I feel like this is one of the biggest leaks in my game right now that I need to fix. Too often one of three things is happening:

1.) I c-bet, get called, turn and river go check-check and something like ace high or bottom pair beats me.

2.) I c-bet, get called, bet the turn, get called, check the river and then get bet into

3.) I c-bet, get called, bet the turn, get called, bet the river and get called/get raised


I feel like I would make a lot more and would have less losing sessions if I mastered this concept. This leak has been very apparent to me for a couple of weeks now, and feel like it has caused me to c-bet much less often and as a result is causing a domino effect. I appreciate the responses in advance.

Like many players, its not the second barrel that's the problem

You should plan your hands out more. Do some off table work to decide what sorts of holdings you're going to c-bet in the first place. C-betting just because makes little sense unless you're playing total tightwads who ALWAYS fold weak holdings even when they know you're bluffing.

C-betting flop: Think about how many people are in the hand. The less people, the more bluffs you can have.

How much equity do you have? Do you have over cards & backdoor potential, or only two outs to help your 3rd pair?

How deep are you? The more shallow the stacks, the less fold equity you have, and less room for double and triple barrels.

How light does your opponent(s) piece off over multiple streets?

What's your position and that of your villains? If you're up front, your range is more condensed. You should have more value. Did you open BTN and had the blinds call you? You're at your widest and will wiff a lot of flops. C-betting heavy here isn't advised vs observant players.

What turn cards are good for you, what cards are bad?

That last one is the most important for the rest of your plan. You should have an idea of what you'll do given certain cards on the next street(s) before you bet flop.

Anyways, there's a ton of info on this in the stickies up top as well some COTW in the micro-full ring forum. It'd be easier to help if you put a specific hand up that highlights this dilemma.

In general at low stakes I think you should rarely if ever be triple barreling.

More info. Can you give us some examples of flop textures you are taking these actions on?

I think flop texture and having a consistent story are important and also the villain types you are facing. Some villains just love to call down with weak hands so with them I just force myself to show them a hand and give up if I miss.

Double barreling for me works at times, but again board texture and observation is key. I watch for the players who seem to call a small bet on the flop and fold to a bigger one on the turn, I see lots of these players.

I can't believe I didn't specify that I meant heads up. Whoops. I'm usually never c-betting 3+ ways post flop unless I hit/have a hand.

What you said about how deep you are is very relevant makes a lot of sense.

I guess the main time this bites me in the ass is with AK. Like what do you do post flop when the board comes Q72r or 953r? Or when I have 88 and the flop comes A92r?

I should definitely be thinking more about what turn cards can help me. Should I just usually check if I have AK OOP and miss the flop, then turn my hand into a bluff catcher?

So fire the second barrel if it's wet and the draw doesn't complete on the turn?

HU against decent players: on boards that didn't help their range very much (uncoordinated boards light on card ranks J-7) or ones that help ours a lot (multiple broadways OTF, overcard turns, etc).

HU against weaktight players: on turn/rivers that are spooky for their range.

HU against loose/bad players: when large portions of their range blank out (especially applicable to stabbing at rivers).

When incorporating a lot of barreling in your game, remember to properly polarize your flop betting ranges. So many people don't realize their barreling game is **** because the range they're showing up to the turn with are **** to begin with. Hard to continue at a high frequency when you're turning marginal showdown hands into bluffs right off the bat. Against aggressive players (regardless of whether or not they're good), checking with vulnerable showdown hands means you need to mix in checks with strong made hands and hands that improve on a lot of turns, which opens up your game to more delayed bet-and-barrel plays (this last part is only applicable to decent players, though).

Hard to generalize anything about multiway pots except to say you should do it a whole helluva lot less. It usually requires some equity or facing a player who has a very strong understanding of relative hand strength...like stronger than most 5/T pros have lol.

That's probably a decent start.

Another thing to consider is your c-bet sizing. You may be able to adjust that downward and allow yourself psychologically to give up on pots when it's appropriate. If your first barrel is too large, you might be chasing bad money with good on the second one. I find that against many types of live SSNL players, there's little difference between a 30% and 60% c-bet. Anyone agree/disagree?

Some good posts above.

I want to add, make sure that your bet timing and actions are always the same as well. Try to make sure your not giving away any tells. But, your C-Bet frequency may be too high. Make sure your balancing your turn checks with strong hands as well. Also, before deciding on certain lines, decide if that’s the best way to play that opponent. If he’s a calling station, don’t c-bet without a hand, etc.

Some people use the term "cbet" for only when they are bluffing. Strictly, that isn't correct. You can cbet when you do have a hand (and you should). Harrington didn't talk about balance in HOC, but the concept is there when he wrote that if you're cbetting less than 50% of the time, you're doing it too little. If you're cbetting over 90% of the time, you're doing too much.

At the same time, you don't want to just chase a specific number. Read some of the mentioned threads to see when is a good time to cbet with your air and when it isn't. It is mostly about board texture and the villain's range.

This is true and especially true multiway. You can sometimes get away with stuff like betting the same amount as your pfr or a dolllar or 2 more into a 4 way pot.

This is best on flops where everyone kind of either has it or they don't. Like dry, ace high.

This was helpful. Thank you for the insight.

I use the rule of thumb that I got from Jonathan Little. On dry flops, I bet 1/2 pot and on coordinated flops, I bet 2/3 pot. I do this regardless of whether I have a hand or not, purely on the board's texture and am very consistent.

Is this good/bad?

When should we fire a second barrel OOP with air?
What is the meaning of life?
Which came first the chicken or the egg?

Nobody can answer any of these with any certainty.

It doesn't make much sense to me. Is this only when you are bluffing?

In general, i bet more when i have it and less when i don't.

If i have 99 and the flop is a94r i am betting big. If they have an ace they are very rarely folding the flop. Build now, milk later. What would be accomplished by betting half?

Don't say balance blahblah exploitable blahblah.