Sqeezing out a little more juice.
July 24th, 2024 Newsletter
Cold Deck Quote:
“In the long run there’s no luck in poker, but the short run is longer than most people think.” ~ Rick Bennet
The News......
Allegations at the WSOP:
Sadly, there are allegations swirling about this year's WSOP Main Event Champion using shady methods to gain an unfair edge. Well, I am here to tell you that while Mr. Tamayo seems to have been playing within the WSOP rules, he did, in fact, benefit from an unfair edge.
Before you jump to the conclusion that I am talking about him getting fed info through an earpiece or that his team was using GTO charts in an shady way, I assure you I am not. The edge he had, it turns out was much greater than we could have imagined. And we have the photographic evidence to prove it.......
That's right ladies and gentleman..... Our own Ryan Conner (JungleBoi84) somehow infiltrated Jonathan Tamayos rail. We can only assume that this braintrust got past WSOP checkpoints with an unassuming Joe Dirt shirt as his only disguise. It is apparent to us all that after he had the ear of Mr. Tamayo, that it was only a matter of time before the other coaches were simply ignored and victory was garnered.
In all seriousness, Ryan seemed to be in the background of Jonathan Tamayo at tournament defining times including when Tamayo folded QQ to an open raise. Whatever you did Ryan, great job!
What in the Word? ..... "Squeeze"
A squeeze, or squeezing is an intermediate level poker play that, involves 3 betting an open raise that has been cold called by at least one other player. Squeezes, by nature are done by late position players or the blinds.
As an example, lets say that the UTG +1 open raises to 2BB and the Low Jack (LJ) and the Hi Jack (HJ) just flat call. The Cutoff (CO) folds and the action is on the Button (BTN).
The BTN can actually reraise with a wider range than if the LJ and the HJ had folded. Why??? because by just flat calling, the LJ and HJ have capped their ranges. This means that these two players are unlikely to have the very premium hands. Otherwise, they probably would have reraised themselves!! Add to this that the pot is bloated by these cold callers makes the play ripe for trying.
If you have been able to follow the logic so far, stay with me because we are almost there. Once the BTN squeezes to, say 10BB, the UTG+1 player is likely the only player that has a hand that is worth continuing to this 3! raise.
So if the initial raiser is a looser player, the play is even stronger. Plus, if the squeeze is from in position, the squeezer will get to see the flop as the uncapped player from the best of positions no matter which players decided to call.
Lets give an example of how this may work in the real world. Lets say UTG +1 raises to 2BB with the KsTh (that's King of spades and Ten of hearts). The LJ calls (flats) with 4c4d and the HJ calls with Ad9c. The BTN, being a seasoned player seizes the initiative knowing that the UTG+1 player is on the looser side and 3 Bet (3!) squeezes to 10BB with the Ah3h.
Now if the UTG+1 player folds, the BTN knows that the other two are likely to fold. The beauty is, in this example at least, the two capped cold callers (the LJ and the HJ) have better equity in their holdings than the BTN squeezer. However, they can do nothing about it because calling the 3! is just putting good money after bad.
So a few things to learn here are:
- Don't do too much cold calling.
- Know your opponents and watch for those that open loose ranges.
- Be willing to 3! squeeze in these good situations if it doesn't threaten the healthiness of your chip stack.
On the flip side, keep in mind that this is an example of how it "should" go. In reality, some players just want to see a flop no matter what. If you have enough of these players at your table, 3 betting light will just get you more callers and even if you do have a range advantage, your variance will go through the roof. That said, if you watch me enough, you will see that the squeeze is one of my favorite plays as i employ it often. I think, however, I may click it too often. :)
This week's Tip of the Cap goes to.... All of us for breaking the player record of 25 by holding a tournament of 27 runners on July 16th. Great job. Can we get a 30 player tournament?
Zoom with Joe! Joe hosts a free zoom meetup during our Tuesday Freezeout games. Give it a try if that sounds like fun.
The ZOOM password is 432777
2025 Points Leaders
- Joe Schwenk 14
- Garrett Thurston 9
- Carlos Price 7
- Michael Culpepper 6
- Marty Kunz 6
- David Paukovitz 6
- Moody F. 6
- Michael Thurston 5
- Wrecks Bell 5
Recent Results
- June 16th, 2024
- 1st - Chris L
- 2nd - Stan
- 3rd - Joe
- 4th - Noel
- July, 23rd, 2024
- 1st - Joe S
- 2nd - Garrett T.
- 3rd - Rex B.
- 4th - Michael T.
Coach's Corner
Sqeeze play animated to understand the positions and how it is pulled off. The example shown is a 3! all in bluff squeeze which is slightly different than what I was getting at above but it is the same concept but while risking your tournament on the play.
This is an old video but does a decent enough job explaining in a short window.
Level: Intermediate
2025 Points Leaders
- Joe Schwenk 14
- Garrett Thurston 9
- Carlos Price 7
- Michael Culpepper 6
- Marty Kunz 6
- David Paukovitz 6
- Moody F. 6
- Michael Thurston 5
- Wrecks Bell 5
Recent Tuesday Freezeout Results
- June 16th, 2024
- 1st - Chris L
- 2nd - Stan
- 3rd - Joe
- 4th - Noel
- July, 23rd, 2024
- 1st - Joe S
- 2nd - Garrett T.
- 3rd - Rex B.
- 4th - Michael T.
Coach's Corner
Sqeeze play animated to understand the positions and how it is pulled off. The example shown is a 3! all in bluff squeeze which is slightly different than what I was getting at above but it is the same concept but while risking your tournament on the play.
This is an old video but does a decent enough job explaining in a short window.
Level: Intermediate
Venmo Addresses
Michael Culpepper - @Michael-Culpepper-14
Joe Schwenk - @Joseph-Schwenk
Jonathan Ayala - @Jonathan-Ayala-55
Have any questions or feedback for this newsletter? If so, please email me
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