Folding is an option, but again, if flatting can show a better profit, then we should flat call here. Flatting here gives us two different ways to win the pot. First, we could hit well (98x, 88x, 99x, 567, 7TJ, etc) and win a big pot either against the strong MP1 range, or the weak-loose player who will take one pair type hands too far. Secondly, we can utilize our position to our advantage. We can pick up flops where we get two checks to us. MP1 is less likely to not only continuation bet into two players, but he’s even less likely to continuation bet into a weak-loose player without a real hand. So when MP1 checks the flop, we know he is pretty much done with the hand and has no interest in fighting for it. So we can win when we hit, and we can win when we miss and both players check to us. This is why we want to play as much as we can in position, because we can take advantage of the extra information given to us by the time it is our action.
We call, the flop is Q♠ 7♥ 6♥ and we get two checks to us. Even though we hit a draw, we really just want to pick this pot up now. MP1 checking looks like he didn’t hit it and wants to be done with this pot. He might occasionally peel with something like JJ or TT, but those are rare hands given his total range. And the CO, if we assign a cold calling range of something like 22+/ATB (minus QQ+/AK)/SC/A6s+, only continues on this board about 50% of the time. If we use a half pot bet of $5.5, it only needs to work at least 33% of the time to show a decent profit. And this is a worst case scenario, assuming the weak-loose player always continues with weak pairs, and that his range is tighter than it might really be.
These situations arise all the time on the tables. Even if the CO were a TAG set miner, this could still be a good situation to call in position and utilize this «flop stab» line when facing checks to us. However, don’t get too carried away and try doing this with 3 or more callers, as it will usually not work enough of the time. And again, we need to make sure that we don’t have aggressive squeezers behind us: they will blow us off our hand preflop too often and ruin our implied odds, and play, all together.
Remember: calling raises preflop is something we can do when there are either implied odds or when we can maneuver ourselves into a win postflop. Position is ultimately one of the most important things to consider when calling raises. Being in position allows us more flexibility postflop, not only in terms of being able to peel more profitably, but also by letting us control the pot size and take good stabs when possible. We only need to make sure that we pick the best of spots to flat call raises. Often times players call too often, especially with hands that would show a better profit being shifted into either their 3-bet or fold range.
4. Isolating
Isolating is when we attack a limper with the goal of getting a heads up pot that we can win a large amount of the time. This play allows us to take advantage of certain player types and apply pressure to a weak player. There are 2 kinds of players we want to isolate: weak-tight and weak-loose. We already know they are weak because they are open limping, something a strong or aggressive player would almost never do.
The Weak-Tight Isolation
Let’s talk about isolating a weak-tight (WT) player first. Say UTG open limps with $100 behind at 100NL, and it folds to us on the button. What do we want to look for?
First, we always look both ways. We want to check our left and our right before we isolate, and really, before we do anything. We want to check our right to make sure there is just one limper, and that that limper is a weak-tight player. There is a totally different strategy for isolating multiple limpers, so we need to make sure to adjust when there are two or more limps in front of us. We then want to check our left to make sure there are no problem spots. Remember, we want to get a heads up pot, so if there is a fishy 85/22 on our left, it probably won't be a good spot to isolate with a wide range. If there is one, or a few aggressive 3-betters behind us, we might not get the situation we want. So make sure the people behind us will fold a large percent of the time if we raise. If we cannot isolate and get a good situation, we should just revert to our normal strategy (limp behind with appropriate hands, raise our strong hands, and fold everything else).
Next, we want to make sure the limper is actually weak-tight. These players tend to look like 12/7, or 13/5, or 11/6. They have low VPIPs and large relative gaps in the VPIP and PFR. Their range is usually something like a small pair with the occasional suited connector. These players, given their passive nature, tend to be very fit-or-fold on the flop. So they limp/call preflop, set mine, and usually set-or-jet on the flop. They will occasionally peel the flop with a pair, but its a rare and usually only happens on specific board textures.
Let's say the UTG player is a 13/5 and the players behind us are both TAG players with small 3-bet percentages. This might be a great spot to isolate, but what size bet do we want to use? Well, we know this player is fit-or-fold, won't make a big pot without a big hand, and wants to set mine. Given that, we want to use a larger sized raise, something like 5x or even 7x is a great choice. Because this player has such a propensity to call preflop and fold on the flop, we stand to make more money in the long run by making the raise size bigger.
We pretty much have everything planned out. Raise preflop (given that the conditions are very favorable for this play) using a nice big sized bet, and continuation bet the flop. So we do just that, see a flop of Q83, and he checks. What size bet do we use? Using a half pot bet here is a really good size. Our plan is that something like $7 should do the job more than enough of the time. A half pot CB only needs to work at least 33% of the time, we expect he will fold around 80% (he hits sets about 12.5% of the time, and we factor in some percentage of peeling), so we make a nice profit every time we do this.
