Isolating on the flop or turn draws on many of the same principles as when you isolate preflop, but has a few additional factors to consider. Most importantly, you have the benefit of having more information about your opponents’ hands, while at the same time the risks are greater because you’re playing for a bigger pot. While preflop you may raise to isolate a player and get to the flop heads-up, when you raise on the flop or turn it’s usually because you have a made hand and want to root out players drawing to a hand better than yours. Obviously isolating in a post-flop situation only occurs when more than two players have seen the flop!
Let’s imagine a tight player raised preflop and was called by another tight player and you called on the button with 7d-9d. The flop comes Js-8h-6h, the open raiser bets the pot, the first caller quickly calls and you call with your open-ended straight draw. It’s a straightforward call at this point as both players are relatively tight and it’s unlikely that both are betting or calling with nothing. The turn gives you a glorious 5s for the nut straight. The raiser checks this time but the other bets out half the pot. This is where you should be raising to isolate.
Raising it when you’re favourite
The initial raiser has either given up on the hand or may even have turned some kind of flush draw (but it’s most likely he has given up or is trying to get to the river as cheaply as possible). It now looks like the player who called is trying to protect his hand – hopefully a set – so it comes to you to decide whether you shove here or not. Your (semi) disguised straight is the nuts at the moment so why wouldn’t you want to get the money in the middle? Because you might not get called? If that’s your concern you’re not thinking about the river card, because if either flush arrives it’s a major scare card for both you and your opponent and you’re unlikely to get someone with two-pair (and possibly even a set) to call much, if anything, on the river.
This play can also be effective in spots where you haven’t got a lock on the hand and have something like two-pair yourself.
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