The Double Barrel

What is a double barrel bluff?

The concept of a double barrel bluff is relatively simple, but using it correctly is much more complex and as such, it is very frequently misused by players who don't completely understand the concept. Simply put, a double barrel bluff is a continuation bluff made on the turn after raising pre-flop and making a continuation bet on the flop, getting called by at least one player on both bets. Using a double barrel bluff successfully is much more complex however. You need to have a flop and turn that cooperate with you and you have to consider your opponents range, which are the cards he may be playing that he would call with pre-flop and on the flop. You need a turn card that you can represent that would improve your hand over his and force him to fold. Which brings us to our next question. When should you use a double barrel bluff.

When should you use a double barrel bluff?

A double barrel bluff is something that you should not use too often for a couple of reasons. First of all, if you do it too frequently, other players are going to catch on and start calling you on it. Secondly, and more importantly, there are only specific circumstances in which you can use a double barrel bluff successfully, and you won't be seeing that many good opportunities to fire a second barrel into the pot. I think the easiest way to explain this is to present a scenario. Lets look at a hand I played before and analyze why it was a good spot to fire a second barrel into the pot. I was seated on the button and was dealt Qs,6c. It was folded all the way around to me and I made a raise of 3 times the big blind. The small blind folded and the big blind called me. The flop came Ks,7s,10c. My opponent checked to me and I bet half the pot which he smooth called. Considering his possible range for calling my raise pre-flop and only calling my bet on the flop I have to consider what cards he's holding. At best K,10 along with a range of other hands. The turn came up Ad. My opponent checked again, I fired a second barrel into the pot and he folded. The ace was the perfect card for me to make that bet. My opponent was a good player and certainly considered the chance that I was bluffing, but also had to respect the better chance that I raised pre-flop with an ace and probably connected with something on the flop. With the ace coming on the turn, and my continuation bet, he knew that AK, A10, and A7 were all well within my range to raise pre-flop from the button and fire a continuation bet on the flop, so he had to fold.

When should you not use a double barrel bluff?

Just as the situation above turned out to be a great opportunity to use a double barrel bluff against my opponent, the situation could have easily gone the other way with a different turn card. In that case, the Ace on the turn improved my range for betting pre-flop and on the flop and weakened my opponents range since his calling range on the flop included top pair, which became second pair with the ace on the turn. Just as an over card on the turn is the best card you can get to make a double barrel bluff, a card that pairs the board on the turn is the worst. This is because it essentially changes nothing and the opponent will most likely call. Lets look at the same scenario above with a different turn card and see how it should play out. You're dealt Qs,6c, you raise pre-flop from the button and only the big blind calls. The flop comes out the same, Ks,7s,10c. Your opponent checks and bet half the pot. You're opponent smooth calls, but this time the turn comes out 7d and pairs the 7s on the board. Your opponent checks to you. In this case, the 7 on the turn doesn't do anything to improve your range so it's simply time for damage control. Check it back, fold to a bet on the river and remember that sometimes the skill is in losing the least amount of your chips.

Also: Never try to use a double barrel bluff against a donkey. They're not gonna give you credit for having the over card. They're not even gonna think about what you might have. It doesn't matter what they have, be it bottom pair or ace high, they're never gonna let that go, so you're just going to be throwing your money away.