What’s in the SB open range?

📊 SB raises too little preflop

• In general, recreational players in SB open-raise much less than GTO.
• Their open range is a bit stronger than expected, with hands like Ax, broadways (KQ, QJ), and pairs in particular.

📊 The open sizing is often revealing

• Recreational players vary their sizing between 2x and 4x, but their choice is not random:
  • A 2x sizing is often used with a merged, very wide range, often excluding premium hands.
  • A 3x or larger sizing typically indicates a stronger range, composed of solid Ax hands, suited broadways, TT+.

• The larger the sizing, the more cautious you need to be. Opens of 3x or 4x deserve more respect, and you need to tighten your defense range significantly.

📊 SB calls too much against 3-bets

• Recreational players have difficulty folding after they’ve already invested money in the pot.
• Whether it's a non-all-in 3-bet (NA) or a 3-bet shove, they call way too much.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 SB calls way too much against 3-bets.</span>

How to adapt our strategy?

📌 Avoid 3-bet bluffs

• Bluffing against a recreational player in SB is rarely a good idea. Their tendency to call too often makes bluffs ineffective and unnecessarily increases variance.
• The best thing to do is to eliminate 3-bet bluffs and focus on value 3-bets that will fully exploit their tendency to call with weak hands.‍

📌 Exploit the excess of calls with 3-bet shoves

• Against a player who calls too much, 3-bet shoving becomes the most EV+ move.
• It’s not about shoving way more than GTO to exploit your opponents, the simple act of shoving your best hands increases the EV of every hand because recreational players will call with many dominated hands (A5o, KJo…).
• In comparison, a non-all-in 3-bet is less effective, because they call with the same hands but leave us playing a complicated pot postflop.

📌 Which hands to 3-bet shove?

• Hands that dominate the call ranges of your opponents, like the best Ax and best pocket pairs.
• Even 10bb deep, you need to remain tight, as SB’s open range is typically strong.

📌 Adapting your call range

• The majority of your range will be played by calling since being in position offers a strategic advantage. This allows you to exploit SB, who will often make mistakes out of position, by slightly widening your call range.
• However, it's important to stay selective since SB’s open range is generally solid.
• In the end, your call range remains close to what GTO recommends at 10bb+.

📌 Adapting your range according to open sizing

• Our charts have been calculated against an open sizing of 2.5bb 12bb, and 2bb 12bb-.
• You can adapt your call range depending on SB's sizing as follows:‍
• Against a 2bb 12bb+: you can widen your call range (compared to our tables).‍
• Against a 2.5bb 12bb- or 3x+: tighten your range drastically and only play solid hands to avoid complicated postflop pots.

‍

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Only prioritize 3-bet shoves with your best hands, and adapt your calls based on SB’s open sizing.</span>

Common Preflop Mistakes in BB vs SB Open

🔴 Mistake 1: Calling too much against SB’s opens.

• Calling with marginal hands like Q2o or 62o against a standard open increases variance unnecessarily.
  ✅ Solution: Be selective and adjust your call range based on SB's sizing.

🔴 Mistake 2: Including 3-bet bluffs.

• Bluffs are ineffective because recreational players call too frequently against 3-bets.
  ✅ Solution: Remove 3-bet bluffs and focus solely on value 3-bets, which will be far more profitable.

🔴 Mistake 3: Not shoving your best hands.

• Not using the 3-bet shove with your best hands against SB is a significant loss of EV.
  ✅ Solution: Exploit the excess of calls from recreational players by shoving your strong hands to maximize your gains.

Quick Situation Analysis

Facing two raises, we typically encounter a solid range from BTN and a somewhat capped range from SB, as the latter would have 3-bet with their better hands. If SB is a recreational player, they will also tend to call too often in SB, which significantly weakens their range compared to what it should be.

With 5bb of dead money in the pot and only one solid range (BTN), it's possible to exploit SB's excessive calls. However, to achieve this, a more detailed analysis of their ranges is needed, particularly their calling range against an all-in.

What Are the Opponents’ Tendencies?

📊 BTN :

• Minraises with a range generally close to GTO, meaning it's quite strong, but it can include some random hands.
• Calls far too often against a shove, even with marginal hands, which makes shoves highly EV+.

📊 SB :

• Calls way too much against BTN's minraise, often with medium hands.
• Also calls too frequently against a squeeze shove.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 We are facing two moderate ranges, in a pot with 5bb already, and our opponents call too many dominated hands when we decide to shove.</span>

Recommended Strategy

📌 Prioritize Squeeze Shoves

• With about 5bb of dead money it’s often more profitable to shove your strong hands directly to capture the pot immediately.
• This simplifies your decision and maximizes your EV, as BTN and SB call too much with dominated hands.

📌 Which Hands to Shove?

