Trational poker theory states that when you are first to enter a pot with ten big blinds or fewer, you should push all-in. In his books, Dan Harrington similarly advocates reducing your pre-flop play to pushing all-in when your ‘M’ (stack size/total cost of one round in blinds and antes) is five or less. Let’s look at the reasons behind these theories, and consider whether or not this is always the optimum play.

As an example, let’s say the blinds are at 400/800 with a running ante of 75. We have 8,000 in chips. So at the start of each hand there is 1,875 of dead money in the pot (assuming a nine-handed table).