If he check/raises, we are totally done, unless we flop the nuts or something close to it. If he calls, we are still pretty much done unless our hand strength changes towards the nuts. We said this player was not going to make a big pot without a big hand, and we shouldn't deviate from that plan. Remember, in poker we will take high probability set ups, and of course they will sometimes fail, but in the long run we are going to make a ton of profit if we pick our spots well.
We've talked about everything so far except for the hand range we want to use. Well...does our hand really matter? So far we came up with an entire play with a good ROI based on the table, our opponent, and logical happenings. Technically, our hand doesn't matter at all. But, we do have to keep in mind that we will sometimes get a call from someone behind us, so we want to use a range that can do all right in multi way pots. We should consider isolating with 22+/any two broadway cards/anything suited/unsuited connectors. This is a very wide range of hands, and we choose these hands because they can out-hit boards that our opponent hits. That is, we give ourselves the chance to hit flushes when they hit sets, hit straights when they hit two pair, etc. Again, our range doesn’t really matter, but we always like having some backup value in case something goes awry.
Let's look at another example. Say there is an open limp in MP1 with $25 at 25NL, and it is our action in the SB with KK. He is 1 1/₅ over 900 hands, and the BB is a 13/10 with a 3B of 2%. We want to isolate here, and we want to do so to the same 6bb. We know this player has a tendency to limp/call a lot preflop, so make sure to pinch out that extra value when he does it.
We get called by just the limper and we see a flop of T♠ 7♠ 3♣. We lead out for half pot3, $1.75, and he raises up to $6.5. A lot of players will want to continuation bet here for something like $2.25 or even $2.75. Make sure that we veer away from that. Remember, our hand doesn't really matter. We can, and should, play 8♦5♦ the same way we play A♠A♣ here. This player type isn't really going to make a big pot unless he has the nuts, so unless we have a set or better here, our hand strength is far from being able to compete with his when he raises. Isolating is based entirely around our opponent and his logical actions: if he raises us, we are generally behind. So we don't bet bigger! We just go for a bet/fold because we know this player type won't make a large pot siz
e unless we are behind.
3 Just a quick alternative line comment: we could also go for a check here with KK. We know he won't give us action hardly ever unless we are behind, but he might call a street later if we check now. It is a very valid line, and one we can consider taking if we know our check will encourage good action.
The Weak-Loose Isolation
Isolating a weak-loose (WL) player is much different than isolating a weak-tight player. First, what does a weak loose player look like? These guys tends to look like 33/5, 51/8, 18/4, or even 24/6. We notice they have large relative gaps in their VPIP and PFR, and they tend to have PFRs in the 10 or lower range. Yes, we can consider an 82/14 weak-loose... but don't start thinking that an 18/12 is weak-loose.
Lets take this spot where there is an open limp from MP1, and it folds to us in the CO. We want to check both ways like we always do. Check our right to make sure there is just one limper who is weak-tight or weak-loose, and this guy is a 38/3 over 30 hands. Then we check our left to make sure there are no aggressive 3-betters or calling stations. Assuming that is the case, we have a possible isolation situation!
Our plan against the weak-tight guy was just to raise preflop, continuation bet, and be done. Sadly, we cannot use that same plan against the weak-loose player type. The weak-loose player is just not going to release to the continuation bet enough. He loves his pairs. He loves his draws. He likes high cards. He pretty much loves everything but the fold button. Which means we have to have a totally different plan in mind to beat him.
First, let's build his range: 22-JJ, suited connectors, any two Broadway (ATB) cards, Bx, Axs, suited gappers, etc. Obviously their VPIP and PFR can help us define their range better, but rest assured, it is wide to begin with. These players look at their hand, raise the strongest of hands, and then limp the rest of the hands they deem too strong to fold. They usually have very little positional awareness, and overall are fishy players full of leaks.
Second, how is he going to react if we isolate? Well, we know he is probably going to call our raise a lot, and not going to release easily to a continuation bet. So our plan to just raise/CB/win is null and void. We instead have to set ourselves up to play postflop with this person. They probably won't get involved in an AI pot without having what they consider a strong hand, but they will certainly call multiple bets with top pair no kicker, over call draws liberally, hold on too long with weak pairs, and float unimproved broadway cards often.
Now we have information to work with and we can start coming up with the best plan. Sizing here is actually fairly simple. We almost always want to go to about 4x. This gives us lots of playability and maneuverability postflop. There are times we could consider going larger, like with AA or KK, but usually sticking to around 4x is going to be the better size with our range. We have to play postflop against this player, and we should do much better in a small to mid sized pot than by making a huge bloated pot that we cannot pick up with a continuation bet very often.
We isolate here to 4x, get a HU flop of Ks 9c 5c and he checks to us. Our action here is totally dependent on our hand, as a bluff continuation bet isn't going to be very profitable against such a liberal floater. Because this guy is not going to fold to continuation bets often, we know that we have to have some sort of hand value. Something that can win at showdown, or sets us up to win at showdown. So unlike isolating against a WT player, our hand preflop actually matters.