• Hands that dominate the opponents' calling ranges, such as Ax, KQ, and pocket pairs, are ideal for a shove.
• As the effective stack gets smaller, you’ll need to widen your ISO shove range.

📌 Caution with Slightly EV+ Hands:

• Avoid shoving small Axo hands or pocket pairs 22-44 with 20bb+, even though it's technically more EV+ than just calling. This increases the risk of elimination for a minimal EV gain. By playing more cautiously, you preserve the opportunity to access potentially much more profitable spots in the future.
• This approach limits variance and ensures better control of your game, especially early on (this is how our ranges were developed).

📌 When to Call in BB?

• The pot odds for calling are very favorable, allowing you to defend most of your range. However, BTN’s range remains quite strong, so it's justified to fold a small portion of your weakest hands.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Adopt an aggressive approach with your strong hands and call with most of the rest.</span>

Common Mistakes in BB vs Minraise + Call

🔴 Mistake 1: Not Squeezing All-in Enough

• Not shoving your strong hands often enough can significantly reduce your EV.
  👉 Solution: Use squeeze shoves exploitatively to capture the dead money in the pot and take advantage of your opponents' excessive calls.

🔴 Mistake 2: Defending Too Many Weak Hands

• Calling with hands like 73o or J2o isn’t very profitable, even if you're only adding 1bb to a pot of 5.
  👉 Solution: Don’t defend 100% of your range and fold the bottom of your range.

Even if BU is a Recreational Player, Don’t Call Too Much

📊 What’s in BU’s open range?

• Recreational players open-raise relatively infrequently, but with a range that’s not as strong as it might seem. It’s generally similar to the GTO range, including:
  • Pocket pairs (22+).
  • Ax
  • Broadways (KJo, QTo, etc.).
• ery strong hands like AA, KK, or AKs are sometimes played differently (open-shove or 3x).

📌 Why avoid calling too wide?

• Being out of position against a recreational player remains a significant disadvantage, even if your skill level is better than theirs.
• Calling with marginal hands like Q2o or 95o can put you in difficult postflop situations, causing you to lose chips unnecessarily.

📌 Note on BTN’s open sizing

• Our charts are designed for a standard BTN open (2bb). However, it’s important to note that recreational players use different open sizes.
• In most cases, the size of their raise is an indicator of the strength of their hand: the larger the sizing (2.5x, 3x, 4x, or more), the stronger their hand generally is.
• Therefore, facing such a sizing, you should significantly tighten your calling range. This is especially relevant as the larger the preflop sizing, the more likely they are to c-bet frequently with large sizes.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 BTN's range is quite solid. Against this range, you should only call with hands that play well postflop.</span>

Shove Your Strong Hands and Forget About Bluffing

📊 Why avoid bluffs in 3-betting?

Recreational players have a hard time folding once they’ve invested in the pot.

• They often call too much against non-all-in 3-bets.
• Bluffing increases variance unnecessarily and exposes you to complex postflop decisions.

📌 Why prioritize 3-bet shoves in value?

• 3-bet shoves directly exploit their tendency to call too much with weak hands.
• By shoving, you simplify your decisions, avoiding the complications of postflop play.‍
• The 3-bet shove maximizes your EV with your best hands.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Favor 3-bet shoves with your best hands (AT+, 55+...) and completely eliminate 3-bet bluffs from your strategy.</span>

Common Mistakes BB vs BU Open

🔴 Mistake #1: Calling too wide

• Calling with marginal hands like Q2o or 95o can put you in tough out-of-position spots.
  👉 Solution: Call only with solid hands that play well postflop.

🔴 Mistake #2: Bluffing in 3-bet

• Bluffs are rarely effective against recreational players who call too often.
  👉 Solution: Stop bluffing and focus on value 3-bet shoves.

🔴 Mistake #3: Not shoving your best hands

• Hesitating to shove hands like AKo or TT is an EV loss against a recreational player who calls too often.
  👉 Solution: Exploit their weakness by using exploitative 3-bet shoves.

‍

The Most Profitable Position in Spin & Go

📌 Why is it so important?

• The Button (BTN) is the position where you make the most money in Spin & Go (~30 chips EV / game).
• Unlike the blinds, where you’re often out of position and have to defend weak ranges, the BTN allows you to play a wider range while being advantageous postflop.
• Improving your play on the Button is very profitable and important for progressing. It’s one of the positions, along with the Small Blind (SB) in Heads-Up, where you’ll get the most return on your investment in learning.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Make the Button a priority in your learning.</span>

The Main Mistake of Beginners on the BTN: Limping

📌 Why avoid limping?

• Limping on the BTN doesn’t put enough pressure on the blinds, doesn’t take advantage of your strategic edge, and doesn’t allow you to build the pot properly with your best hands.
• The BTN is a free position: If your hand is too weak for a min-raise (MR), it’s better to fold. You lose nothing by waiting for a better opportunity.

