New York Back Raise: Everything You Need to Know

The New York Back Raise is an advanced poker move aimed at maximizing the pot with a very strong starting hand. What exactly is the New York Back Raise? What are the prerequisites for attempting this maneuver? What are the mistakes to avoid? What are the advantages of the New York Back Raise? Its disadvantages? We tell you everything!

What is the New York Back Raise?

The New York Back Raise, also known as NYBR, is an advanced poker strategy designed to counter the squeeze play. As a reminder, the squeeze is a large raise made to win a big pot pre-flop. Thus, the New York Back Raise involves calling an open raiser (an initial raiser) with a very strong hand, hoping that another player who acts after you attempts a squeeze play. You can then re-raise that player and either just call to create a large pot with a strong hand, or raise immediately to win the pot outright. In short, it’s a follow-up bet with the aim of being re-raised by an opponent, to then re-raise in turn when you hold a very good starting hand.

How to Execute a New York Back Raise?

Prerequisites for Attempting a New York Back Raise

The ideal situation for attempting a NYBR is when the initial raiser is a Loose player, meaning a wide aggressive type. Indeed, if you’ve only called their bet, most good players will squeeze in such a situation, because they suspect that the player who open-raised (raised initially) probably doesn't have a strong hand, and since you’ve called this weak raise, they think you don’t have strong cards either.

It is preferable that the players to act after you are also aggressive. Indeed, the New York Back Raise is particularly effective with such players, who are more likely to attempt squeeze plays regularly. Additionally, if many opponents act after you, you will have a higher chance of being re-raised.

To attempt a NYBR, it is strongly recommended to have a very strong starting hand, such as a pair of aces or kings, for example.

The Steps of a New York Back Raise

The main goal of the NYBR is to create the largest pot possible and win it with a strong hand. To achieve this, the best approach is to proceed step by step:

Define the type of initial raiser: is it a tight player or an aggressive player?
Next, determine the type of players who act after you: are they aggressive? Are there many of them?
If the conditions are right, as mentioned earlier, you can call the initial raiser.
If a player after you attempts a squeeze, it’s time to re-raise to create a big pot.

Mistakes to Avoid When Attempting a NYBR

Before attempting a New York Back Raise, it is strongly advised to analyze the situation, taking several factors into account:

Analyze the risks, the main ones being that other players don’t attempt a squeeze or just call, which would prevent the pot from growing as you intended, or worse, you might end up playing the hand with many other players, which would reduce your chances of winning the hand.
Define what type of player is at the table, and avoid attempting a New York Back Raise after a tight open raiser, meaning an initial raiser who usually plays tightly, because if this type of player open raises, they usually have a strong hand. This scenario tends to discourage squeezes, as the risks of facing a 4-bet are relatively high. In this situation, if you attempt a New York Back Raise, the likely result is just a re-raised pot. Additionally, even if the tight player doesn’t have a strong hand, this is not the right player profile with whom to attempt this strategy.

Advanced Strategies Related to the New York Back Raise

When to Use a NYBR?

The ideal situation for attempting a New York Back Raise is to call a Loose open raiser with a very strong starting hand when several of the other players who act after you are also aggressive, and there are still many players in the game after you, thus provoking a squeeze from one of the players who act after you.

Counter-strategy to Counter a New York Back Raise

In poker, to counter a New York Back Raise, it is important to observe your opponents carefully to understand their type of play. It is also advised to watch their betting patterns closely. Indeed, if a player frequently calls an initial raise with a strong hand, it’s best to be cautious and adjust your bets accordingly, calling without raising unless you have an extremely strong hand.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the New York Back Raise

Advantages

The New York Back Raise strategy offers several notable advantages:

Significantly increasing the pot with a strong hand.
"Punishing" hyper-aggressive players.
Varying your play style, making it harder for other players to read your game.

Disadvantages

The New York Back Raise is, however, a risky poker move:

If no one attempts a squeeze behind you, you lose the opportunity to significantly grow the pot pre-flop.
If several players after you simply call, the game becomes a multiway pot, with a bad position and the risk that your hand may become problematic on the flop.

Comparison with Other Raising Strategies

In poker, there are several raising strategies, with different goals and outcomes, to adapt based on the situation and to vary your play style, making it unpredictable:

Bluff: raise to make other players believe you have a very strong hand, even though you don’t, to make them doubt and fold, thus winning the pot.
Semi-bluff: raise with a strong starting hand that must be improved later, hoping to win the pot immediately but still having a chance to improve if another player calls the raise.
Check-raise: check first, then call the bets of other players to make them think you have a weak hand, before raising.
Squeeze play: re-raise pre-flop to counter your opponents’ aggression, without having a very strong hand.
Value bet: bet with a very strong hand to get calls and maximize the pot value.
3-bet or standard raise: re-raise on the first raise to make opponents fold.
Light 3-bet: re-raise an opponent’s pre-flop raise with a strong hand to make your play more unpredictable.
4-bet: re-raise after a 3-bet, often to make opponents fold and win the pot immediately.
All-in: bet all your chips, either as a bluff or semi-bluff, to make your opponents fold.