Singlied Out

  Anybody who grew up watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom knows that when lion hunts it doesn't just randomly throw itself on rampaging herd of water buffalo in the hopes that the ton and a half herbivore will just simply throw up the white flag and start pointing out where the best meat is. Lions always try to isolate their prey, and go after the one who is most likely not to get up when they knock it down. They rarely let their egos get to them and go after the biggest, most angry looking one in the bunch.  When you are going for an isolation play, make sure you have targeted the right people at the table. This sort of thing rarely works against a good Tight/Aggressive player. Isolating that type of person and trying to turn it into dinner is a very good way to lose the bulk of your chips. If you have singled out a good TAG player, and they are content to go all the way down to the river with you, chances are they are holding exactly the sort of hand you were trying to avoid when you got aggressive and drove everyone else out of the pot.  When going for an isolation play, your best target is generally a maniac. Fortunately they are about as plentiful online and in the casinos as garden gnomes are in the suburbs. The reason they are the best targets is because based on the sheer number of hands they play, it is a pretty good risk that when they call or raise, they are doing it with a sub-standard hand.  During tournament play, isolating the short stack is also a good idea. In order to get back into contention, many will start playing lower value hands instead of letting the blinds eat them alive.  So when you raise in order to isolate a player, make sure you are doing your best to single out the right kind of player for this move.  Good Luck!