📌 What to do instead:

• Min-raise (2x) with your good hands, or 2.5x with the strongest hands.
• Fold the rest. This simplifies your strategy and allows you to play more cleanly and efficiently.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 On the BTN, raise or fold, but don’t limp.</span>

On the BTN, You Must Put Pressure on the Blinds

📌 Why are you advantaged?

• You act last postflop, which allows you to adopt an optimal strategy based on the actions of the blinds.
• Your range is stronger than that of the blinds, because they have to defend with marginal hands.

📌 How to exploit this advantage?

• As mentioned earlier, it starts with a MR, not a limp.
• Postflop: You should often continue aggression with a c-bet (continuation bet) and sometimes a second or third barrel if the situation warrants it. You’ll have hands like KQ, while your opponents often have hands like K7. In other words, you’ll generally have the advantage on most flops and can frequently force your opponents to fold.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 The BTN is a position where you have a definite range advantage: Don’t be afraid to bet.</span>

Shove Some Hands to Maximize EV

📌 Why shove from 18 BB with certain hands?

• Recreational players in SB and BB tend to over-call all-ins with dominated hands (KJo, QTo or A5o).
• Certain hands like A7o+ or 22-99 have more EV in a shove than a min-raise, because they dominate these calling ranges and are difficult to play postflop when the BTN doesn’t hit an Ace or set.

📌 How does this open-shove (OS) range evolve?

• From 12 BB, widen your shove range to include most of your Axs and KTo+.‍
• From 10 BB, only premium hands (TT+) should be MR, as they’re the only hands that still have more EV with a MR.
• From 8 BB, the BTN’s range is made up entirely of open-shoves.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Incorporate some open-shove combos into your strategy to maximize your EV, especially at short stack depths. This is absolutely essential when playing so short in Spin & Go.</span>

Common Mistakes of Beginners

🔴 Mistake 1: Limping

• Limping is never optimal and deprives the BTN of its strategic advantage.
  👉 Solution: Min-raise (MR), fold, or open-shove (OS), but don’t limp.

🔴 Mistake 2: Playing Too Passively

• Not c-betting enough, underplaying your hands, or waiting for very strong hands before betting is a common mistake, especially when you have the positional advantage.
  👉 Solution: Use your position to put pressure on the blinds with thoughtful and situational bets.

🔴 Mistake 3: Not Shoving the Right Hands (or Not Shoving at All)

• Hesitating to shove hands like ATo or 55 at 13bb deep is a straight EV loss, but even more so against opponents who call too often.
  👉 Solution: Shove hands that have very good equity against the opponent’s range (that dominate their calling range) and are hard to play postflop.

The Most Profitable Position in Spin & Go

📌 Why is it so important?

• The Button (BTN) is the position where you make the most money in Spin & Go (~30 chips EV / game).
• Unlike the blinds, where you’re often out of position and have to defend weak ranges, the BTN allows you to play a wider range while being advantageous postflop.
• Improving your play on the Button is very profitable and important for progressing. It’s one of the positions, along with the Small Blind (SB) in Heads-Up, where you’ll get the most return on your investment in learning.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Make the Button a priority in your learning.</span>

The Main Mistake of Beginners on the BTN: Limping

📌 Why avoid limping?

• Limping on the BTN doesn’t put enough pressure on the blinds, doesn’t take advantage of your strategic edge, and doesn’t allow you to build the pot properly with your best hands.
• The BTN is a free position: If your hand is too weak for a min-raise (MR), it’s better to fold. You lose nothing by waiting for a better opportunity.

📌 What to do instead:

• Min-raise (2x) with your good hands, or 2.5x with the strongest hands.
• Fold the rest. This simplifies your strategy and allows you to play more cleanly and efficiently.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 On the BTN, raise or fold, but don’t limp.</span>

On the BTN, You Must Put Pressure on the Blinds

📌 Why are you advantaged?

• You act last postflop, which allows you to adopt an optimal strategy based on the actions of the blinds.
• Your range is stronger than that of the blinds, because they have to defend with marginal hands.

📌 How to exploit this advantage?

• As mentioned earlier, it starts with a MR, not a limp.
• Postflop: You should often continue aggression with a c-bet (continuation bet) and sometimes a second or third barrel if the situation warrants it. You’ll have hands like KQ, while your opponents often have hands like K7. In other words, you’ll generally have the advantage on most flops and can frequently force your opponents to fold.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 The BTN is a position where you have a definite range advantage: Don’t be afraid to bet.</span>

Shove Some Hands to Maximize EV

📌 Why shove from 18 BB with certain hands?

• Recreational players in SB and BB tend to over-call all-ins with dominated hands (KJo, QTo or A5o).
• Certain hands like A7o+ or 22-99 have more EV in a shove than a min-raise, because they dominate these calling ranges and are difficult to play postflop when the BTN doesn’t hit an Ace or set.

