How you are perceived by other players is the key to most any bluff. You have to be believable. In most cases the tight / solid player has the best chance of pulling this play off successfully. Loose / aggressive players do not fair well with this play because they are viewed as players that will play any kind of hand and play it aggressively. Be extremely aware of your image before you attempt to make this play as it is likely to be in the later stages of the poker tournament.

You must know what your opponents are capable of doing at your table. This will be crucial to your success. If you are playing with a maniac that will call you down with any two cards then you need to keep this one in your bag of tricks for another day. However, if you are confident the players in the hand are average to weak in there holdings it’s prime time to exploit their weakness accordingly.

Personally, I do not feel this is a play that should be utilized early in any poker tournament. The squeeze play is tailor made for late in the tournament and Final Table play.

Also, there is no valid reason to use it early in a tournament as the value of your stack has nowhere near the value it will gain over the course of the tourney as you accumulate chips and equity. This play is not for the feint of heart either. If you cannot commit to it totally then stay away from it. Remember, good players can sense weakness and any signs of waffling may signal your demise.

Example: The blinds are now $1000 / $500 in a 18 player Sit n Go. You are now down to 8 players.

Hero       [Jh][Th] Button $20,000

Player A brings it in for $2000. Player B calls. You are aware that both players B and C are relatively weak players although player C got lucky to double up a few hands ago. Player C decides to re-raise and makes it $5000 to go. The action is now on you. You know player A has been raising with nothing all night and appears to be enamored with the bluff. Player C doesn’t strike you as being that bright and he got lucky to crack [A][A] with a straight when he was all but out the door pre-flop calling an all-in with [A] [J]. You decide to put the squeeze play into action based upon the table image of the three players involved in the pot.

The pot now has $10,500 in it. You have not played a hand for the last twenty minutes and you have position. You decide to push “all-in” with your $20,000 feeling confident that no one has a big hand. If you do get called you have straight and flush possibilities. Against a random hand [Jh][Th] really isn’t all that bad.

Result: Player A takes a moment and folds the hand. Player B folds immediately. Player C grumbles and reluctantly folds his hand.

Note: Had player B not been such a tight player you may very well have been called had it been a more aggressive player.

You do not need a monster hand in order to pull off this play. You do need incredible timing and feel for the game. I prefer to perform the squeeze play with small pocket pairs or suited connectors when I do make this play. So, if I do get called, I am not totally left in no mans land without a hand. On the other hand you can make the play with absolutely nothing as did Dan Harrington.