What is a squeeze in poker?
A squeeze is a 3-bet made after one player has opened and another has called. Say the cutoff raises to 2.5 big blinds, the button calls and you re-raise from the big blind: that re-raise is a squeeze, sometimes called a squeeze play. The name comes from what it does to the caller, who now has to act after both you and the opener. Every squeeze is a 3-bet, but it plays differently, because it has to get through two players.
Why does a squeeze work?
There is more money to win and the caller is rarely strong. An open to 2.5 big blinds and a call put 6.5 big blinds in the pot once the blinds are posted, against 4 with no caller.
The caller’s hand is also limited. In PlusEV’s ranges, aces, kings and ace-king suited never flat an open from any seat, across all 10 opener and caller pairs behind the 20 squeeze spots. Aces, kings, queens and ace-king together make up at most 11.5% of a calling range, and none of it in seven of the ten pairs. The range is capped, but it is not empty: against an under-the-gun or hijack open, the button calls jacks and tens about half the time.
Is a squeeze wider than a normal 3-bet?
No. The dead money and the capped caller sound like reasons to raise wider, and our own charts said so until we measured it. Across PlusEV’s 20 squeeze spots in 6-max cash at 100 big blinds, the solver squeezes 7.6% of hands on average and 3-bets 7.8% against the same opener with no caller. The squeeze is the narrower of the two in 12 of the 20 spots.
| Seat | Spots | Squeeze | Average | Normal 3-bet, same openers | Call in the squeeze spot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cutoff | 1 | 6.8% | 6.8% | 7.4% | 0% |
| Button | 3 | 6.3% to 8.2% | 7.2% | 7.8% | 4.5% to 5.7% |
| Small blind | 6 | 5.3% to 9.1% | 7.0% | 7.5% | 5.6% to 11.4% |
| Big blind | 10 | 5.6% to 12.5% | 8.2% | 8.0% | 14.3% to 22.0% |
The widest squeeze is the big blind over a button open and a small-blind call, at 12.5% of hands, and the same seat 3-bets a lone button open with 14.4%. Our read of why the extra money does not widen the range: a second player can still have a hand, the raise has to be bigger, and the opener is still there to wake up behind the caller. Even in the widest spot, seven hands in eight do not raise.
| AA | AKs | AQs | AJs | ATs | A9s | A8s | A7s | A6s | A5s | A4s | A3s | A2s |
| AKo | KK | KQs | KJs | KTs | K9s | K8s | K7s | K6s | K5s | K4s | K3s | K2s |
| AQo | KQo | QJs | QTs | Q9s | Q8s | Q7s | Q6s | Q5s | Q4s | Q3s | Q2s | |
| AJo | KJo | QJo | JJ | JTs | J9s | J8s | J7s | J6s | J5s | J4s | J3s | J2s |
| ATo | KTo | QTo | JTo | TT | T9s | T8s | T7s | T6s | T5s | T4s | T3s | T2s |
| A9o | K9o | Q9o | J9o | T9o | 99 | 98s | 97s | 96s | 95s | 94s | 93s | 92s |
| A8o | K8o | Q8o | J8o | T8o | 98o | 88 | 87s | 86s | 85s | 84s | 83s | 82s |
| A7o | K7o | Q7o | J7o | T7o | 97o | 87o | 77 | 76s | 75s | 74s | 73s | 72s |
| A6o | K6o | Q6o | J6o | T6o | 96o | 86o | 76o | 66 | 65s | 64s | 63s | 62s |
| A5o | K5o | Q5o | J5o | T5o | 95o | 85o | 75o | 65o | 55 | 54s | 53s | 52s |
| A4o | K4o | Q4o | J4o | T4o | 94o | 84o | 74o | 64o | 54o | 44 | 43s | 42s |
| A3o | K3o | Q3o | J3o | T3o | 93o | 83o | 73o | 63o | 53o | 43o | 33 | 32s |
| A2o | K2o | Q2o | J2o | T2o | 92o | 82o | 72o | 62o | 52o | 42o | 32o | 22 |
Which hands should you squeeze?
Stronger ones than you would 3-bet. The size of the range holds, but its contents move from bluffs toward value. Averaged over the 20 spots, and counted against the normal 3-bet from the same seat against the same opener, these are PlusEV’s raising frequencies:
| Hands | Normal 3-bet | Squeeze |
|---|---|---|
| AA, KK, QQ, AK, KQs | 96% | 100% |
| JJ, TT | 58% | 68% |
| AQ, AJ | 36% | 60% |
| 99, 88, 77 | 23% | 14% |
| Suited connectors, T9s to 54s | 20% | 21% |
| A5s, A4s, A3s, A2s | 39% | 15% |
| 66 to 22 | 2% | 0.2% |
Aces, kings, queens, ace-king suited and king-queen suited squeeze in every one of the 20 spots, every time. Ace-king offsuit does so 99% of the time, ace-queen suited 94%, and ace-queen offsuit and jacks about 90%. Ace-queen offsuit raises 52% of the time against a lone open and 91% here; ace-jack suited goes from 27% to 76%. In all, 63% of the combos PlusEV’s ranges squeeze are tens or better, ace-king, ace-queen, ace-jack suited or king-queen suited.