📌 How does this open-shove (OS) range evolve?

• From 12 BB, widen your shove range to include most of your Axs and KTo+.‍
• From 10 BB, only premium hands (TT+) should be MR, as they’re the only hands that still have more EV with a MR.
• From 8 BB, the BTN’s range is made up entirely of open-shoves.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Incorporate some open-shove combos into your strategy to maximize your EV, especially at short stack depths. This is absolutely essential when playing so short in Spin & Go.</span>

Common Mistakes of Beginners

🔴 Mistake 1: Limping

• Limping is never optimal and deprives the BTN of its strategic advantage.
  👉 Solution: Min-raise (MR), fold, or open-shove (OS), but don’t limp.

🔴 Mistake 2: Playing Too Passively

• Not c-betting enough, underplaying your hands, or waiting for very strong hands before betting is a common mistake, especially when you have the positional advantage.
  👉 Solution: Use your position to put pressure on the blinds with thoughtful and situational bets.

🔴 Mistake 3: Not Shoving the Right Hands (or Not Shoving at All)

• Hesitating to shove hands like ATo or 55 at 13bb deep is a straight EV loss, but even more so against opponents who call too often.
  👉 Solution: Shove hands that have very good equity against the opponent’s range (that dominate their calling range) and are hard to play postflop.

The Most Profitable Position in Spin & Go

📌 Why is it so important?

• The Button (BTN) is the position where you make the most money in Spin & Go (~30 chips EV / game).
• Unlike the blinds, where you’re often out of position and have to defend weak ranges, the BTN allows you to play a wider range while being advantageous postflop.
• Improving your play on the Button is very profitable and important for progressing. It’s one of the positions, along with the Small Blind (SB) in Heads-Up, where you’ll get the most return on your investment in learning.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Make the Button a priority in your learning.</span>

The Main Mistake of Beginners on the BTN: Limping

📌 Why avoid limping?

• Limping on the BTN doesn’t put enough pressure on the blinds, doesn’t take advantage of your strategic edge, and doesn’t allow you to build the pot properly with your best hands.
• The BTN is a free position: If your hand is too weak for a min-raise (MR), it’s better to fold. You lose nothing by waiting for a better opportunity.

📌 What to do instead:

• Min-raise (2x) with your good hands, or 2.5x with the strongest hands.
• Fold the rest. This simplifies your strategy and allows you to play more cleanly and efficiently.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 On the BTN, raise or fold, but don’t limp.</span>

On the BTN, You Must Put Pressure on the Blinds

📌 Why are you advantaged?

• You act last postflop, which allows you to adopt an optimal strategy based on the actions of the blinds.
• Your range is stronger than that of the blinds, because they have to defend with marginal hands.

📌 How to exploit this advantage?

• As mentioned earlier, it starts with a MR, not a limp.
• Postflop: You should often continue aggression with a c-bet (continuation bet) and sometimes a second or third barrel if the situation warrants it. You’ll have hands like KQ, while your opponents often have hands like K7. In other words, you’ll generally have the advantage on most flops and can frequently force your opponents to fold.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 The BTN is a position where you have a definite range advantage: Don’t be afraid to bet.</span>

Shove Some Hands to Maximize EV

📌 Why shove from 18 BB with certain hands?

• Recreational players in SB and BB tend to over-call all-ins with dominated hands (KJo, QTo or A5o).
• Certain hands like A7o+ or 22-99 have more EV in a shove than a min-raise, because they dominate these calling ranges and are difficult to play postflop when the BTN doesn’t hit an Ace or set.

📌 How does this open-shove (OS) range evolve?

• From 12 BB, widen your shove range to include most of your Axs and KTo+.‍
• From 10 BB, only premium hands (TT+) should be MR, as they’re the only hands that still have more EV with a MR.
• From 8 BB, the BTN’s range is made up entirely of open-shoves.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Incorporate some open-shove combos into your strategy to maximize your EV, especially at short stack depths. This is absolutely essential when playing so short in Spin & Go.</span>

Common Mistakes of Beginners

🔴 Mistake 1: Limping

• Limping is never optimal and deprives the BTN of its strategic advantage.
  👉 Solution: Min-raise (MR), fold, or open-shove (OS), but don’t limp.

🔴 Mistake 2: Playing Too Passively

• Not c-betting enough, underplaying your hands, or waiting for very strong hands before betting is a common mistake, especially when you have the positional advantage.
  👉 Solution: Use your position to put pressure on the blinds with thoughtful and situational bets.

🔴 Mistake 3: Not Shoving the Right Hands (or Not Shoving at All)

• Hesitating to shove hands like ATo or 55 at 13bb deep is a straight EV loss, but even more so against opponents who call too often.
  👉 Solution: Shove hands that have very good equity against the opponent’s range (that dominate their calling range) and are hard to play postflop.

