Firing the Third Barrel

When was the last time you three-barrel bluffed? Was it months ago? Years? Never? Let me back up a bit. A three-barrel bluff is when you make a bluff bet on all three of the post-flop streets. You bet the flop and get called. You bet the turn and get called. And then you make another bluff on the river.

Admittedly, if you fire three barrels every other hand, you'll be broke by lunchtime. But most players don't do it enough. Some never try it. They will give a bluff one shot, or maybe two if they feel frisky, but never follow up with the final barrel.

If you never three-barrel bluff, you've got a problem. Your play is too readable, and you're also missing some big and profitable bluffs.

I believe very strongly that if you want to improve your game, you have to force yourself out of your comfort zone. We all get into familiar patterns. We play these hands and fold those preflop. When we flop a pair, we bet here, check there, and hope to stay out of trouble. When you play every hand on autopilot, you aren't improving. And when you aren't playing creatively, you're letting your opponents off the hook.

Break it up. Try new moves. If you can't remember the last time you three-barrel bluffed, try it during your next session. Pick a hand with which you'd normally bluff once or twice, and just shove the third bet out there. It might work, and it might not, but either way, you'll be breaking new ground and improving your game.

If you don't have the courage to shove half of your stack in on a big river bluff, move down. Go play in a 2¢-4¢ game once a week and use that session to try your new moves. If you don't have the guts to try it in a normal game, do it there. Raise from under the gun with J-9 suited and see how it turns out. Give that loose-aggressive style you've always wondered about a try. Launch a big re-squeeze bluff. Get yourself into weird situations in which you normally wouldn't find yourself. Try firing three barrels once or twice and see how it turns out.

Here's an example of a hand in which it would be reasonable to bluff all three streets against some players:

You open for $7 from the button in a $1-$2 game with 10 7 and a $200 stack. The big blind calls.

The flop comes 9 8 4, giving you a straight draw. Your opponent checks, you bet $15, and he calls.

The turn is the Q. Your opponent checks, you bet $40, and he calls.

The river is the K. Your opponent checks. The pot is $125, and you have $138 left in your stack. You can bluff here against many players and expect to win often enough to profit. You might get away with a bet of $80 or $90, but I'd probably go ahead and just move all in.



Preflop, you have a relatively straightforward steal play from the button. Even if you don't win preflop, you'll be playing a decent hand with position.

On the flop, you have an open-end straight draw and, again, a fairly straightforward continuation-bet. After the flop call, your opponent could have a number of hands, from a flopped pair to a draw (straight or flush), two pair, or a set, or even an unimproved ace high or overcards.

The turn is an offsuit overcard, which is often a good type of card at which to fire a second barrel. Your opponent calls again. Depending on the player, this might narrow his range down to almost exactly one pair (assuming that your opponent would fold naked draws and check-raise with two pair or better). Or, against a loose player who likes to draw, the call could suggest a bit wider range that includes big and small flush draws.

On the river comes another offsuit overcard, which is sure to scare any one-pair hand that doesn't also include a king. If your opponent was on a flush draw, he missed. If he holds a hand like Q-J or Q-10, he won't like the river card one bit. Those holdings are very plausible, given the way your opponent has played thus far, and most players would lay them down to a big river bluff.

Overall, your opponent is significantly more likely than not to hold less than a pair of kings, so a big bluff will likely show a profit against all but the loosest callers.

A fair amount of feel goes into running big bluffs successfully. The best way to get that feel is to try and succeed, but also to try and fail. If it's too scary or too embarassing to try in your regular game, find a limit and a room where you can feel free to try whatever crazy play you desire. It'll make poker more fun for you, and you'll play better, too.

Ed is a featured coach at StoxPoker.com. Also check out his online poker advice column, NotedPokerAuthority.com. He has authored four books on poker, most recently Professional No-Limit Hold'em: Volume 1.