Importance of Isolation Pre-Flop

Isolation pre flop is a concept that many different people talk about, but there are plenty of people who don’t truly understand how or why it is important. It is vital that you understand why you are doing something in poker, be it isolating pre flop or folding. With this understanding of why you are doing something you will be better prepared to handle a situation when the time comes. If you are driving a car you put on the brakes because you want to stop, if you are isolating a player pre flop it is because…

Why is it important to isolate?

This question can be answered with another question. Is it easier to beat one person or two people in poker? Of course it is easier to win when you are up against fewer players. For this reason you need to learn how to isolate pre flop. You should be looking to isolate pre flop when you have a strong hand. Isolation is not nearly as important when you have a suited connector type hand as compared to a big pocket pair. The reason for this is simple. When you have a hand like a suited connector you want a bigger player pool so that you can extract more if you hit your hand. When you have a big pocket pair you want to take someone one on one. You are prone to losing a big pot with a big pocket pair where you are more likely to lose a small one with a suited connector. The value from a big pocket pair is derived from its current state as a likely favorite over any hand where the value from a suited connector comes from the potential value it could have; not the value it currently has.

The benefits of isolation pre flop

One of the biggest justifications players use for making weak raises pre flop with a big hand like pocket kings is that they do not want to “scare away” the other players. They want to build up a pot little by little. The problem with this is simple; if someone is merely calling your weak raises it means that they likely have a weak hand. If they have a weak hand it is unlikely that they will pay you off later on unless their hand improves greatly. When their hand improves there is a good chance that your pocket kings are no longer the best hand.

When you have a big hand you want to get the other decent or good hands in the pot. You want to build it up rapidly, ideally getting most of the money in pre flop. If a player is willing to invest a good bit of their stack pre flop there is a great chance that they will commit the rest of it once the flop is dealt. This pre flop commitment should tell you that they probably have a solid made hand. Solid made hands are the best hands to isolate pre flop and the easiest to get the most value from post flop. Don’t wait for them to turn the aggression up, take the initiative yourself. It will only help you in the long run if you are able to play against one player at a time as opposed to three at a time.