Isolating a Loose Raiser

[Scotch78]

I've been kicking this idea around lately and want to see what others think about it. Assume that your hand compares favorably to the range of hands a LAG could be holding, but that your edge is usually small when ahead and you are easily dominated when behind. First off, what hands (for you) and raising standards (for the LAG) might produce this situation. Secondly, discuss . . . [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Scott

[Derek in NYC]

You are describing a situation where you isolation raise with a medium pair.

I personally dont like doing this. If you want to do this, you need to know the LAG's post-flop play, and see whether you can essentially use your positional advantage to keep firing at the pot.

Bottom line: you dont want to isolate with hands that will tend to put you heads up with somebody where you have a small edge. The whole purpose of the isolation raise is so you can stand a reasonable chance of either dominating the LAG, or at least having 2 live cards to work with. The same reason I wouldn't isolation raise with a small/medium pair, is the same reason it is generally a mistake to call all-in with such hands in a tournament setting.

[Bluffoon]

If I am on a passive table with a LAG that will raise with just about anything I will reraise any playable hand and showdown just about everything regardless of the board.

If the LAG is a little more selective I will reraise with raising hands and fold the rest.

Expect some variance.