A Very (Very) Unstable Position

📌 Why is this situation difficult?

• You’re always out of position gainst the BTN, who has a strategic advantage.
• The BTN’s opening range is generally quite strong, including broadway hands, Ax, and mid pocket pairs. These hands often dominate yours, making the spot particularly tricky.

📌 3-Way Sandwich

• In addition to the BTN, you also have to consider the BB, who acts after you.
• This limits your postflop options and increases the risk of making costly mistakes.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 In SB vs BU open, you’re in a disadvantaged position, so you need to play very cautiously.</span>

Play Tight and Prioritize Open Shoves

📌 Why adopt a tight strategy?

• Against the BTN open and with the BB behind you, it’s better to fold most of your hands. This simplifies your decisions, avoids complicated pots out of position, and ultimately saves you a lot of chips.

📌 Open Shoves: A Powerful Weapon

3-bet shoves are particularly effective in this situation. Why?

• The BTN and BB tend to call too often against all-ins, even with weak or dominated hands.
• This maximizes the value of your strong hands while eliminating postflop decisions.

Which hands to shove?

• Your best Ax and pocket pairs. When shorter stacked, your best Ks are also great to 3-bet shove since they dominate your opponents' calling ranges.

📌 And Calls from SB?

• While the SB is tough to play, you can still call with some specific hands especially since recreational players in the BB rarely squeeze.
• For example, hands like KQs, QJs and other broadways can be played by calling.
• Note that you can very well adopt the same profitable GTO strategy, meaning you only 3-bet shove or fold when you’re 20bb deep.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 A simple and effective strategy is to prioritize open shoves with your best hands, call with the few strong hands that have good postflop potential, and fold the rest.</span>

Common Mistakes in SB vs BTN Open

🔴 Mistake 1: Calling Too Much

• Calling with marginal hands like A5o or K9o, is a common mistake. These hands are often dominated and tough to play out of position.
  👉 Solution: Limit your calls to specific hands that play well postflop.

🔴 Mistake 2: Not Shoving Enough

• Many players hesitate to shove strong hands like AJo or 88, which causes them to lose value, especially since BB and BU will often call with dominated hands.
  👉 Solution: Integrate more shoves into your strategy.

🔴 Mistake 3: Playing Too Wide

• Trying to 3-bet or call with mediocre hands exposes you to costly postflop mistakes.
  👉 Solution: Tighten your range and only play hands with clear potential.

A Very (Very) Unstable Position

📌 Why is this situation difficult?

• You’re always out of position gainst the BTN, who has a strategic advantage.
• The BTN’s opening range is generally quite strong, including broadway hands, Ax, and mid pocket pairs. These hands often dominate yours, making the spot particularly tricky.

📌 3-Way Sandwich

• In addition to the BTN, you also have to consider the BB, who acts after you.
• This limits your postflop options and increases the risk of making costly mistakes.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 In SB vs BU open, you’re in a disadvantaged position, so you need to play very cautiously.</span>

Play Tight and Prioritize Open Shoves

📌 Why adopt a tight strategy?

• Against the BTN open and with the BB behind you, it’s better to fold most of your hands. This simplifies your decisions, avoids complicated pots out of position, and ultimately saves you a lot of chips.

📌 Open Shoves: A Powerful Weapon

3-bet shoves are particularly effective in this situation. Why?

• The BTN and BB tend to call too often against all-ins, even with weak or dominated hands.
• This maximizes the value of your strong hands while eliminating postflop decisions.

Which hands to shove?

• Your best Ax and pocket pairs. When shorter stacked, your best Ks are also great to 3-bet shove since they dominate your opponents' calling ranges.

📌 And Calls from SB?

• While the SB is tough to play, you can still call with some specific hands especially since recreational players in the BB rarely squeeze.
• For example, hands like KQs, QJs and other broadways can be played by calling.
• Note that you can very well adopt the same profitable GTO strategy, meaning you only 3-bet shove or fold when you’re 20bb deep.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 A simple and effective strategy is to prioritize open shoves with your best hands, call with the few strong hands that have good postflop potential, and fold the rest.</span>

Common Mistakes in SB vs BTN Open

🔴 Mistake 1: Calling Too Much

• Calling with marginal hands like A5o or K9o, is a common mistake. These hands are often dominated and tough to play out of position.
  👉 Solution: Limit your calls to specific hands that play well postflop.

🔴 Mistake 2: Not Shoving Enough

• Many players hesitate to shove strong hands like AJo or 88, which causes them to lose value, especially since BB and BU will often call with dominated hands.
  👉 Solution: Integrate more shoves into your strategy.

🔴 Mistake 3: Playing Too Wide

• Trying to 3-bet or call with mediocre hands exposes you to costly postflop mistakes.
  👉 Solution: Tighten your range and only play hands with clear potential.

