Isolating

Published on June 25, 2010 by Ladbrokes_Poker   ·   No Comments

Almost all of the money you make at the poker tables will come from the pockets of weak players but other observant and skilled players will recognise this and will attack the weak players also. This means that whenever a weak player enters the pot, you may have to fight for his money with one or two other players but if you isolate the weak player you stand a chance of playing in a heads-up pot.

The term isolate refers to a raise you make in order to attempt to get into a one-on-one situation with the player you are trying to isolate and is more common in a cash game than in a poker tournament. This strategy is extremely effective against habitual limpers or very loose players who are raising preflop with a wide range of hands.

Isolating is effective in that you will often win the pot preflop when the limper or initial raiser folds, you will win more than your fair share of pots when they call you and you make a continuation bet and when you are called you will have the best hand the majority of the time anyway.

The biggest downfall to isolating is the fact you will have extra money invested in the pot, particularly if you have three-bet preflop, which could put you in a very difficult position if someone left to act after you makes a further raise, though these situations are usually quite rare. If you play Texas Holdem at mid-stakes or higher and are frequently isolating players then expect the better players to make this move, also known as re-isolating, on you from time to time. In situations like this one any notes you have on the player in question become extremely valuable.

Solid, aggressive plays are key to becoming a successful poker player and praying on weakness is one such play. As you progress through the limits, weak players become more and more scarce so being able to locate them and then get them heads-up is very important indeed.

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