The Squeeze Play

Here's a move you can try to pull the next time you're in a tournament. If a player raises preflop, and a second opponent just flat calls, it is often a very powerful play to reraise. This move is known as the squeeze play. In this play, you're not going to be particularly concerned about what your cards are; the important this is that you make the squeeze play in the proper situation. A few factors that should lead you to make this play include:

• The initial raiser is loose enough to raise with a wide variety of hands, and/or is known to fold often to three-bets.
• You have a good table image for the play: you haven't been three-betting wildly, so your raise will be met with respect.
• The caller is an attentive player.

Combine these three factors, and it's easy to see while you'll usually pick up a reasonably-sized pot with a good reraise, perhaps to four times the initial raise. The squeeze play generally works if the initial raiser is raising with a wide range of hands, and thus is likely to fold to a three-bet. Meanwhile, the caller likely made that play because they were sure the initial raiser was raising lightly; they're likely to have only a modest holding, and not one that can stand up to a large reraise. Since it's not a play you've made often, your reraise likely indicates a very strong hand, meaning you'll only be called if the initial raiser has a monster.