When you apply for 1:1 coaching I ask you what, in your opinion, are the top 3 problems that are holding you back from achieving your poker goals.
The answers vary from overcalling rivers too much in low stakes MTTs and poor bankroll management to developing a better system for study and not having a clear structure.
In December I started working with RT who wanted to work on these 3 things:
Triple barrel bluffs
Navigating the post late reg period
Turn and river strategy after check raising the flop
His goal?
A break-even red line.
He wanted to be super tough to play against and make more chips without showdown.
When a student comes with a clear goal like this and some great ideas on how they want to get there, it's a dream for me. I can then make sure I agree with the plan, and then program the training around those areas.
A lot of my coaching centres around frameworks that take a somewhat complex topic and break it down to make it easier to study and then ultimately apply in game.
Today I want to share one of those frameworks with you.
So if you've ever wondered how to approach and study triple barrel river decisions, I'm going to show you my 3-step framework for pulling the trigger.
Let's dive in...
Introducing: Triple Barrel Carol
Triple Barrel Carol knows a thing or two about firing the third shell on the river.
She opens to 2.3bb from the UTG 6-handed and just the Big Blind calls. On the Tc 6d 2d flop Carol bets 73% pot and the Big Blind calls. On the Js Carol bets 73% pot again and the Big Blind calls. On the river 5s Carol has 67% pot back and wants study what her betting range should look like.
It's cold in the North Pole (and the South)
When you land on the river with 67% pot in position, you have two lines that make sense:
Jam
Check
When you jam, your range will be polarised: you'll have value hands and you'll have bluffs.
Everything in the middle can just check back. This is a luxury that's afforded to you by being in position.
Value hands (North Pole) | Bet |
Showdown value | Check |
Bluffing candidates (South Pole) | Bet? |
When you bet here your hand should obviously be a value bet or a bluff.
If you're value betting, ask yourself what worse hands can you get to call. If you're bluffing, what better hands can you get to fold?
The tricky part when you land on the river is knowing where value ends and showdown value begins.
And where showdown value ends and bluffing begins.
Here's how to break it down in 3 simple steps...
Step 1: Write down the different hand classes
If you want to be a great poker player, you need to know what your range looks like in this spot.
List out the different hand classes that you land on this river with starting with the best value hand all the way down to the worst possible holding.
If you use a postflop solver like PIOSolver or GTOWizard, they'll do this for you, but it's good practice to get into the habit of being able to do this exercise without the help of a solver too.
The percentages on the right are the proportion of your range. So 4.7% of our range is a set, 25.2% is Ace high and 18.2% is top pair.
Step 2: Work out where the value ends and the showdown begins
Once again postflop solvers like PIOSolver and GTO Wizard make this step really easy because they show you the answer in a visual way.
Pinky colour = bet
Minty colour = check
There is a very clear pattern. Value bets at the top. Showdown value hands in the middle. Bluffing candidates at the bottom.
So value bets finish at 2nd pair, but it looks like there's some betting and some checking with this hand class.
AT and KT bet, while QT and T9s checks.
Step 3: Work out where the showdown ends and the bluffing candidates begin
The bluffs start at low pair (a little bit of 44), some Ace highs, more than half of the King highs and then 100% of no made hands like Q9s, 97s and 87s.
AKQ-4-T
If we change the board to As Kh Qh, 4d turn and a Th river, then the framework is even easier to see:
So you should value jam straights and better and a some sets.
Check back most sets, two pair and top pair hands.
And then bluff with all 3rd pairs and most low pair and no made hands.
Summary
By adopting a clear, structured approach like the 3-step framework for triple barrel decisions, you can confidently navigate river spots where your range is polarised and turn theory into action.
Postflop solvers can speed up the process, but the ultimate edge comes from practising these concepts in your study and training and then implementing them into your game.
That's all for this week.
See you next time.
Whenever you're ready, here's how I can help you:
The Final Table: Play your best poker when the most is at stake. Detailed analysis of over 100 hand examples at different stages of play. Learn how to make great decisions every time and set yourself up for daily progress.
Poker On The Mind: Listen to my podcast with Dr Tricia Cardner as we discuss peak poker performance and tournament poker strategy.
MTT Poker Academy: Join the tournament poker community for part-time players with full-time lives. Learn the strategies to optimise your study time and boost your ROI around your day job.
Train & Play Like The Pros: Join my signature programme that will take you from amateur to training and playing like the pros in the next 12 weeks.
Purposeful Practice for Poker: Gain a clear theoretical understanding of the science of purposeful practice and how you can apply it to your poker study & training. Includes specific exercises designed to create an infallible plan for poker improvement.
Comments