Squeeze play

[AlmightyJay]

I just started reading HoH vol. 2 and he brings up the squeeze play again.

I really don't understand the theory behind the squeeze play. It seems like an oxymoron. According to Harrington, the squeeze play works because the original raiser has to be scared of the caller going over the top of the re-raiser, so he folds.. and the caller has to be scared of the re-raiser, so he folds.

Um.. what? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

How often do you really see someone call a raise and then go over the top of a re-raiser? I know I've never seen it. Is it something that only happens at really high levels of play? But even then.. if this is a plausible situation, isn't the squeeze play pointless anyway? After all, if we need to be scared of someone calling a raise but then going over the top of a re-raise from behind, why would you give them the perfect opportunity to do exactly that on a total bluff?

The logic behind the whole play just seems to be completely off to me. Can someone help me out with this?

[Rduke55]

I think the idea is, as the person in the middle, "I raised and got a call, hope his hand isn't as strong as mine. Wait, someone just reraised. [censored], now he's probably got a huge hand and I still have to contend with the other guy. Screw this, my hand value just went way down."

And I've seen the call-rereraise. It makes sense. People will often smoothcall with huge hands if they think it will be heads up and they will have position on you. If the pot get reraised they definitely want it heads up so they will not smoothcall the reraise but rereraise.

[LLKOOLK1]

Harrington also stresses that this move be made on a aggressive player who could be raising with a wide variety of hands. His example is Josh Ariah raising consistantly with week holdings, Raymer adjust and calls with a mediocore hand, Harrington puts the squezze play on them and Ariah, who simply wanted to steal the blinds and keep his aggresive image, now has to decide if his hand is good to a caller who most likely has him beat, and a reraise from a known solid player. Raymer is then left in the middle thinking, " i only called cause i knew Ariah was on a steal, now im out."
This play is dangerous if you do not have a good feel for the table and the tendencies of the players. I think it is a move that you can use later in a tournemnet when a player starts getting aggresive and bumping up pot after pot, people adjust tohis loose requirements and begin to call his bets, you see an opportunity for a squeeze when one of these players,who you have a solid read on, makes a call with a seemingly stronger but not great hand.
Harington also states that he does this with garbage hands so that can release them if he gets played back at, and saves his strong hands for routine raises.

[Rduke55]

But in the example you gave wouldn't you be squeezing the aggressive player and not the adjusting player?

[LLKOOLK1]

This is the exact example that harrington uses in the book. Yes iwould say the actual "squeeze" is being put on the adjuster, but the play is really not aimed a certain individual, though it could put a damper on the agressive players style if he knows that you are capable of a reraise of such

[hurlyburly]

I'm sure you have raised an opening bet and a caller before. You probably did it with a really strong hand, though, and didn't realize this is what you did.

I've been trying to find a chance to steal using this play, but I think it requires the following conditions:
Tight table image
Aggressive initial raiser
Late position
Weak defenders in the blinds
Opponents know and apply gap concept

It's probably suicide in a low limit online tourny, but it might be of use sometimes.

[hurlyburly]

It applies to both players.

The initial raiser probably isn't happy about the first caller, let alone a pot-sized raise afterwards.

The caller probably didn't have a strong enough hand to raise with, or he would have. He certainly isn't going to overcall a raise behind him.

[LLKOOLK1]

I agree, this seems like a move i make at a final table, with a group of players that I have solid reads on and have established a strong table image with. This would also meen that the blinds were high enough that the raise and call(plus blinds/antes) would be a large enough amount of money to be worth jepordizing a large bet.