The No-Limit Isolation Play

The isolation play is one of the most profitable weapons in the professional cash-game player's arsenal. Yet, it is also one of the least understood by most amateur players. Teaching the play thoroughly would take a book, not a column, so my goal here is merely to try to shed some light on the play. You'll learn to identify it, to understand it, and, finally, to defend yourself against it.



Spotting the Isolation Play



I recently was playing in a $2-$5 no-limit hold'em game with a mandatory $10 live straddle. A weak player with about a $2,000 stack sat a few seats to my right. A friend of mine, a very strong professional player, was directly to my right. He also was playing about $2,000. The weak player raised most pots to $45. About one out of three of those pots, my friend would reraise to $100. Frequently, everyone else would fold, the weak player would call the $55, and they'd see a flop.



After this happened a few times, it became clear that most of the rest of the players at the table thought they both were nuts. She was playing nearly every hand for a raise. He was reraising way too often. No one gets pocket aces that much, right?

This raising and reraising game put some of the other players on tilt. In fact, one normally tight and cautious player decided to stack off with top pair against my flopped set when he normally would have folded. He told me later that the reason he paid me off was because I was friends with the crazy guy who was reraising to $100 every few hands.



So, what was going on? Why was my friend making it $100 to go so often? He was isolating the weak player. As long as no one is interfering (I'll teach you how to do that at the end of the column), it's an extremely profitable play. Here's how it works:



Understanding the Isolation Play



A bad player raises with two nearly random cards. A good player with position reraises to isolate. The reraise should be sized to be relatively small, so that there is still ample money remaining for post-flop play. But it has to be large enough to reliably knock out anyone else who doesn't have a big pocket pair or A-K. In our game, $100 was knocking almost everyone out, and yet it still left plenty of play with the $2,000 stack sizes.



What hands would my friend isolate with? He was likely waiting for decent hands that had some post-flop value. He might isolate with a hand like the K 5 or the 8 7, but he probably wouldn't with the J 4. You don't need a great hand to isolate, but usually it should have some sort of value, so that you have something to fall back on if everything goes awry.



How does it work? The idea is to play as many pots with position against the bad player as possible. You don't need a good hand because your opponent who is playing nearly every hand will usually have trash. Most of the time she will catch a weak pair or miss the flop entirely, and you can force her to fold either on the flop or on the turn.



For instance, let's say one player limps for $10 to the bad player, who is two off the button. She makes it $45 to go. You are on the button and reraise to $100. Everyone folds to the bad player, who calls. You have the Q 7, and there is $227 in the pot. You and your opponent both have about $1,900 remaining.



The flop comes 10 6 3. Your opponent checks, and you bet $120. If your opponent missed the flop (and you've chosen the right type of opponent to try to isolate), she will typically just fold. Or, if she has a weak draw, such as the 9 8 for a gutshot, the K J for two overcards, or the 5 3 for bottom pair, she might call, intending to fold on the turn without improving.



The turn hits, she checks, you bet $250 into the $467 pot, and she folds.



Obviously, sometimes she will flop top pair or better or make her draw, and you'll lose. But in the meantime, you'll be picking up $200-plus and $400-plus pots frequently enough to more than pay for the occasional pot you lose.



The overall plan is to use position and the preflop initiative from reraising to try to force your opponent to hit the board hard or fold. Since she won't hit the board hard very often, she'll usually end up folding, and you'll win a string of nice-sized pots.



Defending Against the Isolation Play



You may have read the last part and said to yourself, "But what if she decides to turn the tables? What if she decides to throw in some bluffs? Then, the isolator will be stuck with a usually weak hand and a big bet to call. He'll be the one playing hit the flop or fold."



If you thought that, great, you're well on your way to thwarting any would-be isolators. The isolation play works great against bad players. And many players are bad because they don't bluff often enough. When they get reraised preflop, they go limp, meekly checking and folding whenever they miss.



If your opponent isn't meek and will bluff at you liberally, isolating won't work as well. So if someone seems to be isolating you, your first defense should be to break out the check-raise bluff on the flop. Do that once or twice and you'll usually find your overeager opponent backing off.



You don't have to be the one getting isolated to take advantage of the situation. In my $2-$5 with a mandatory $10 straddle game, anyone with a $500 stack and some nerve could have won a tidy profit from the frequent preflop raising and reraising. Let's say the bad player opens for $45 and the pro isolates to $100. Everyone folds to you in the big blind. With a hand like 7-7, A-5, or 10-8 suited, an all-in shove for $500 is almost sure to show a profit until the isolating pro adjusts. You'll usually take the $162 pot down without a fight. And even when you do get called, you'll have, on average, a 30 percent to 35 percent chance to win. The money that you win immediately plus your equity in the pot when called will almost surely make the shove profitable.



There's a saying that whenever two or more people are bluffing at each other, whoever puts in the last bluff wins. When you're up against an isolator, you'll often have the chance to slam the door on him by putting in that last bluff.



Most of all, if you're playing and you see a wild player raising and another wild player reraising, don't assume they're both nuts. The reraiser could actually be a coldly calculating professional player who is just trying to win the most from a really bad player.



Ed is a featured coach at StoxPoker.com. Also check out his online poker advice column, NotedPokerAuthority.com. He has authored four books on poker, most recently, Professional No-Limit Hold'em: Volume 1.