No, we are not talking about locking you in the broom cupboard for weeks at a time. We are, of course, talking about raising or re-raising in order to play against specific opponents.

If you are a member of a poker training site you will be aware that when the videos first started to be produced isolation theory was quite prevalent. The sites only employed the very best players and coaches and sometimes the students forget this important point. It is one thing for Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt to isolate an under the gun limper with Q5 off suit and play it profitably and another one for Joe Soap. People looking for online poker tips should remember this.

So when deciding to isolate a player what situations are suitable for such a play?

Even though you may think your opponent is weaker than you, you will still need a card advantage a lot of the time. Try to make sure that you do not get yourself in dominated situations, after all this is one of the reasons that you profit over the fish in the first place. This is important to remember when you are learning how to play poker online. So don’t go isolating with queen five off suit because there are too many queens that dominate you in their range. The second point is position.

Position is key in poker so always try and isolate opponents from a positional advantage. Lastly, before you isolate make sure that you do have a definitive skill advantage over your opponent. In modern times it is assumed that when a player limps that they are a fish but just make sure that a confident and seasoned player is not trying to get cute and take advantage of the situation by using the old rope-a-dope.