Hero on btn, $300 effective stacks $1/$2

MP is solid tighter player, likes to limp but plays solid postflop.

UTG limps, MP limps, Hero limps with 65ss, SB calls, BB checks.

Flop ($8): 8c7s2h
Checks to MP who bets $6
Hero raises to $16
Folds to MP, calls.

Turn ($38): Tc
Checks, Hero bets $25, MP calls.

River ($88): Qh
Checks, Hero bets $50, MP calls.

This is one of the rare 3 barrel bluffs I’ve made.

Firstly, thoughts on the hand?

Secondly, thoughts on never 3barrel bluffing in a passive $1/$2 game? I feel like the correct strategy might be to just never bluff since the opponents are call happy and incapable of adjusting. Hard to say for sure.

Thanks in advance.

What are you representing when you raise OTF ? All 87 (9 combos), 88 (3 combos), 77 (3 combos), 22 (3 combos), T9 (16 combos), and 65s (4 combos) ? Those are 18 value combos and 20 bluff combos. Would you play J9 combos this way ? Because it is the only hand you can have on the flop that is really helped by the turn and river cards. Taking this line with TT/QQ would be really weird on the button. OTR, if I were facing you, I would put you on all sets + 87.

Could this villain limp pre and then bet/call flop with small overpairs (99-JJ if he's really passive pre) ? He could ofc have some weak draws, but I think he folds them OTT when you bet this amount. I think his range consist in various hands containing an 8 (so he will not have many flush draws OTT) + all the value hands u could have OTF. But when he calls, what is he holding OTR ? J9, T9, maybe TT, + all your flop value hands + a lucky T8 + a very lucky Q8.

Readless, I check back the river. Only betting if I have a solid read that he x/r the flop value hands OTT.

In general, I have seen some great LLSNL players 3barrel bluffing (and showing) but the spots are very specific.

In this hand I think you should have simply called the flop and gone from there. You have the low end of the straight draw and I think it is better to realize your equity than to start making plays at the pot before your draw comes in. I also find that in 1/2 you get a lot of info about an opponent's hand just through their turn action/bet sizing.

Continuing what I was saying about opponent turn action/sizing, I think that triple barrel bluffs are usually wrong, however a raise on the turn followed by a large river bet if you miss is a very successful strategy. Very often you'll see stuff like an opponent cbet flop, but then bet 15 into 75 on the turn. These spots are a very reliable place to put in a raise with the intention of stealing it with a sizable river bet if you miss.

This route keeps the pot more manageable while you are drawing, still allows you to get value when you hit, and also gives you the option to check back on a river at a discounted rate compared to a full triple barrel.

Neve,,,,,,

I'd like this more if you'd raised to $12 over the limpers. You're on the button with a suited connector, raise it up and you'll either pick up dead money or play a bigger pot with initiative and a robust hand.

I don't mind this triple barrel and like the sizing. 1/2 villains often play at a basic level (what do I have?) and if V called you with one pair on the flop, it is likely he still has just one pair and probably 3rd or 4th pair at that.

The best flops to barrel on are usually dynamic flops like this with low cards, especially when higher cards come on the flop and turn.

Yes, I believe you should triple barrel at 1/2 occasionally and selectively.

I think this was a good spot to pick. Well done! Joey made a good point about barreling low flops like this when overcards come. Villian should have a lot of 8X when he bet/calls the flop. Hands like A8, 98(picked up OESD OTT), or J8(picked up gutter OTT) almost certainly call flop and turn but will be hating life with just 3rd pair when you continue to bet on the river.

As far the flop play, I like the idea of calling with draws like 9T that make the nutz on both sides and can also sometimes win at SD by just hiting and overcard and semibluff raising our 65s. This will help balance our range so we don't get too bluff heavy.

I think I might raise a little bigger OTF. At 1/2 you will get a lot of loose calls OTF in limp pots because people are looking more at the absolute bet size than the bet size in relation to the pot and will think "its just 10 bucks." Another benefit to raising bigger is being confident that you've folded out all his JT gutter combos, meaning that none of your outs can be dirty.

