Double Barelling Turn Poker Strategy

Sometimes in No Limit Holdem you’re going to have to bluff on two consecutive streets to win the pot. An individual bluff just isn’t enough for most players. This is known as double barrelling. Unfortunately double barrelling the turn requires a much greater commitment of chips then simply c-betting the flop so it’s usually best to double barrel the flop with a semi-bluff or at least a couple of “outs” just in case you get caught. The upside to this however is that when you successfully bluff the turn, you’ll win a bigger pot, plus double barrels tend to have a higher success rate than c-bets because your average opponent is far less likely to call two raises in a row out of position.

As an example, a typical pot that you’ll win from a c-bet will be around 10 – 15BBs. When you take down the turn however, the pot will be juicier, probably around 20 – 30BBs. This is a much bigger pot and gives you some real incentive to barrelling the turn with marginal holdings especially against loose-aggressive post-flop players who are calling c-bets with air.

Reasons to Double Barrel the Turn

Online poker is becoming an increasingly aggressive and intellectual game, especially in the low-mid stakes games. The average player is playing more optimal overall and isn’t giving away pots as easily. The problem is that most opponents even at the micro-stakes tables are starting to adjust to c-bets and are calling them a lot more on the flop then they used to. Even with mediocre hands like Ax or JQ that they are hoping to improve. By double-barrelling the turn however you fold virtually all of these hands since they are not strong enough to call a 15BB size raise by the turn. A typical mid-pair hand which hits the flop suddenly becomes a little harder to play if it doesn’t improve by the turn, especially against an opponent who has shown superior strength in two or more consecutive streets. Bluffing the turn will fold a lot of speculative hands too as well as looser players who were floating your c-bet.

Overall, double-barrelling the turn is the consequence of a higher propensity of aggression in cash games and the need to adjust to players calling individual bluffs lighter.

What Boards to Double Barrel?

By far the best card to double barrel is an overcard to the board e.g. Q to a J-8-4 or A to K-10-4. Overcards are the best cards to double-barrel because they increase increase your perceived hand strength and greatly reduce the equity of likely hands that your opponents are calling the flop with. Hands like Kx or top-pair are suddenly demoted to 2nd pair. This makes it much harder for your opponents to call the turn with and their reduced equity in the hand can make it –EV.

Probably the worst types of cards to double barrel are those that pair to the board like a 10 to a 10-J-5. This would be a really bad situation to double barrel because it will much more likely improve your opponent’s relative holdings. You’d also be more inclined to slow-play a monster hand like this so bluffing it is a bit less practical for you.

Finally, there will be a few occasions when you know your opponent will have picked up a little more equity on the turn and will call a 2nd barrel but not a 3rd. An opponent with JJ who calls the flop Q-9-3 could improve his equity in the hand with a 10 giving him an outside-straight draw. But he is still not going to call a triple barrel if he missed the river. Against these type of opponents or in spots where you can sense that your opponent picked up some extra equity you can wait for him to miss his draw and the bluff him a 3rd street.

Double Barrelling at Mid-Stakes

As you start playing $2/$4 mid-stakes games the regulars will be floating your double barrels and calling you off lighter. This makes triple-barrelling a more necessary art to perfect. You might also want to use advance multi-level thinking to begin bluffing cards that were bad at low stakes games since this makes your hand look more creditable.

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