Triple Barrel Poker
Once you have grown accustomed to the double barrel you will be one step closer to understanding and properly implementing the triple barrel poker. The triple barrel is simply an extension of the double barrel. It is your third and final post flop opportunity to take the pot away with nothing more than a bluff. The triple barrel is one of the harder skills to refine in all of poker. Triple barrels can end up being extremely costly. They require a near pristine read on your opponent and a willingness to put your money on the line when there is great uncertainty. Many players are simply too scared to make triple barrels, if you are nervous when attempting one it is probably best that you reconsider making one in the first place.
3 Barrel Poker Bluff
The 3 barrel poker bluff requires bold, aggressive action, but it also requires well thought out decisions. If you have gotten to the river after making a flop and turn bet with nothing, there is a good chance that your opponent will be calling your river bet too. This should be obvious but is often times disregarded. The fact that they called two prior streets also means that there is an increasing chance that your opponent simply hates folding. NEVER BLUFF A CALLING STATION. It may be very frustrating that these players never seem to fold, but it will be even more frustrating when you waste your money by bluffing a calling station. Not only should you not bluff a calling station, but you should not bluff someone who is not capable of making a solid fold either. There are plenty of solid players who would not be classified as calling stations but would still call far too frequently for triple barrels to be effective. As odd as it may sound, this is one of the few times where it plays to your advantage to be up against a solid player.
Triple Barreling – When to Triple Barrel
Triple barreling requires an extremely narrow hand range to be defined. So how do you know when to triple barrel? When whatever range you assigned to a player pre flop has undoubtedly been narrowed down by the river. You should feel very confident in your reads before attempting a triple barrel. One good spot to fire the third bullet would be when a draw heavy flop misses on both the turn and the river. There is a good chance that the other player could have been on a draw, but in addition to this is the opportunity for a cost effective triple barrel. If you are pushing missed draws off of their hand you will be able to make smaller river bets and get folds. Another good time to triple barrel would be when a board gets progressively scarier as the hand goes on. If the flop was J 9 7, the turn is a K, and the river is an ace it would be quite possible to get a fold from hands like JQ and JT. If the turn and river made straights or flushes possible it would present another good opportunity for a triple barrel. The best times to triple barrel are when your opponent’s hands are prone to being overtaken. The board should be your first consideration and how your opponent’s range connects to it should be your second consideration.