Whenever you're double-barreling and get called on the turn, when is it correct to fire that 3rd barrel?

I would imagine it is rarely correct to do so, since most amateur players who call the turn will call the river; and most thinking have a plan like 'If I call this turn bet, I am committed to calling any river bet'

A classic example is if you raise, with AQ and get called. The flop is all low cards, and you c-bet and get called. The turn is a K and you decide this is a perfect card to represent so you bet again on the turn, and get called. Do you continue to make a All-In bet on the river or do you just give up?

When is it correct to bet the river and when should we just be giving up? I would like to have a nice long conversation and expand on this topic.

1. develop ranges
2. do the math
3. win money

I recently had a hand similar to this and brought out a 3barrel, which after doing so, I realize I hardly ever (I mean, EVER) do. Limpy limps, I raise AKo, HU to the flop in position. 942r flop, he checks, I bet, he calls. Qr turn. He checks, I bet, he tank/calls. 5r, which only completes gutshots. He checks, I make a 1/2 PSB+ large bet. He tank/folds. I figured it was correct because I had most of my criteria for the hand:

- I had been playing with the villain for a few hours and had a quiet, nitty image (always tabling decent hands at showdown)
- I had some hands where I had raised the flop and cbet but then shutdown on the turn
- the turn card was a scary card that could have easily hit my AQ/KQ/etc.; I didn't believe he was floating the flops with these types of hands himself
- the board was drawless; if it had any draw, I would have checked behind and hoped my A high was good against a draw; so he wasn't on a draw and therefore I figured him for 9x or a slightly smaller underpair
- he looked like he was aware of table dynamics and who to call loosely and who to fold to

The one thing I didn't have going for me is that he did like to call loosely on the river, but he usually seemed to reserve that to the very bluffy players. That was the one thing that kinda maybe shoulda tilted me to giving up. But he folded, so I guess I read his tendencies correctly.

To be honest, I can't remember the last time I had 3barreled. Not really a club that I have in my back.

Ggettingolder,I'mluckyifIcanonebarrel,andifI'mtwob arrellingIusuallyneedanapinbetweenG

The more I think about it, the more I think the answer is almost never. If I do choose to fire three barrels, It is almost always when I have almost no showdown value and when I suspect my opponent was drawing and has now missed. But this scenario is rare since I will rarely fire multiple barrels at a draw heavy board.

When I do fire three barrels in these spots, it is almost always an under-bluff, something like 1/4-1/3 of the pot. This bet needs to work such a small % of the time that is will often be a profitable one. This strategy also fits into my game very nicely because I am frequently seen making thin value bets OTR of similar sizing. The difference is whether I range my opponents more towards made hands versus draws.

I played a hand a few weeks ago that went something like this:

2 limpers, I raise IP with 109o (loose I know), two callers, I have position.

Flop comes Qh4h2d, they check, I bet 50%-60% pot, one caller.

I know that this player will peel the flop with any pair/draw but will often fold the turn unimproved.

Turn 7d

He checks again, I now think that I can get him to fold almost his entire range except for Qx and a heart draw (stronger hands are in his range, but not likely).

He checks, I bet 60% pot, he calls...

I'm not to happy at this point, and am really hoping that the river bricks so I can get him off of busted draws/non Qx pairs.

River Ac

He checks, I bet 25% of the pot and he folds. I show 109o and he proceeds to go on super monkey tilt. I would make this same bet for value with many different hands including QJ, QK, AQ, AA, KK, QQ, Axsh, Axsd. So it puts tremendous pressure on hands like non-set PP's below a Q.

I really don't make this type of play very often, but this is an example where it worked out. I will also add that I have played many hours with this player and have a pretty good read on him. I can't stress the importance of knowing who you are playing against enough. It is an extremely important factor when making plays like this.

I'm reaaaaaally not a fan of the huge river all-in to get your opponent to hero fold top pair. It just doesn't work enough to be profitable at these stakes and only really applies when you are againt a thinking player. And why are you trying to make plays against thinking players anyway when you can simply value bet the fish. A large part of my game is avoiding playing pots with good players and playing as many pots as I can (with reasonable hand strength, I still muck the 85o) with the fish.

When villain has a capped range and you're deep.

I remember this hand from a while ago:

Two limpers for $5, I raise 98s otb to $25. Blinds fold, limpers call.

Flop K-7-6r (pot $82)

Two checks, I bet $50. Both call.

Turn K-7-6-A, backdoor flush draw, not my suit (pot $232)

Two checks, I bet $150. First guy calls. Second guy tank-folds.

I figure this is a good card to barrell because the ace is a scary card that rarely improves their hand. AK would have raised preflop most likely, or raised flop. KQ/KJ might fold now, and finally I'm betting into 2 players. The first caller is trapped in the middle, and the second caller is never strong because of the flop overcall.

River K-7-6-A-A (pot $532). Remaining villain still has over $800, and I cover.

