Double Barreling

If you are not familiar with the term double barreling (db for short) it refers to when you bet the turn card after the first continuation bet or “barrel” was called on the flop. This article will discuss the main considerations for double barreling in Texas Holdem. Most players don’t execute it correctly and spew a lot of chips. Inexperienced tend to cbet with a high frequency only to give up on the turn instead of double barrelling when they have nothing. It would be better to check/fold the flop if all you are going to do is cbet and give up, this is burning money, so its important to understand the concept of double barrelling and when to do it.

Double barrel bluffing can be tricky to execute successfully because your opponent has shown that they have some sort of hand by calling your flop bet. If you pick the wrong spots to be double barreling as a bluff, it can be a costly mistake, so it’s really important that you identify the right situations to try the double barreling play.

First of all, you want to setup the double barrel with a believable continuation bet. Good boards to continuation bet will be dry boards because its unlikely to have hit your opponents calling range. If your bet gets called when you have missed the flop. you now have an opportunity to double barrel. The main factors to consider when double barreling are board texture, your opponent’s playing styles, table image, and our perceived range.

Failing to consider your opponent tendencies can be a huge mistake when you are trying to double barrel bluff: There is no way you are going to pull off a double barrel bluff against a calling station who is calling you down with bottom/middle pair or is calling with bad odds to chase a draw. The opportunity shouldn’t even present itself when playing against stations because you shouldn’t cbet bluff them to begin with, just bet a wide value range.

Your double barrel bluffing works best against tight players who are playing a narrower range of hands. When these players are calling out of position, even though there will be some draws and slow played sets on the flop, the significant portion of their calling range is pocket pairs. Because you can put them on a pretty narrow range, its easier to know when to double barrel bluff. Just because they called on the flop doesn’t mean they like their hand enough to continue with it on the turn and later streets. A pair is not a big hand, especially when you consider the players you are targeting when double barreling is weak tight players!

So what are good double barrel cards? These are cards which villain expects to help your perceived range, which more often then not is over cards to the flop. The reason for this is that when your opponent calls your bet on the flop, they are likely doing it with a weak hand, at best they have top pair. If they have a strong hand they would raise with it. So when an over card comes on the turn like an A or K, it hits our raising range hard and its really difficult for them to call with a weaker hand when you know their range is pocket pairs for the most part.

A mistake inexperienced players tend to make is they won’t double barrel bluff enough. If you are cbetting with a high frequency and giving up on the turn a lot, this is a big leak in your game. It would be optimal to just check/fold the flop if you were doing this, however by reading this article you hopefully have a better understanding of when to be double barreling.

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