Question: Isolation raises and their application
 

After being throttled by a 60BB downstreak in the last 2 days (Which was somewhat attributed to tilt, but that's another story. I must haste to say that tilt sucks.) I'm taking a deep look into my game, I'm rereading SSHE, and I'm cursing my original good fortune when I started playing. One thing that I think I'm misapplying is the use of isolation raises. For example:

PokerStars 0.25/0.50 Hold'em (10 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is CO with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, UTG+1 calls, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP2 raises</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero 3-bets</font>...

MP2 was a huge maniac. I've seen him limp-reraise 59s, 76s, and worse. My default play is of course to fold. But against someone who was playing extremely loose and aggressive, I thought I'd make a move and try to isolate him.

My questions are, what hands can you make these types of plays with? Secondarily, against a maniac, would it just be better for me to wait until I have a better hand?

Also, against very loose players before the flop, what is the hand range I can safely raise with? Personally, my post-flop play is not up to snuff to even try these anymore. But I'd like to have some ideas so when I do feel comfortable with it, I won't be spewing.

Re: Question: Isolation raises and their application
 

Assuming UTG+1 also noted that that MP2 is shows maniac tendencies, is he likely to fold to you three-bet?

Without UTG+1 in the hand it is probably a decent thing to
raise to isaolate but if UTG+1 knows MP2 raises with almost anything he could be limping with a really good hand intending to reraise.

Being stuck with A9 if UTG+1 holds AK, AQ and an agressive
player raising on every street inbetween you could make you lose a lot of money to UTG+1.

For instance, suppose UTG+1 calls PF, a single A hits the board, UTG+1 bets, MP2 (being maniac) raises, what will you do?

Re: Question: Isolation raises and their application
 

If UTG+1 were not in the hand, this would be a perfectly acceptable isolation raise against a maniac. With him in the hand, I'm far more inclined to fold.

Basically, you want to try an isolation raise with hands that have showdown value, like A9, 66, maybe KJ, etc. Note that all of these hands have some reasonable chance to win unimproved against the range of hands that a true maniac would PFR with. When you isolate, you should plan on going to showdown unless the board comes down really bad, which is why showdown value is important.

When there's a limper, you've added a likely second opponent, which dramatically reduces the showdown value of something like A9.

Your instincts are right that you can be pretty aggressive in 3-betting a maniac; this is a major benefit of having him on your right. But you still need to pick your spots, and this particular situation is borderline at best.

Re: Question: Isolation raises and their application
 

This is fine except for UTG+1. He probably knows what you know and wants to come along for the ride. Better if just maniac had come in.
I'd usually try to isolate a maniac w/ a decent A or K (not as good as needs to normally be; A8, K8 is fine w/ me for this) or any pocket pair, something that can win unimproved against another unimproved hand. Depending on the player, my position and my mood, I can be looser sometimes.

Against very loose players before the flop, I think you need to stick to your better hands. You can't loosen up with raising, just calling. When everyone is loose, they will give you odds to call with your speculative hands; you can play 22 for set value and look to hit suited connectors because there are enough people in the hand to pay off big if you do hit. But raising's different. If you raise at a very loose table, you will likely get more callers, so you need premium hands that are more likely to hold up. I'm not sure I'm expressing this right...