First of all, what are limpers? Limpers are players who enter a hand passively and show weakness, that is, they just call the minimum bet (blind) instead of entering the hand with a raise.
The term “isolating the limper” comes from the action of having the initiative by raising this type of opponent to play against him after the flop, usually 1v1.
Many people without much knowledge of hold'em don't isolate players enough, but there are also many regulars who take this concept literally and end up isolating limpers with too many hands.
You can profitably isolate your opponents with a large number of hands (depending on the table conditions of course), but isolating opponents the wrong way is also a waste of money.
In this article you will understand how to isolate your opponents in the best possible way, understanding the size of bets, the most suitable types of hands, the hands that are good for limping in with your opponents and the dynamics generated by the effect we create when isolating our opponents.
Who are the limpers?
Players who limp tend to be bad players. They usually enter a lot of hands, but few with the initiative of aggression (raising). This type of player tends to be passive. This is where profitability comes into play. Profit comes when other players fold their hands and the fish (bad player) limps. You will usually have a positional advantage over them, and their play style tends to be “fit or fold”, that is, either they “fit” their hand on the flop, or they will fold. This gives us a nice advantage: since they will only hit the flop 1/3 of the time, a simple continuation bet will be enough to win the pot. If you don’t win the pot on the flop, you will usually have enough information against these players to decide whether to fire again on the turn and river to try to win the pot with good cards that will scare your opponents.
How big should you bet to isolate your opponents?
Generally, our bet will be approximately 3 big blinds + 1 big blind per limper when you are in position. If you are out of position, you can raise 4 big blinds + 1 big blind per limper. For example, if you have 2 limpers ahead of you and you are in the small blind with AJ, you could raise 6 big blinds (4+2). If we are on the button with the same hand, we can only raise 5 big blinds (3+2). The reasons for raising more heavily out of position are clear: firstly, we want to play heads-up with the hands that we usually play in this position, such as AJ, KQ, AQ for example. The second reason is also simple. Since we are raising out of position, this means that our hand is probably stronger, and therefore, we want more money in the pot, since we usually have the best hand.
Hand Types for Isolating Opponents
The best hands to isolate with are the hands that play best in small pots and heads-up play. These tend to be high cards, hands like broadways (combinations of face cards like QJ, KJ), AK, AJ, AT, A9, etc. In position you can isolate with a very wide range of hands, for example a JT against a weak player is completely acceptable.
Limp behind/over limping
The hands we will play when limping in after our opponents are the hands that allow us to win big pots. These types of hands include hands that allow us to make sets, flushes and straights, that is, hands like low pairs and suited connectors. Your goal is to see the flop as cheaply as possible and if you hit a strong hand or a draw, you will speed up the game by betting and raising. If you don't hit, simply fold.
Game dynamics
In low-value games, you can get a lot of mileage out of isolating limpers. As you progress, you should slow down a bit with this strategy, as you can start to get exploited by good players. Good aggressive players will notice that you are isolating with a wide range of hands and will start 3-betting (re-raising your bet preflop) as a bluff and for value more often. When you isolate, you are creating bigger pots and this will tempt them to steal the pot. If you notice that there are players who are 3-betting frequently to your left, tighten your range and make it stronger. After a while, they will realize that you have been out of the action and will start to give more credibility to your plays.
Article translated and adapted from: Isolating limpers – Online Poker Isolation Raise
English 
Português do Brasil 
Español 
Limpers will not hit the flop 2/3 of the time as stated in the paragraph “WHO ARE THE LIMPERS?”
Exactly! Heheheh…
for sure.
the hit rate is 33% from the flop alone, there was a typo.
is 1/3 of the time
Thanks for the correction, Jackson!