Triple Barreling, An
Advanced Tutorial
Once you are able to master the art of the
double barrel you will be one step closer to the
triple barrel. While it was extremely important
to put your opponent on a tight range of hands
when double barreling, it is even more important
when attempting a triple barrel. There is more
money at stake and there are fewer hands that
you will be able to force out. Triple barreling
should not be a regular weapon in your arsenal
and should only be used under certain
circumstances.
Your opponents are extremely important
If the other player did not fold to your
double barrel you need to first decide whether
he is capable of folding to your triple barrel.
A call on the turn is often indicative of pretty
good hand strength, and this should be taken
into account when deciding whether to triple
barrel. You can eliminate hands from your
opponent’s range that he might have floated
with. Weaker hands like this usually give up
when you fire again on the turn, so if he is
still with you on the river it is much more
likely that he actually has a made hand, or at
least a strong draw.
An example of a good spot to triple barrel
You are dealt Kc 10c in middle position and
raise to $4 at .50/1.
The button calls your raise and the pot is
now $9.50.
The flop comes Qs 8s 7c.
You bet $7 on the flop and are called.
The pot is now $16.50 and the turn is a
harmless 4d.
You bet $13 and he again calls, the pot is
now $42.50.
The river brings second 4, the 4h.
This is a great spot to fire a third barrel.
This is a spot where you can make a very cost
effective third barrel. So why is this a good
spot and what will allow you to make the triple
barrel cost effective? As mentioned earlier we
need to put the player on a tight range of hands
in order to fire a triple barrel. The board was
very draw heavy, so we can put him on one of
many drawing hands, such as 9T, As Ts, or any
other combination of two spades. Since we are
aiming to push out draws that missed we can make
a moderately sized bet. The bet should look like
it is for value, but be big enough that he won’t
come over the top. Since the pot is $42.50, a
bet of $26 will be sufficient. He will fold all
of his draws that missed and might even fold
jacks or a weak queen. If he happened to have a
strong hand, making a bet of $26 instead of $40
will save you money when he shoves his remaining
stack or calls you.
An example of a bad spot to triple barrel
If the river was a spade, six, or jack I
would not triple barrel. All of the draws hit in
addition to a possible two pair combination, JQ.
This is a time where you are better off giving
up on the pot and moving on to the next one. If
you did try to triple barrel when a spade, six
or jack came you would also have to make the bet
closer to $38 to force out hands like AQ.
Summary of triple barreling
The main things to consider when triple
barreling are exactly what hands you are trying
to get a fold out of and the likelihood that
they will make the fold. If you are good at hand
reading and can properly analyze the action in a
hand in relation to the board you will be able
to successfully execute triple barrels.
