Isolate is a poker technique that consists in isolating one opponent in the hand for further play against him heads-up. This technique is used to leave a specific weak opponent in the game, and force the rest of the participants to fold. If you manage to perform this action from a position, then the chances of winning increase many times over. That is why isolight must be mastered by every poker player
HOW TO MAKE ISOLATE
Isolate in poker is performed by means of a raise, which is why this technique is also called an isolation raise. Before implementing it, we need to make sure that we want to keep a real weak opponent in the game. To do this, you just need to follow the game of the target – if he makes too many mistakes, then this is our client. Such players often limp into the game, trying to see the flop cards cheaply. If you have a good enough hand, you should raise. Ideally, the remaining players in the hand should fold their hands and the limper should call again.
You can not exclude from the arsenal of actions of a weak player and a re-raise, this is typical of loose fish. In the case of a 3-bet, it is necessary to answer with a 4-bet, to which the opponent will either fold or call the bet. Naturally, for such a repeated isolate, we must have a fairly strong hand, and best of all prepared, so as not to depend too much on the flop cards.
When performing this technique, it is important to take into account the style of play of our opponent. If he’s loose-aggressive, then the bluff might not work. But against a nit, you can play almost any hand in this way. If the opponent does not catch a strong match, he will have to throw his hand to the next bet.
WHO SHOULD BE USED AGAINST
As mentioned above, this technique is aimed at isolating weak players. Therefore, there is no need to raise bluff against strong opponents – this can result in big losses. In order to make sure that the selected player is a fish, you need to view his statistics in Hold’em Manager or another tracker (if the room supports third-party software). When deciding on isolight in poker, you need to evaluate the following stats: calling a bet on the flop, folding to a c-bet, calling to a preflop raise. There are some fish who fold their hand to a continuation bet 100% of the time without hitting the flop. These are the opponents we need.
A much more difficult opponent will be the caller, a fish who calls very often, regardless of the strength of his hand. He thinks that he can hit the strongest combination on the turn or river, and therefore he calls bets and raises not by odds. Against such players, you should isolate with strong hands so that in case of income before showdown, you can win due to the best combination. You should also consider the structure of the flop. It’s possible that it fits the Fish’s playing range and he could have made a flush or a straight.
In most cases, a weak player’s range will be very wide, so he can limp with hands like 65 or 87. These cards usually improve to a low or medium pair on the flop, straights and flush draws are possible. By making an isolight, you can provoke your opponent to fold with insufficiently good cards.
Consider the peculiarities of the game of opponents who are behind you. If there are aggressive regulars in the later positions, then this technique may be useless. Indeed, if you isolate from the cut-off and a reg re-raises from the button, you will be playing the flop out of position against two opponents. And this is a very disadvantageous position in which even your strong hands will lose some of their advantage. Therefore, if an aggressive, experienced opponent is sitting in front of you, the raising range should be narrowed.
To avoid unwanted shoves against experienced players in position, the button is the best place to isolight. In this position, only the small and big blinds, who will act first on the flop, will be able to call or raise after you. Therefore, it is not profitable for them to call your isolating raise.
So, in order for the isolate to bring a positive result, certain conditions must be met. First, you need to identify the fish at the table, as indicated by his regular mistakes and the tendency to limp into the hand. Second, you should only raise from late position (ideally from the button) to avoid multi-way pots. Thirdly, you need to choose a narrower range of starting hands against an auto-call, because. he will often call our bets.