BB vs limp + limp (3-max)

1. An ideal spot to punish weak ranges

When facing two limps, you can already assume:

• The BTN is likely a recreational player with a weak hand.
• Same goes for the SB, who would likely have raised with a better hand.

In this kind of spot, where both opponents have weak ranges, exploitative opportunities arise — particularly through ISO plays.

2. What are our opponents' tendencies?

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📊 Tendency 1: Limping weak hands

Here is the BTN limp range and the SB call range at 25 bb:

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Observation: recreational players limp a large part of their medium-strength hands in both positions.

SB often has an even weaker range — including hands like weak offsuits (T5o, J6o).

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📊 Tendency 2: Calling too much vs ISO shoves

Another common mistake among recreational players is calling ISO shoves too light.

For example, they may call an all-in ISO for 20 bb with Q7s or A2o.

We can exploit this mistake with value ISO shoves (mostly all-in)

Here's a look at their calling tendencies in these situations:

• BTN limps → SB limps → BB shoves → Does BTN call? (1st column)
• BTN limps → SB limps → BB shoves → BTN folds → Does SB call? (2nd column)

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This situation doesn't really exist in GTO (BTN never limps), so there's no theoretical benchmark — but based on experience, these call percentages are clearly too high, especially given the weak ranges involved.

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3. When to prefer ISO shoves?

Here are three key reasons why ISO shoving is often the best option in this setup:

• You immediately collect 3 blinds when everyone folds.
• You capitalize on your opponents’ overly loose calls.
• You avoid difficult postflop multiway pots, out of position.
  

❓ What hands to shove?

As usual with ISO shoves, ideal hands are those that dominate opponents’ ranges and don’t play well postflop.

→ Strong Ax hands and pocket pairs when stacks are still deep.

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As stacks get shorter: Gradually expand to include stronger Kx, then all Kx and some Qx.

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📈 Choose a low-variance strategy

At 25 bb, some hands like A3o or A5o may be slightly more EV+ to shove…

But that gain is marginal — just a few hundredths of a blind — and not worth the added variance.

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If you want to dig a bit deeper, let’s look at it in more detail.

At 25 bb, here is the EV difference between the ISO shove and the second-best option (either flat call or ISO to 5.5 bb), factoring in recreational player tendencies:

‍Result: at 25 bb, we identify three categories of hands:

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1️⃣ Hands clearly EV- to shove

Examples: AA, KK, or marginal hands like T5o. These hands should be played as follows:

• ISO raise to 5.5 bb for premiums (AA, KK), since they play well postflop.
• Check with weak hands like T7o, 85s, etc.

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2️⃣ Hands clearly EV+ to shove

There aren’t that many:

• A7o, A8o, A9o, ATo
• A9s, ATs

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3️⃣ Intermediate hands: similar EV between ISO shove and the next best option

All other hands likee AKs, AQs, A3o, A5o, A6o have an EV very close to the second-best play.

In this case, you can:

• ISO shove the ones that dominate the opponent’s calling range (e.g. AQs).
• Check the others, especially if they’re often dominated (small Ax, small pairs).

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📉 How our ISO shove range evolves with stack depth

At 12–14 bb, the ISO shove range doesn’t change drastically. It widens slightly, and the EV of some hands increases — especially pocket pairs.

Here’s the EV difference (ISO shove vs second-best option) at 13 bb:

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Intermediate hands (where EV is similar between shove and check) now include combos like K9s– and the best suited connectors.

In our exploitative ranges, we chose to check these hands to keep variance low.

4. Non-all-in ISO: use with caution

The non-all-in ISO (ISO NA) is best reserved for a few specific hands early in the game, and only if you're comfortable postflop.

• AA, KK, QQ → Can be raised to extract maximum value.
• KQ, KJs → Can also be ISO raised since the shove can carry too much variance.
  

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