A Very (Very) Unstable Position

📌 Why is this situation difficult?

• You’re always out of position gainst the BTN, who has a strategic advantage.
• The BTN’s opening range is generally quite strong, including broadway hands, Ax, and mid pocket pairs. These hands often dominate yours, making the spot particularly tricky.

📌 3-Way Sandwich

• In addition to the BTN, you also have to consider the BB, who acts after you.
• This limits your postflop options and increases the risk of making costly mistakes.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 In SB vs BU open, you’re in a disadvantaged position, so you need to play very cautiously.</span>

Play Tight and Prioritize Open Shoves

📌 Why adopt a tight strategy?

• Against the BTN open and with the BB behind you, it’s better to fold most of your hands. This simplifies your decisions, avoids complicated pots out of position, and ultimately saves you a lot of chips.

📌 Open Shoves: A Powerful Weapon

3-bet shoves are particularly effective in this situation. Why?

• The BTN and BB tend to call too often against all-ins, even with weak or dominated hands.
• This maximizes the value of your strong hands while eliminating postflop decisions.

Which hands to shove?

• Your best Ax and pocket pairs. When shorter stacked, your best Ks are also great to 3-bet shove since they dominate your opponents' calling ranges.

📌 And Calls from SB?

• While the SB is tough to play, you can still call with some specific hands especially since recreational players in the BB rarely squeeze.
• For example, hands like KQs, QJs and other broadways can be played by calling.
• Note that you can very well adopt the same profitable GTO strategy, meaning you only 3-bet shove or fold when you’re 20bb deep.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 A simple and effective strategy is to prioritize open shoves with your best hands, call with the few strong hands that have good postflop potential, and fold the rest.</span>

Common Mistakes in SB vs BTN Open

🔴 Mistake 1: Calling Too Much

• Calling with marginal hands like A5o or K9o, is a common mistake. These hands are often dominated and tough to play out of position.
  👉 Solution: Limit your calls to specific hands that play well postflop.

🔴 Mistake 2: Not Shoving Enough

• Many players hesitate to shove strong hands like AJo or 88, which causes them to lose value, especially since BB and BU will often call with dominated hands.
  👉 Solution: Integrate more shoves into your strategy.

🔴 Mistake 3: Playing Too Wide

• Trying to 3-bet or call with mediocre hands exposes you to costly postflop mistakes.
  👉 Solution: Tighten your range and only play hands with clear potential.

The Button’s Range is Never Very Strong

📊 Why is the BTN Limp a Sign of Weakness?

• When a player in the BTN chooses to limp, it often indicates a marginal range, consisting of medium hands.
• This means you are rarely facing a strong hand. The limp often reflects hesitation or a desire to see a flop cheaply with a moderately playable hand.

📌 How to Exploit This?

• Understand that you have an opportunity: either by isolating the BTN effectively or by seeing a flop cheaply if the circumstances allow.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Against a limp, be ready to play exploitatively, as the BTN's range is rarely very strong.</span>

ISO All-in: Often More Effective Than Classic ISO

📌 Why Prioritize ISO All-in?

• Recreational players in the BTN and BB tend to call too much against ISO shoves, even with weak or dominated hands like A4o, KTo, Q8s 25bb deep.
• Shoving your strong hands directly allows you to:
  • Maximize your immediate EV by taking the dead money.
  • Avoid complicated postflop decisions.

📌 Which Hands to Shove?

• Hands that dominate your opponents' ranges and play worse postflop, like Ax and pocket pairs.
• The smaller the effective stack, the more you should widen your ISO shove range.

📌 Be Careful with Slightly EV+ Hands:

• Avoid shoving all hands that seem profitable by default. For example, ISO shoving small Axo hands deep is indeed more EV+ than simply calling, but it increases the risk of elimination. By playing more cautiously, you preserve the opportunity to access potentially more profitable spots in the future.
• This approach limits variance and gives you better control over the game, especially in the early stages (this is how our ranges were created).

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Use ISO shoves with your strong hands, but avoid doing so with all hands that are only slightly EV+. Prioritize caution with deep stacks.</span>

We Can Often See a Flop for Cheap

📌 Why Completing Can Be Profitable?

• BB rarely squeezes in a 3-way pot, which allows you to complete the small blind with a very wide range of playable hands.
• However, remember that in SB 3-way, it’s complicated to play too many hands because you’ll be out of position against two opponents, which makes your postflop decisions much more difficult.

📌 Caution:

• Although completing is an option, be ready to fold postflop if you don’t hit a good flop or if you face aggression.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Completing from the SB is a viable and often profitable strategy, especially with hands that have good postflop potential. But remain selective to avoid mistakes.</span>

Common Mistakes in SB vs BTN Limp

🔴 Mistake 1: Completing with Too Weak Hands

• Completing with hands like T3o or 85o exposes you to costly postflop mistakes.
  👉 Solution: Limit your calls to hands that still have good postflop connection potential (like 65s or 22).