I like it better here if he doesnt bet the flop, but his flop bet potentially takes a lot of draws and 1 pair hands out of his range. Triple barrelling is fine, but he is playing this more like a middling made hand like 78 or A8. When he gets a good runout for those hands he calls down. Im not saying there arent other weak hands like draws and weaker pairs that bet/call the flop that he can be tripled off of, but Im not psyched about barrelling off with that runout. Im only betting river scarecards like flush and straight completers.

I wouldn't say never, but I'm not sure if this is the right spot for it. The Q river is basically a nothing card.

The other thing working against you is you are facing a tight player who bet out on the flop. So they either have something like top pair+ or a straight draw. By the time we get to the river, the only hand we could be reasonably sure they'll fold is the same one you have. Perhaps if you bet more, you could get folds from A8, 98s, 99, but as priced, I wouldn't expect villain to fold those much.

To answer your thread title, yes, we should triple barrel bluff at 1/2

The whole hand is pretty spewy. Raising OTF makes little sense with your hand. Only a 5 is a definitive clean out.

AP OTT: id go bigger because now where in real ****ty shape but the T is an overcard and that might scare V

AP OTR: [preface: before ever trying this, I would know if V has a fold button or if he's a station] either have to give up or go for it. Going for it needs to be bigger. You need V to have to make a legitimate decision, $50, even at 1/2, isn't much in terms of real $$. I would never end up OTR with this hand, but if I had to make a decision, I'd overbet. Say we bet 40 ott, pot is 120 OTR, I would probably go 175-200. If we're raising 65 OTF, we should also have 96 and J9 in there (among other things)

I prefer a raise pre

I don't generally try to bluff a tight player who called a raise otf. If you do wanna continue otr, 50 into 88 is much too small. Bet would have to be at least 125, and I don't try to bluff tight players to begin with who have already shown they have a strong hand.

There are spots to 3 barrel bluff in this game for sure, but a limped multiway pot ain't one of them.

I don't like the bluff for reasons already given. The hand doesn't make sense but sometimes it doesn't even matter if you bomb turn and river. You want him to fold and people don't fold to teeny bets.

Preflop: I definitely prefer to limp along rather than raise these spots. I noticed a few players suggest isolating, but there were two reasons I didn’t make this move. 1: I prefer to play suited connectors with as many players in the pot as possible, giving them the chance to hit two pairs/sets when I hit straights and flushes. 2: they had an aces cracked promotion going on which made it slightly more likely that the players behind were holding AA.

Flop: it was a tough choice for me between raising and calling. I think I prefer to raise this and call with a hand such as J9s. This is because of the fact that when we call we’re inviting many of the players behind us to call as well. This can get tricky on a lot of run outs if those players are calling with hands such as JT or overcard spade hands. On the flop I can easily represent 87s, 88, 77, and 22.

Turn: here is actually where I believe I made a mistake. I see you all are suggesting to overbet the river but I believe the correct thing to do is actually bet much bigger on the turn. I’m thinking that if we bet $40-$50 on the turn we will get way more folds from 8x and any drawing hands. Any thoughts on this?

River: after slightly overbetting the turn we’re leaving our opponent with a nutted range of 2p+ and MAYBE some stubborn flush draws. I think we can exploitatively check back considering our opponent will not have enough folds left in his range.

These are my thoughts after considering the hand some more. Let me know if you all have any more suggestions on different lines/bet sizes/etc.

Thanks again.

Raise flop much bigger.

Turn is a decent check back or bet big. Don't like normal sizing.

River is whatever. Betting big/jamming is fine, don't like normal sizing once again.

I think you could take it down if a Jack or club hit the river instead of a Queen. If a 4 hit, you would get paid. Also, your bluff doesn't carry much weight because you limped pre-flop. I think you can triple barrel bluff in $1/$2, but you have to do it with the help of scare cards, which is tough because those cards can also scare you.

I love isolating pre against limpers, but I definitely think limping behind is better in this spot.

Reason being the first limper is UTG and UTG limpers almost always call any reasonable PF Raise, this will of course make MP feel obligated to call behind. So you are almost always going at least 3 ways to the flop with the worst hand.

If it was just the tight MP guy, then yes, of course, by all means raise it up pre and take it down on most flops with your C bet