News / Imper1um / 21 May 2009 / Leave a comment

Re-isolating is one of the most dangerous, yet also potentially rewarding moves in poker, particularly at the higher limits.

This play works because other good players are consistently looking to isolate weak players, particularly very bad loose aggressive players or habitual limpers, by raising them, a play which knocks the other players out of the pot and leaving them free to pound on the weak player in a heads up pot.

As good players are making these isolating raises with quite a wide range of hands (due to them mainly relying on their post flop skills to win the pot, and not necessarily the strength of their hand), observant players can often identify spots to re-re-raise here with less than premium hands. As you know that your fellow good player has: a) quite a wide range of possible hands, but also b) is capable of folding to a show of strength behind, a well timed bet here can win you quite a large pot with, if the situation is identified correctly, not that much risk.

Beating good players in games is one of the hardest aspects of the middle and higher limits. It requires you to not only think in a much deeper and multi level way, but also to start taking much greater risks than you need to at the low limits.

Most middle stake grinders tend to be fairly risk averse due to their background at the lower stakes, and a player pulling off well timed re-isolations can really make a big dent in these sort of players - as when the shoe is on the other foot they simply do not have the guts or skill to attack your isolations in the same way.

Always remember that the higher up the stakes you rise, the more important it becomes to not only think on higher levels, but also increase your willingness to gamble and attack in marginal situations. Re-isolating is a very risky play, and one which can backfire badly when they actually have a hand (which will be some of the time), but over the long run can pay massive dividends.

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Tags: advanced poker strategy, imper1um, texas hold em, wsope