Isolating Pre Flop – How to Isolate Players Pre-Flop

Isolating pre flop is important because it is easier to take down a pot if there are fewer players in it. Some players say that they like to have a lot of players in a pot when they have a big hand because it will allow them to win more money, but there are many flaws in this approach. You will want to isolate pre flop when you have a strong hand. There isn’t much point isolating pre flop with more speculative hands because you really need as many players in the pot with these type of hands.

Poker players tend to confuse the aim of these two different types of hands. A hand like 8 9 suited is only going to have value if it hit’s the flop hard. When you do connect with the flop with 8 9 suited you are probably going to have the absolute best hand, crushing pocket pairs and other similar hands. When you are dealt a hand like pocket queens, however, if you let the other player(s) see the flop it will dramatically decrease your chances of winning. There might be the random time where three players call with 7 7, 8 8, and 9 9 and the flop comes 4 2 6, but this won’t happen very often.

So why do you want to raise and isolate with super strong hands if you will knock the more speculative hands out? It is simple, speculative hands want to invest a little bit of money for a shot at hitting the jackpot. They will fold when they miss the board, but will have you dead when they make a strong hand. When they do have a strong hand they will be hard to read. This is one of the reasons that some players “hate” playing big pocket pairs. They have this preconceived notion that big pocket pairs are terrible hands to play because they “always” get busted by some weak hand, like 8 9 suited. What these same players fail to realize is that if they played their big hands more aggressively pre flop that they wouldn’t have to contend with these weak hands.

Punish the Weak Players by Isolating Them

It all comes down to what hands you are willing to battle with, and at what price. If you want to face weaker hands when you have big pocket pairs, that is fine, but you should only be willing to accommodate these hands when they call a substantial pre flop raise. Don’t let the speculative hands in cheap, you will be falling right into their trap. This is exactly what they want, most players will know that they need to fold random suited connectors if they are raised, and the ones who don’t should be easy money. You might be thinking “But what about when I make a solid raise pre flop with a big hand, but the suited connector calls and hits anyway?” It would only make sense to think that your pre flop raise was pointless, but it wasn’t. If you think like this you will be completely disregarding all of the times where they called your pre flop raise and bricked on the flop. This is where you are going to find your profitability. If players call big raises with weak hands they will face the consequences, it is your job to make sure that they don’t see a reward because you played your hand too passively pre flop.

SUMMARY: Importance of Isolating Pre Flop

Isolating pre flop is very important. If you miss out on your opportunities to isolate you will essentially be giving your money away. Many players like to see a multi way pot with strong hands because they think it means a greater profit potential, but this is completely incorrect.