Jam or Fold
The Jam or Fold strategy is a heads-up strategy for optimizing play in short-stack situations. The following formula is based on SAGE (Sit And Go Endgame, Copyright ©2005 by James Kittock and Lee Jones) and Peter Bro Miltersen and Troels Bjerre Sorensen's A Near-Optimal Strategy for a Heads-Up No-Limit Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament but adjusted to use M instead of big blinds, which is less accurate.
- Step One: calculate your Jam value (deuces through aces are worth 2 through 14 respectively, with a bonus point for each ace; pairs are worth 22 points; and being suited is worth 2 points):
2 * HighCard + LowCard + Aces + 22 * Pair + 2 * Suited
- Step Two: look up your M and your position (small blind [SB] or big blind [BB]) in the following table. If your Jam value is at or above the value listed, move all-in, otherwise fold.
| M | Jam (SB) | Call (BB) |
| <1 | any | any |
| 1 | 19 | any |
| 2 | 22 | 24 |
| 3 | 24 | 27 |
| 4 | 25 | 29 |
| 5 | 26 | 31 |
Examples (blinds at 1,000/2,000 with no antes in each case):
- In the small blind with 3,000 chips (M is 1) and 4c 5d in the hole: 2 * 5 + 4 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 14. Table value is 19, so fold.
- In the big blind with 6,000 chips (M is 2) and Qc Jc in the hole: 2 * 12 + 11 + 0 + 0 + 2 = 37. Table value is 24, so move all-in.
- In the small blind with 15,000 chips (M is 5) and 4c 4s in the hole: 2 * 4 + 4 + 0 + 22 + 0 = 34. Table value is 26, so move all-in.
- In the big blind with 15,000 chips (M is 5) and 3d 3s in the hole: 2 * 3 + 3 + 0 + 22 + 0 = 31. Table value is 31, so move all-in (always move all-in with a pair of threes or higher).
- In the big blind with 18,000 chips (M is 6) and Ah Kh in the hole: not a Jam or Fold situation because your M is 6.