Bodog Josh Arieh - Seize The Squeeze

Understanding the squeeze play, and the factors to watch for in determining whether it will work.

PINK IS THE NEW BLACK, retro is the new old, and squeeze plays are the new bluffs. A squeeze play in poker is when a player opens for a raise, Opponent Two calls, and you put in a big re-raise, most of the time with “air,” to try and steal the pot. Player One then folds, because for you to raise into two players, your hand appears to be strong, plus he still has Opponent Two to act behind him. Opponent Two also folds (how good could his hand have been if he only called the initial raise?), and you have now “squeezed” the original raiser out of the pot.

I was involved in one of the more famous squeeze plays in televised poker history. It aired during the WSOP 2004 Main Event on ESPN. Dan Harrington actually talks about the hand in his book, Harrington On Hold ’Em.

The hand went down like this:
I bet with K-9 offsuit under the gun. Greg Raymer called in middle position with A-2 of clubs. Dan Harrington looked down at the mighty 6-2 offsuit and decided that he could steal this pot, so he made a raise six times my initial under-the-gun bet. To further show the power of this move, David Williams folded A-Q offsuit behind Harrington before it came back around to me and Raymer, who both folded, giving Harrington free money.

Now, the squeeze play is risky, and shouldn’t be done every time someone flat calls a raise in front of you and you’re in position. There are many factors to consider before deciding to risk your chips in this spot.

Harrington first realized that I was actively playing in many pots, so my starting hand range, even under the gun, was very wide.

Next, he had to consider Raymer’s play as well. Harrington had seen enough hands from Raymer to know that he was an aggressive player and would raise any decent holding in the spot and wouldn’t smooth-call my bet with a big hand.

Then Harrington had to consider his image at the table. He hadn’t been involved in many pots at this point, and he definitely had a tight image at the table at that time. He knew that a raise from him in that spot left us thinking he had the goods, and he timed that play right.

Finally, Harrington had to look to his left and notice the stack sizes and skill levels of Williams and the rest of the players. Someone with too short of a stack might have just looked at all this money getting pushed into the middle and decided to make a stand to try and pick it up. Also, a donkey might be too green in poker to recognize a play that screams of strength, so Harrington might not have gotten the respect he deserved in this spot. A pro in this spot might have also picked up on what Harrington was trying to do and, in position, might have tried to re-steal from him. Harrington figured out that the stacks behind him were deep enough that they wouldn’t be calling here with garbage, and the level of skill was just right that this play could succeed.

This hand is a perfect example of the squeeze play as well as a seasoned pro picking the right spots at the right time. The squeeze play has a big risk factor attached to it and should only be used when the money is right in the pot (the blinds and antes are worth a steal) and the players involved are active in many pots but know how to lay down when facing resistance.

The squeeze play is a key tool to add to your playbook, but use it with caution, as it can hurt you as much as it helps if it doesn’t work out.

This article has been brought to you by Bodog nation. Play with pros Josh Arieh, David Williams, and Evelyn Ng at BodogLife.com.

Questions To Ask Before Attempting The Squeeze
1. How active/loose is the initial raiser?
2. How tricky does the flat-caller play?
3. Is your image tight enough to get respect?
4. Are the other players good enough to make laydowns?

Arieh Wynns Big
Josh Arieh may never duplicate the tournament success he had in 2004, when he finished third in the World Series of Poker Main Event, but he’s been on a pretty decent roll of late just the same, culminating in a first-place finish in the $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha with Re-buys event at the 2008 Wynn Classic on March 13. Arieh emerged from a tough final table that included the always dangerous Ted Lawson to win $59,364—a nice wad for his bankroll to put toward future squeeze plays.
The win came on the heels of a third-place finish in Event #1 of the inaugural Bodog Poker Open a week earlier and a second-place finish in the main event of the WSOP Circuit New Orleans in December. Sounds like a certain two-time bracelet winner is heating up just in time for a certain big tournament series where bracelets are handed out.…