The bluffs that survive are few: suited connectors are 5% of the squeezing combos and ace-five to ace-deuce suited 2%. Ace-five suited squeezes in all 20 spots, 42% of the time on average, while ace-four suited squeezes 10% and ace-three suited 2%. King-queen offsuit also raises in all 20, about a third of the time.
Which hands should call instead of squeezing?
Small pairs and speculative suited hands, and mostly from the big blind. Pocket deuces, threes, fours and fives continue in 18 of the 20 spots and never squeeze; pocket sixes squeeze less than 1% of the time. They want to see a cheap flop with two opponents who can pay them off, and a raise would fold out exactly the hands they beat.
The big blind is the seat that calls: 14.3% to 22.0% of hands, at least twice what it squeezes in nine of its ten spots. It has a big blind in already and closes the action. The cutoff never calls, because three players are still to act.
Which seat should you squeeze from?
The blinds, simply because that is where the chance comes up. In a simulation of 400,000 preflop rounds with PlusEV’s solver ranges, card removal included, the big blind made 52% of all squeezes and the small blind 38%, the button 8% and the cutoff 2%.
The caller’s seat matters too. In all six cases where the same seat squeezes over the same opener with different callers, the later the caller, the more it squeezes: the big blind over an under-the-gun open squeezes 5.6% when the hijack called, 6.2% for the cutoff, 6.9% for the button and 7.3% for the small blind. An early caller had more players behind and flats a stronger range, which fits Upswing’s rule that the wider the cold-calling range, the wider you can squeeze. Position counts as well: over a hijack open and a cutoff call, the button squeezes 8.2% and the blinds 6.8% and 7.1%.
A squeeze is also rarer than its reputation. A seat had the chance in 5.0% of those deals and someone took it in 0.64%, about once every 157 hands. These ranges rarely cold call an open, so a table with more callers offers the chance more often.
How big should a squeeze be?
Your normal 3-bet plus about one more open, because there is one more player to charge. In PlusEV’s 6-max ranges over a 2.5bb open:
| Seat | Normal 3-bet | Squeeze |
|---|---|---|
| Cutoff, button | 7.5bb | 10bb |
| Small blind | 11bb | 13.5bb |
| Big blind | 12.5bb | 14 to 14.5bb |
| Big blind over a button open | 14bb | 16bb |
The same size goes with every hand. More callers would mean a bigger raise, but our charts stop at one.
What if someone 4-bets your squeeze?
This part is standard theory rather than our data, because our charts stop at the squeeze; the 4-bet guide covers the same decision after a normal 3-bet. Fold most of your bluffs and continue with the strong hands that made up most of the raise. A 4-bet from a player facing a squeeze with another player still in usually means a premium hand.
If you are the one squeezed, the same logic runs the other way. As the opener you have already shown strength, so you can play on with the strongest part of your range. As the caller you usually fold, since you capped your hand by not 3-betting and the raise is priced to make you.
What are the most common mistakes when squeezing?
- Squeezing wider because of the dead money. The solver squeezes about the same number of hands as it 3-bets, 7.6% against 7.8%.
- Keeping small suited aces in. Ace-four to ace-deuce suited raise far less than in a normal 3-bet.
- Squeezing small pairs. Deuces to fives never do.
- Using your normal 3-bet size. Add 2 to 2.5 big blinds.
- Folding the big blind’s calling hands. It calls 14% to 22% of hands here, at the best price on the table.
A squeeze in poker is a 3-bet over an open and a call, and in PlusEV’s solver ranges it is stronger rather than wider: 7.6% of hands, with the bluffs swapped for ace-queen, ace-jack and jacks. The grids for every spot are on our squeezing charts, and the PlusEV preflop trainer drills them until you stop needing the chart.
Quick answers
What is a squeeze in poker?
A re-raise after one player has opened and at least one other has called. It is a 3-bet, but it has to get through two players, and there is more money in the pot to win.
What is the difference between a squeeze and a 3-bet?
A 3-bet is any re-raise of an open. A squeeze is the kind made after someone has called that open. In PlusEV's 6-max ranges it is about the same number of hands, but stronger ones, and 2 to 2.5 big blinds bigger.
How much should you squeeze?
In PlusEV's 6-max ranges over a 2.5bb open: 10 big blinds from the cutoff or button, 13.5 from the small blind, and 14 to 14.5 from the big blind. That is the normal 3-bet plus 2 to 2.5 big blinds.
What hands should you squeeze with?
Aces, kings, queens, ace-king and king-queen suited every time or close to it, then ace-queen and jacks about 90% of the time. In PlusEV's ranges, tens squeeze about half the time, and ace-five suited 42%.
Is a squeeze a bluff?
Mostly not. In PlusEV's ranges, 63% of squeezing combos are tens or better, ace-king, ace-queen, ace-jack suited or king-queen suited. Suited connectors are 5% and ace-five to ace-deuce suited 2%.
How often does a squeeze come up?
In a simulation of 400,000 preflop rounds with PlusEV's solver ranges, a seat had the chance to squeeze in 5.0% of deals and someone did in 0.64%, about once every 157 hands. Games with more callers offer it far more often.
What should you do if someone 4-bets your squeeze?
Mostly fold, and continue with the hands that were strong enough to squeeze for value. This is standard theory: a 4-bet after a squeeze usually means a premium hand. Our charts do not export this spot.