A very bad card for me, because two aces and one ace doen't really make a difference. If he was good on the turn he's good now (unless he got counterfeited with three pair, but he doesn't know I have 9-high). I consider just giving up, but it occurs to me that villain is never that strong here, unless he slowplayed 77/66 on two streets. I have a difficult time putting him on a hand but I know that all nutty hands are in my range (all full houses, including A7 and A6). I think a normal bet of $250-$350 is just going to get snap-called given the board run out, so I announced all-in, covering villain's stack. He tank-folded.

He claimed he folded 7x which turned a backdoor flush draw. He thought my all-in was suspicious but didn't pull the trigger.

the answer is, rarely. The only time you should triple barrell is when an incredibly scary card falls on the river that hits your perceived range or when you are under bluffing someone off of a pair you believe they ran into chasing a draw that you cannot beat if the hand goes to showdown.

I rarely ever triple barrel live as live is all about value betting and waiting for the fish to donk off their stacks to you

online I triple barrel on very dry boards where all the draws have missed

also only triple barrel heads up on the river, i guess barreling into 2 people looks stronger but try and do it heads up

Well, now that I'm here might as well post this hand that I played yesterday as an example of when not to triple barrel.

In this hand I have position on Villain and we are both ~$1000 effective. This is a 2/5 game.

Villain limps, I raise to $25 w/ AdJd, one of the blinds calls, Villain calls.

Flop (~$70): Ks4h2s
both players check, I bet $40, only villain calls.

Turn (~$150): 8c
Villain checks, I bet $90, Villain calls.

River (~$330): 5d
Villain checks, I check back.

Villain says "I missed" and I table my ace high which is good enough to scoop the pot.

The logic behind my flop and turn bets are the same as the previous example that I posted. The flop is a standard cbet to win the pot when everyone else has missed. The turn bet is designed to get hands like 33, 55-QQ, 4x, and 2x to fold (hands that I can't beat), while still getting called by flush draws (hands that I can beat/make fold OTR when the draw misses).

The difference Is the river. My opponent in this hand is far tighter than the one in the previous example. She would almost always fold 1 pair type hands smaller than a K to my turn bet. So when she calls OTT, I can narrow her range to Kx type hands and flush draws. Once the river bricks, she takes a few seconds and then checks. I can beat half of her range and I don't think I will have much success in getting her to fold the other half, so I simply check back and hope for the best.

Against a looser opponent this spot my be applicable for an under-bluff as in the previous example, since their range still may contain many 1 pair type hands than can't beat a king. It would be really hard for a hand like 77 to call a bet of $115 OTR.

Having a tight and winning image helps tremendously when attempting these types of plays.

Over the course of a 6-8 hour session I usually 3 barrel air 1-2 times. This depends on my image, villains image, stack sizes, board texture, etc

Here is a hand I played last night where i 3barreled air:

Forced straddle UTG for 6. I have a very TAG, snug image. Showing only winners and have 1200+ in front of me at 1/3.

I have the CO and raise to 18

All fold except villain in the straddle (400 effective) who thinks for a few seconds then calls. I immediately range him on weak Aces, 1 gap type hands, weak broadway suited hands like K8s, etc.

Flop AKJ r- This flop obviously hits my range hard and I cbet what was a pretty standard amount for me tonight. Villain is a thinking player capable of putting me on a range, but is a little weak overall. I overheard him using poker lingo away from the table when I went to grab a water earlier in the night.

Villain checks, I bet 22. Villain take 10 seconds then calls.

Turn 7 still rainbow-this card doesn't change anything as far as his hand value should go.

Villain checks, I bet 40. He tank calls again. Looks slightly more concerned that the previous street.

River- 3

Villain checks again. I know he is likely holding a 1 pair hand with a weak kicker. Most likely 2nd pair, but possibly a weak ace as he has shown up with a few tonight that were played weak (where he was the preflop raiser)

I bet 80 making it look like a easy value bet. I think villain is capable of knowing that my betsizing on every street screams VALUE. Villain tanks for close to 60 seconds then lets it go.

Why did I 3 barrel here?

The flop crushed my range.
He showed weakness on every street including preflop, which allowed me to range him to hands that made me think he could be moved off it
There were no draws other than gutshots out there so villain can only put me on a value hand or a stone cold bluff, which with my image was very unlikely. Even hands with a gut shot draw likely had an Ace to go with it.
I can tell a believable story from start to finish. I told the same story numerous times throughout the night including when I flopped the nuts earlier.

So that's my input on 3 barreling. I wouldn't do it for the sake of doing it. Everything should have a reason and reads to back it up. Keep in mind not only their image and range, but more importantly their image of you

Know your opponent's range, know that he will put you on something ahead of his range, and know that he's not going to get stubborn and call anyway. At LLSNL some opponents don't really adjust, the just look at the board and the size of the bet and if the two scare them enough they fold.

Incredibly villain dependent, but overcards to the board are always representable and barreling with showdown value is a waste

The textbook answer is going to be when your opponent has a draw that might have made a weak pair OTR. Or when your opponent is a nit who will not call off his stack without the nuts.

In real life, it's player dependent like so much of this game, but we all know loose passives infest this game at the lower limits, so default should be to not do this.