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Poker Strategy: Engage in Isolation Play to Corner and Destruct

Poker tactics are not complicated if studied and practiced well. To further evolve as a poker player, learn how to make an effective isolation play at the poker table.

Are you new to the world of poker games? Well, in that case, chances are that you have been told to follow poker the normal ‘Abc’ way. You are advised to keep things simple, follow basic strategies to place bets, raise when in a position of strength and fold when you are not doing very well. These poker tactics work fine when you are at the initial stages of your poker game journey. However, as you advance, you will notice a rising need to evolve your playing style to suit a more seasoned set of opponents. If you happen to be serious about the game, then you need to spend some time perfecting a range of different poker strategy prospects.

Engaging in isolation play would mean for you to re-raise an opening raiser. By doing so, you strive to eliminate most of your opponents off the table and keep things one-on-one with an individual you have targeted. There are several different ways with which you can employ isolated gameplay. Still, all of them result in you going after a specific individual with the hope of minimizing competition and getting the better poker hand. This poker strategy is most effective when used against players with shorter stacks in tournaments so that you can possibly win the pot ultimately. With the basics covered, let us now look at how you can go about with this tactic.

Isolating Shortstack Players

In most cases, the poker game strategy of isolation is applied against those with dwindling chips. For example, let’s assume that you are at the bottom and your opponent at cut-off is well short of six big blinds. The action folds to them at the cut-off, and then they go all-in. You are aware that this player isn’t going to back down, risking marginal cards to pick up the blinds and antes. You hold an A-K and must contemplate how you wish to go with this. If you call, the blinds can call with marginal hands, given their exceptional pot odds. The more the players in the pot, the harder it will be for you to judge the winning hand. In some situations, if you three-bet instead of calling, the big blind will be forced to join with a doubtful hand, which allows you to go one-on-one against the short-stacked player you’ve been eyeing.

Isolating Maniac Players

Being in position is a huge advantage while attempting to isolate in online poker games because this is how you can win pots after the flop against extremely aggressive players. Let’s assume that you are playing a low stakes cash game and the one to your right happens to play loosely by raising many hands. You understand that they can’t have exceptional hands all the time. Therefore, you can use their aggressive style against them. During their next raise, you must attempt a three-bet to push others out of the game. If you don’t rely on your position and hands by continuing to call, you might have to fold to your opponent’s aggression. Calling can also pull everyone else in the pot, and you do not want that. Your opponent, who is out of position, may have no choice but to fold if you continue after the flop.

Isolating Limping Players

When you play poker online, you are bound to come across many amateur players who limp way too much, and you can isolate them just as you did with the overly-aggressive ones. As most limpers try to see through a cheap flop using below-par hands, you could go for a raise even if you don’t have an excellent hand from the position. In most cases, limpers would fold if you do that, but even if they do call, it’s mostly an error. One of the more prominent rookie mistakes in poker is to limp-call all the time with marginal hands being out of position. Limping is usually associated with weak players, and so you should play strongly against them for many pots, especially if you are in position.

Final Thoughts

Learning to engage in isolation play is a huge benefit to the arsenal of any regular poker player. If you feel your poker game strategies aren’t working the first time you try it, you are always recommended to try again. With experience, you will be able to identify better whom you should target and go after. If you aren’t able to judge your opponents accurately to know whom to isolate, dedicate your time playing poker games with serious intent, and you are bound to see results. Download MPL app and start implementing a few of the above-discussed isolation poker tactics now!

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