"Squeeze"

[_TKO_]

I've seen this term thrown around in the NL forums. What exactly does it mean?

[Dov]

It means to put a player in a position where he is likely to get reraised.

For example:

Assume very deep stacks for this.

You are in MP with TT. EP raises 3.5x, you call, and the button makes it 10x to go.

Everyone calls.

The flop comes little, little, little.

EP bets 1/3 of the pot.

His bet is a squeeze play because you can't simply call here with any safety. You don't know what the button will do, but there is a good chance that he will raise, especially if you call, and for all you know, EP could reraise the button again.

I hope that made sense.

[_TKO_]

Thanks.

[DWarrior]

Squeeze plays are mostly mentioned in pre-flop situations.

MP, a fairly loose player, raises 3.5x, button calls.

You're in BB. You know MP's raising range is pretty wide, and button's call means he doesn't have a strong enough hand to raise.

You raise, MP now has to worry about what the button will do (hence he's squeezed), so he'll be more inclined to fold. Button doesn't have a strong enough hand to call a 3bet, so he folds too. You win.

[ispiked]

Incidentally, I just read the chapter in HoH1 that discusses the "squeeze play" and I understood it to be a pre-flop move where you reraise when you have a raiser and a caller in front of even when you don't have a monster to exploit

a) your positional advantage and
b) the fact that the original raiser and caller need really strong hands to call here (which they probably won't have).

[Grunch]

Dov, that's not a squeeze. At least not the way that term is usually used around 2p2. DWarrior's definition is correct.

[lucky_mf]

I thought (technically speaking) it was DW's explanation with MP being a limper rather than a raiser, and button being the raiser - so called a squeeze because MP is squeezed between the re-raise from the blinds and buttons raise. If MP wants to play he has to worry about calling your re-raise with a potential 4th bet being put in by the button who is still left to act.

Lucky

[Grunch]

No, not usually. If you have an openlimp from MP and then a limp behind somewhere and then you raise from the blinds, your play is more of an isolation than a squeeze.

There is a difference between these two scenarios that goes beyond trivial syntax. In a squeeze (MP open raises, one coldcall behind, you 3bet from the blinds) you are really semibluffing. You are hoping everyone folds. And you expect everyone to fold because you read that MP opens a wide raige and the coldcaller would raise a strong hand himself, so he must be weak as well. But if someone does come along, a hand like 76s (a typical squeeze hand) has good equity against a typical caller's range.

When you isolate however, you aren't really semibluffing, and you don't typically expect everyone to fold. You are really looking for exactly one caller, hopefully with a one-pair type hand that you have dominated. For example, if MP likes to openlimp naked Aces and the limper behind could have anything, then you will often isolate with a stronger Ace (perhaps AJ+) and hope for a cqall from the open-limper. If the flop comes Ace-high, you could win a big pot. The two-thirds of the time when the flop doesn't hit the opponent at all, you can win his preflop mistakes by simply betting.

I hope the differences here are sort of clear. A squeeze and an isolation play are two totally different plays, done for totally different reasons and with totally different kinds of hands.

[DWarrior]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought (technically speaking) it was DW's explanation with MP being a limper rather than a raiser, and button being the raiser - so called a squeeze because MP is squeezed between the re-raise from the blinds and buttons raise. If MP wants to play he has to worry about calling your re-raise with a potential 4th bet being put in by the button who is still left to act.

Lucky

[/ QUOTE ]

You don't squeeze a guy who hasn't put any signifficant money in. Sure, MP would technically be squeezed in that situation, but your re-raise really targets the raiser, since MP's limp already means he's not ready to play a big pot.

The move you described would actually constitute an isolation steal.

Situation:

MP, a known fish, open limps. Button, a solid player, raises. You can be pretty sure MP's hand is weak, and button's raising range here is wider than usual because he's trying to isolate the MP and play a pot HU vs a bad player. Your raise has an increased chance of winning the pot because neither villain is looking to play a big pot with you.

The squeeze is meant to squeeze the original raiser.

[lucky_mf]

[ QUOTE ]
No, not usually. If you have an openlimp from MP and then a limp behind somewhere and then you raise from the blinds, your play is more of an isolation than a squeeze.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was referring to the case where a late position player raises 1 or more limpers and the player in the blinds re-raises - not raising one or more limpers from the blinds. In my experience this can be done with profitably (meaning all will fold pf or to a c-bet) with junk hands depending on the lp raiser. The limpers don't have hands - they limped (and its hard for them to call as they are squeezed between a raise and a re-raise). The original raiser isn't likely to have a hand worthy of calling a re-raise given that he is in late position raising limpers (an obvious steal position).

Lucky