🔴 Mistake 2: Not ISO Shoving Your Strong Hands

• Hesitating to ISO shove hands like AJo or TT is a frequent mistake. This allows your opponents to see a flop cheaply and prevents you from extracting value from opponents when you have a better hand.
  👉 Solution: Use ISO shoves for your strong hands that are difficult to play postflop.

🔴 Mistake 3: Shoving Too Many Marginal Hands

• For players who already understand that this spot is good for ISO shoving, doing it consistently with hands like A2o or 22, 25bb deep, might seem profitable, but it increases variance and limits your ability to exploit future spots.
  👉 Solution: Reserve your ISO shoves for hands whose EV is much better than calling.

The Button’s Range is Never Very Strong

📊 Why is the BTN Limp a Sign of Weakness?

• When a player in the BTN chooses to limp, it often indicates a marginal range, consisting of medium hands.
• This means you are rarely facing a strong hand. The limp often reflects hesitation or a desire to see a flop cheaply with a moderately playable hand.

📌 How to Exploit This?

• Understand that you have an opportunity: either by isolating the BTN effectively or by seeing a flop cheaply if the circumstances allow.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Against a limp, be ready to play exploitatively, as the BTN's range is rarely very strong.</span>

ISO All-in: Often More Effective Than Classic ISO

📌 Why Prioritize ISO All-in?

• Recreational players in the BTN and BB tend to call too much against ISO shoves, even with weak or dominated hands like A4o, KTo, Q8s 25bb deep.
• Shoving your strong hands directly allows you to:
  • Maximize your immediate EV by taking the dead money.
  • Avoid complicated postflop decisions.

📌 Which Hands to Shove?

• Hands that dominate your opponents' ranges and play worse postflop, like Ax and pocket pairs.
• The smaller the effective stack, the more you should widen your ISO shove range.

📌 Be Careful with Slightly EV+ Hands:

• Avoid shoving all hands that seem profitable by default. For example, ISO shoving small Axo hands deep is indeed more EV+ than simply calling, but it increases the risk of elimination. By playing more cautiously, you preserve the opportunity to access potentially more profitable spots in the future.
• This approach limits variance and gives you better control over the game, especially in the early stages (this is how our ranges were created).

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Use ISO shoves with your strong hands, but avoid doing so with all hands that are only slightly EV+. Prioritize caution with deep stacks.</span>

We Can Often See a Flop for Cheap

📌 Why Completing Can Be Profitable?

• BB rarely squeezes in a 3-way pot, which allows you to complete the small blind with a very wide range of playable hands.
• However, remember that in SB 3-way, it’s complicated to play too many hands because you’ll be out of position against two opponents, which makes your postflop decisions much more difficult.

📌 Caution:

• Although completing is an option, be ready to fold postflop if you don’t hit a good flop or if you face aggression.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Completing from the SB is a viable and often profitable strategy, especially with hands that have good postflop potential. But remain selective to avoid mistakes.</span>

Common Mistakes in SB vs BTN Limp

🔴 Mistake 1: Completing with Too Weak Hands

• Completing with hands like T3o or 85o exposes you to costly postflop mistakes.
  👉 Solution: Limit your calls to hands that still have good postflop connection potential (like 65s or 22).

🔴 Mistake 2: Not ISO Shoving Your Strong Hands

• Hesitating to ISO shove hands like AJo or TT is a frequent mistake. This allows your opponents to see a flop cheaply and prevents you from extracting value from opponents when you have a better hand.
  👉 Solution: Use ISO shoves for your strong hands that are difficult to play postflop.

🔴 Mistake 3: Shoving Too Many Marginal Hands

• For players who already understand that this spot is good for ISO shoving, doing it consistently with hands like A2o or 22, 25bb deep, might seem profitable, but it increases variance and limits your ability to exploit future spots.
  👉 Solution: Reserve your ISO shoves for hands whose EV is much better than calling.

The Button’s Range is Never Very Strong

📊 Why is the BTN Limp a Sign of Weakness?

• When a player in the BTN chooses to limp, it often indicates a marginal range, consisting of medium hands.
• This means you are rarely facing a strong hand. The limp often reflects hesitation or a desire to see a flop cheaply with a moderately playable hand.

📌 How to Exploit This?

• Understand that you have an opportunity: either by isolating the BTN effectively or by seeing a flop cheaply if the circumstances allow.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Against a limp, be ready to play exploitatively, as the BTN's range is rarely very strong.</span>

ISO All-in: Often More Effective Than Classic ISO

📌 Why Prioritize ISO All-in?

