All-in or Fold Poker: Rules, Strategy and Where to Play It Online (2026)

All-in or fold (AoF) is the fastest way to play Texas Hold'em: every hand you either move all-in or fold, nothing in between. It is a favorite of players who want action on a phone in five-minute bursts, and it quietly teaches the most important short-stack skill in poker. Here is how it works and how to win at it.

The rules

• Everyone plays with a fixed short stack, 8 big blinds on PokerSweepStars house tables.
• Preflop, your only options are all-in or fold. No calls, no raises.
• Once the shoves are in, the board runs out with no more betting.
• After every hand your stack tops back up to 8 big blinds. Won a pot? The extra goes to your balance. Lost? The next 8 big blinds come from your balance. You are never sitting there with 3 big blinds waiting to bust.

That last rule is what makes AoF work as a format instead of a novelty: every hand starts from the same stack, so the correct strategy is the same every hand.

Strategy: what to shove

With 8 big blinds and no other option, this is push/fold poker with the "fold to a raise" branch deleted. The seat you are in decides everything.

• First to act at a six-handed table: tight. Pairs, aces with a decent kicker, KQ, KJ suited, QJ suited. Roughly the top 15 to 20% of hands.
• Cutoff: open up. Any pair, any suited ace, A5 offsuit and up, K9 suited and up, KT offsuit and up, QT and up, JT.
• Button and small blind: wide. Any pair, any ace, most suited kings and queens, suited connectors down to 76s, K7 offsuit and up, Q9 offsuit and up. Around 40% of hands, and more if the blinds fold too much.
• Big blind when everyone folds: you win the small blind for free. Nothing to decide.

The full push/fold charts for 10 big blinds are the closest published reference, and the ones in the PokerSweepStars app are one tap away from any training screen.

Strategy: when to call a shove

This is where most AoF money is won and lost. Calling is not the same as shoving. A shove wins the blinds outright when everyone folds; a call has to win at showdown. So call tighter than you would shove:

• Against one shove from an early seat: call with 99 and better, AQ and better. Their range is strong.
• Against a button or small blind shove: call with any pair, A8 and better, KQ, and suited broadways. Their range is wide, and pot odds are on your side.
• Against two shoves: only premium hands. Someone has a real hand.

If two or more players shove before you, remember that your 8 big blinds can only win 8 big blinds from each of them. Side pots are settled automatically.

Why it is good practice

AoF forces you to make the decision most players avoid: is this hand worth my whole stack from this seat? Play a hundred hands of AoF and the push/fold charts stop being something you look up and start being something you know. Tournament final tables are AoF with extra steps.

Where to play it

PokerSweepStars runs All-in or Fold house tables in the lobby at several stakes, grouped under their own format next to Hold'em and 7-2 Game tables. On the free PlayCoins tables, house players keep the seats warm when the room is quiet. The 8 big blind stack and the automatic top-up are handled by the table; you just decide. You can also create your own AoF table, public or private.

Get the app on the App Store or Google Play, or play in the browser. Free chips every day, no purchase required.