The mechanics of squeezing

When deciding whether or not to squeeze a certain hand in a certain spot there is a checklist that you should mentally tick off. First, you need to understand the players involved – this is paramount. The types of opponents you want to pick on when squeezing include weak-tight players and good tight-aggressive players. These players will have little difficulty crediting you with a big hand, as long as you don’t go absolutely mental. When the cat is out the bag that you squeeze light against TAG raisers, beware, as they will adjust and start sticking it back at you. Players that you should be much more hesitant to squeeze against (especially out of position) are the bad LAGs that will never fold and will try to get too funky after the flop, and the exceptionally loose fish that won’t fold pre-flop and won’t recognise your perceived range.

Squeezing against maniacs is an interesting idea, as they will usually not have a premium hand when raising. However, against this type of player over-aggression with marginal hands is normally not the most +EV strategy and you’re better off waiting for a real hand.
This leads us onto the nature of squeeze-worthy hands. What hands should you add to a squeezing range? Well, against a maniac, definitely do not squeeze hands like A-J suited and 9-9 unless you are prepared to get your stack in against them (against a probable wide range). Doing so would be suicide. Against more conventional opponents, position, image, hand strength and the tendencies of the players involved are more important factors.

With a loose-aggressive image, flat-calling the button with 7-8 suited after a middle-position raise and cutoff call might be more profitable than squeezing, especially if one or both of the blinds is a fish. You have position, a hand that plays better multi-way, and a fish in the blinds that will often overcall and go too far with second rate holdings. Given that you want to play as many pots as possible against bad players when in position, squeezing is probably a less attractive proposition, as you will force the fish out the pot and run the risk of being four-bet off the flop even if you hit (because you have squeezed on the button and you have a LAG image which your opponents will not credit).

Tight table image?

If on the other hand you have a tight image and are in the big blind with the same 7-8 suited after the same action, a squeeze might actually offer a higher expectation. In this case you are picking up more dead money, and as you are out of position your suited connectors have a much lower value anyway. Additionally, your perceived range is stronger, and even if the fish in the small blind decides to call your squeeze, you have position and a nice hand in a bloated pot, so it’s not the end of the world.

One final point about squeezing is to take note of stack sizes. Squeezing when there are short stacks willing to gamble is, again, suicide. Always take the time, no matter how many tables you are playing, to check the stack sizes of the players still to act before hitting the squeeze button.