Fish and Chip Sandwich - the Squeeze Play

Phil Gordon calls it the Fish and Chip Sandwich, while other poker pros call it either simply a sandwich or a squeeze play. Whatever name you know it by, the art of raising after another player to put pressure on yet a third player is a useful weapon to keep in your arsenal of poker tactics. By careful use of the squeeze play, you can take more control of the table during a particular hand, using your perfectly timed raise to elicit information, force players to make decisions, and encourage mistakes while potentially taking down a pot with one action.

Here is how the squeeze play works: Player A opens the pot with a raise, and Player B calls. You are Player C, and you now re-raise the pot. This puts pressure on both Player A and Player B, depending on how you view the strategy. Player A was the raiser, and Player B called, which has to worry the first player, as you need a stronger hand to call a raise than to make one. Now yet another player (you) have re-raised, meaning Player A is now facing two strong hands, and is caught between them. Should Player A call or raise again, you know he must have a monster hand.

In the Fish and Chip version of this tactic, Player A is the caller and Player B is the raiser pre flop. Player A is saying he has a weak hand, because he limped in, and can't like the fact that Player B raised behind him. With a re-raise coming from a third player, (you again), he will have to fold unless he was slow playing. If he calls - watch out.

In either application, both players may fold the hand, winning you the pot; should either player stick around, they are telling you they have the best hand in their opinion - you should listen to them, and only stick around yourself if you are sitting on the nuts.