The Squeeze Play – Understanding The Poker Squeeze Play
And When To Use It!
The Squeeze Play Is A Profitable Poker Move When Used Correctly – Find Out How And When to Squeeze In Poker Tournaments Here.
by Mark
As you gain experience at the poker tournament tables many opportunities to play your opponents and their chip-stacks, rather than the cards, will appear. The ‘Squeeze Play’ is one such move in which the cards in your hand are less important than the stacks and the situation. This article describes the poker ‘Squeeze Play’ and the importance of making sure that the circumstances are correct before you attempt to use it.
Executed correctly the squeeze play can significantly increase your chip stack during the vitally important mid to late stages of a poker tournament. Getting this move wrong can equally result in your chip stack being decimated – or even busting out from the tournament completely.
The squeeze play occurs when you make a big bet that is very unlikely to be called due to the dynamics of the situation. The ‘ideal’ circumstance involves you sitting in late position and seeing a raise and a call ahead of you, with the initial raise coming from a player who is known to be loose and aggressive.
The idea is that you make a large (or even all-in) re-raise, the initial raiser will be reluctant to call since there is still a player to act (and we already know this player also has loose opening requirements). In turn the player who flat called the raise already knows that the player who opened the pot is loose and yet did not re-raise – therefore showing that his hand is not that great.
When it works your squeeze of the initial raise and caller will win you several bets without a showdown. There are more factors than just a loose opener and a flat-call to take into account before attempting to squeeze. These include stack sizes and the known tendencies of the players already in the pot.
Stack Size Considerations
You need to have enough chips to threaten both the players already involved in the hand. If your raise would offer enticing pot-odds to either of these players then you can not squeeze. If either player has a very large or very small stack you should be less likely to want to squeeze – you will be called too often.
Player Tendencies
It is important to make sure that the players who have entered the pot are actually capable of folding their hands. Many online players, particularly at the lower to middle limits, are simply not capable of laying a hand down once they have entered a pot with it.
Your Cards
While the poker squeeze play is independent of the hand you hold there is little point ‘wasting’ a decent hand by using it to squeeze. If you have a good hand which may have some showdown value then there may be better ways to make use of this and your late position.
To summarize, the right conditions for the squeeze play in a poker tournament are when a known loose opponent raises, gets one or more flat calls and you have enough chips to make a large and threatening raise from later position. Since any callers know that the initial raiser is loose they have not shown strength by simply calling – increasing the chances that you can take a big pot without a showdown.
Related Articles
|