When selecting a range of hands to isolate with, we want to use a stronger range: something like 88+/ATB. We don't want to use a pair like 33 that has to hit a set often to feel comfortable. We would have to check it down with 33 when we miss the flop, and would often times either be giving a five card coin flip, or giving him three chances to blow us off our baby pair. Hands like 88 and TT, however, can maintain strong pairs postflop that can either get to showdown unimproved comfortably, or can get some value here and there on good boards.
Using ATB is solid for our range due the inherent strength of them. He will be calling preflop with a wide range of hands, suited aces, hands like Q8s or J9s, and other reverse implied odds (RIO) type hands. Don't feel like you have to isolate here with things like QTo if you don’t feel comfortable. Rather, you should focus on improving your postflop game so that playing QTo in this spot eventually becomes a profitable endeavor.
A final note on isolating these players preflop, is that position is incredibly important. Whenever playing postflop becomes a serious consideration, being in position amplifies our success. It allows us to close action, dictate the size of the pot, and control action in a beneficial manner. Tightening up our OOP range even further is a good choice. Something like TT+/AQ+ is a very solid range. Being out of position will further complicate tough spots, and we can avoid those situations by using a better hand range preflop.
The Unknown Isolation
There are times when a player that is brand new to us, or possibly is one with whom we have a very small sample size, open limps in front of us. Usually we want to use the same range and size that we used versus the weak-loose player type when isolating them. Because we have no idea of their postflop tendencies (which is the major attribute that allows us to isolate WT players as we do), we need to use a stronger range of hands. This is just good global advice: if we have to play postflop without direct information on how our opponent will play, we should pick a preflop range that will do well postflop.
However, plenty of hands are strong enough to play here, but not quite strong enough to isolate. Hands like 44 or T9s can be limped behind, especially in position. Again, those hands are getting great implied odds given the depth of stack, such that limping them behind is perfectly acceptable. Just make sure not to take this too far and start limping things like K9o or 85s. Remember to keep position in mind and tighten up our isolation range from the blinds, as we don't want to create incredibly difficult spots with very marginal and tough hands OOP if it isn't necessary.
The Multi Way Isolation
Oddly enough, having multiple limpers in front of us can make for some very awkward situations. The simple advice here is to be very selective with the hands we isolate with. Due to the dynamic of the situation, it is standard that once there is a call of our raise, there are multiple callers. Because it is very likely we will have to play a multi way (MW) and bloated pot, hand selection is ultra important.
A range like TT+/AJ+/KQ (assuming we are in position) is usually as wide as we would want to go. Notice this isn't terribly different than the weak-loose isolation or the unknown isolation, but we did cut out some of the weaker pairs and some of the excess broadway combos. However, instead of raising those hands, we can actually limp them behind in position, or even complete them from the small blind (assuming that we don't leak postflop). We can also limp some extra hands as well with multiple limpers, hands like Axs KJs, or 87s can certainly be limped behind from the button and cutoff. Those hands are getting really good implied odds, and coupled with position (or a small price from the small blind), we can take advantage of that.
When isolating multiple limpers we need to do so with a clear plan in mind. Usually we will need to be selective with the continuation bet due to the natural tendency for this pot to be MW on the flop. Because of this, we need to be a little tighter in our hand selection from the blinds. Using an even tighter range, like JJ+/AQ+, is perfectly acceptable. Continuation betting with bluff hands out of position in multi way pots is usually going to be a losing proposition, and thus we select a range that can hit strong often. Again, preflop is all about setting ourselves up for good and profitable spots postflop, and isolating is no different.
The Facing Of An Isolation
There are times when we limp and get isolated and have an awkward decision to make. However, because we should rarely be open-limping, it makes the situation a bit more straight forward. Let's take a normal spot with full stacks where there is an open-limp in EP, we limp behind with 55 from MP, and the CO raises up to 6x. We have things to c
onsider and questions to ask before we can come up with an optimal play.
First, who is the isolator? If he is a tight player who tends to raise only with big hands, then we can assume his range is still relatively strong. (It should also be noted, that most player types will naturally isolate a stronger range from the blinds) Against that kind of range, assuming that it doesn't get 3-bet before it gets back to us, a call here with the plan of set mining with proper odds is a great play. The entire situation becomes odd if the isolator uses a wider range in this spot. Because wider ranges tend to offer less implied odds, a plan to set mine here can lose a lot of validity.
Second, who is the open-limper? If he is a looser player, then we can assume that most good players will isolate with a much stronger range. Against a stronger range, we get more implied odds when we hit our set, and thus set mining here becomes a solid play getting a little better than 20x even if everyone else folds. If the limper is a tight player, then we need to try and deduce whether the isolator is using an any two cards (ATC) mentality like we would do, or if he is just using a strong range. Usually this boils down to how aggressive the isolator is and we can check things like the “Steal Limped Pot” stat from LP to get an idea on his range in this kind of situation.
Dynamic Full Ring Poker Page 4