• Recreational players in the BTN and BB tend to call too much against ISO shoves, even with weak or dominated hands like A4o, KTo, Q8s 25bb deep.
• Shoving your strong hands directly allows you to:
  • Maximize your immediate EV by taking the dead money.
  • Avoid complicated postflop decisions.

📌 Which Hands to Shove?

• Hands that dominate your opponents' ranges and play worse postflop, like Ax and pocket pairs.
• The smaller the effective stack, the more you should widen your ISO shove range.

📌 Be Careful with Slightly EV+ Hands:

• Avoid shoving all hands that seem profitable by default. For example, ISO shoving small Axo hands deep is indeed more EV+ than simply calling, but it increases the risk of elimination. By playing more cautiously, you preserve the opportunity to access potentially more profitable spots in the future.
• This approach limits variance and gives you better control over the game, especially in the early stages (this is how our ranges were created).

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Use ISO shoves with your strong hands, but avoid doing so with all hands that are only slightly EV+. Prioritize caution with deep stacks.</span>

We Can Often See a Flop for Cheap

📌 Why Completing Can Be Profitable?

• BB rarely squeezes in a 3-way pot, which allows you to complete the small blind with a very wide range of playable hands.
• However, remember that in SB 3-way, it’s complicated to play too many hands because you’ll be out of position against two opponents, which makes your postflop decisions much more difficult.

📌 Caution:

• Although completing is an option, be ready to fold postflop if you don’t hit a good flop or if you face aggression.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Completing from the SB is a viable and often profitable strategy, especially with hands that have good postflop potential. But remain selective to avoid mistakes.</span>

Common Mistakes in SB vs BTN Limp

🔴 Mistake 1: Completing with Too Weak Hands

• Completing with hands like T3o or 85o exposes you to costly postflop mistakes.
  👉 Solution: Limit your calls to hands that still have good postflop connection potential (like 65s or 22).

🔴 Mistake 2: Not ISO Shoving Your Strong Hands

• Hesitating to ISO shove hands like AJo or TT is a frequent mistake. This allows your opponents to see a flop cheaply and prevents you from extracting value from opponents when you have a better hand.
  👉 Solution: Use ISO shoves for your strong hands that are difficult to play postflop.

🔴 Mistake 3: Shoving Too Many Marginal Hands

• For players who already understand that this spot is good for ISO shoving, doing it consistently with hands like A2o or 22, 25bb deep, might seem profitable, but it increases variance and limits your ability to exploit future spots.
  👉 Solution: Reserve your ISO shoves for hands whose EV is much better than calling.

What to Base Your Decision on When Deciding to Call?

📌 Deux éléments clés influencent votre décision :

• Two key factors influence your decision:
• The BB’s calling range.

What Are the Tendencies of Recreational Players?

📊 BTN:

Tendency to shove too wide deep (16+ BB):

• Recreational players over-shove some marginal hands like A4o, KJo, or 22, which creates exploitation opportunities for you.

Insufficient shoving short (16 BB or less):

• BTN becomes more conservative as stacks shrink. However, their range isn't necessarily very strong.

📊 BB :

• Calls too wide against shoves.

‍

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Key Takeaway: BTN typically opens a reasonably solid range overall, and BB calls too widely behind you.</span>

What is the Best Strategy to Adopt?

📌 Caution in Deep Stacks:

• At deep stacks (14bb+), avoid calling with hands that are only slightly EV+. Although these hands may seem profitable on paper, they increase the risk of losing your stack or getting eliminated prematurely.
• Example: A hand like A7o 13bb deep may win some chips on average, but the risk of being dominated justifies a fold.

📌 Focus on Highly Profitable Calls:

• Prioritize calls with hands that clearly dominate BTN’s range, such as ATo+, A9s+, or 55+.
• This approach reduces unnecessary risks while allowing you to capture significant EV when you have a strong hand, especially since BB tends to call too widely behind us, and BTN will sometimes shove hands he shouldn't.

📌 Adapt Based on Stack Depth:

• Deep (14+ BB) : Call only with very strong hands that clearly dominate BTN.
• Short (10 BB or less) : Widen your range, as future opportunities become rare and you can’t afford to sacrifice as much EV.

<span class="explanation_section">📕 Adopt an exploitative approach by tightening your calls with deep stacks and gradually widening them as the stacks decrease.</span>

Common Mistakes in SB vs BTN All-in

🔴 Mistake 1: Calling Too Much Against BTN’s Shove

• Calling marginal hands like A5o or 22 at deeper stack depths unnecessarily increases variance and exposes you to dominated confrontations.
  👉 Solution: Be selective with your calls, prioritizing hands with clear potential to dominate BTN’s range.

🔴 Mistake 2: Not Calling Enough Short-Stack

• At shallow depths, not calling with slightly EV+ hands like A5s or 33 can cost you valuable chips, as future opportunities are limited.
  👉 Solution: Stick closer to the GTO short-stack strategy to capture all the available EV.