we are getting from the pot, and the players left to act behind us. The Cutoff should have a very wide range by default given they need to accumulate chips to stay ahead of the escalating blinds and try to maneuver for a potential top 3 finish now that the tournament is in the money.

The pot is currently 150,000 chips and we have to call 90,000, so from a chip expected value (cEV) perspective we only need 37.5% equity to continue. There is only one player remaining to act behind us in the Big Blind. If we move all-in they should only continue with an extremely narrow range, since we can significantly dent their stack and they are incentivized to preserve the chip lead.

Taking a look at this hand in a solver, we see that the Cutoff should be moving all-in with over 30% of hands, and the Big Blind opponent should fold everything but 99+/AQ+ when facing an all-in shove. The results of the solver output based on these factors recommends calling with A5s in this spot with an average profit of $12.40. There are however additional factors that could influence our decision based on specific table conditions aside from the solver results.

If the Cutoff is opening a narrower range than they should, which can be quite common in low to mid stakes daily tournaments, we can send A5s into the muck. If the Big Blind is continuing much wider than they should, which is less common although some big stacks become big stacks by taking unwise gambles, then this would also quickly become a fold.

The key to this hand is our ability to correctly assess the table and adjust based on specific reads. If opponents are playing appropriate short stack poker, we should continue against this 5BB shove with some weaker Axs and Axo hands, as well as some pairs as low as 66. Failing to make the appropriate adjustment costs us $10-$15 every so often, which doesn’t seem like much, but in a $100 buy-in tournament the impact of those small consistent losses is significant and adds up over time. Paying attention at the table and knowing who isn’t playing appropriately can be equally meaningful in spots where it matters the most.

Assuming our opponents are playing appropriately, moving all-in is the best play.