Ashton Cartwright Poker

There are three main stages of an online poker tournament. Being able to change strategy as you move through the different stages will make a big difference to your results, and your chances of winning. This article is written mainly with No Limit Hold’em poker in mind, but the theory applies equally well to most other forms of big bet poker such as Omaha.

Early Stage

In the early stages of a tournament you will have a big stack when compared to the blinds. Usually 75-200 big blinds is what you get for your entry fees, and you are therefore have no urgent need to accumulate chips. You can play these early stages in one of two ways: either wait for good hands before getting involved in a pot, or play lots of hands and try and hit a miracle flop that will let you win someone’s entire stack. No matter which method you choose, always keep in mind that the early stages of a tournament you don’t need to take any risks. Play good, solid poker, and take advantage of any opportunities that come along, but don’t risk your stack needlessly. You want to make sure that you stick around for the long haul.

Middle Stage

The middle stage of a poker tournament is usually when the blinds have risen to a point where most players have between 30-50 big blinds. Often a third of the field or more has been eliminated by this stage. Since the blinds are constantly rising, you may not be able to wait for premium hands anymore. You will need to be more active from late position, and you will also need to raise more aggressively to try and win the blinds. Your opponents may play quite passively at this stage, which should give you plenty opportunities to add to your stack bit by bit. Keep being active, keep stealing the blinds, and keep trying to accumulate chips. If you can build a big stack going into the late stages, it will give you a significant advantage.

Late Stage

The late stages of a poker tournament will often be just before the money. Players will have varying stack sizes, ranging from just a few big blinds, to 50 or more big blinds. When you are close to the money, most players will play very tight, hoping to fold their way though to the cash. A clever player will use this time to accumulate even more chips however. Keep raising, keep attacking, and keep being aggressive. If you have a big stack at this stage, be merciless as you approach the “bubble”, since most of the smaller stacks will just get out of your way rather than risk elimination.

If you are a small stack, you might be tempted to try and fold your way through to the money. While this might result in a small prize, it will be virtually impossible for you to win any of the big prizes. If your goal is to come first, then you need to keep being aggressive, even if that means risking your tournament life. If you get a strong hand, don’t be afraid to put all your chips in the middle. In poker, it’s better to bust out, than to fade away!

If you make it past the late game stage, and onto the final table, you will need to continue with your aggression. On average, everyone will get the same number of good hands in a poker tournament, and when nobody has any good cards, the chips will go to the most aggressive player. In tournament poker, only by aggression can you gain an advantage!

Most inexperienced players play far too many hands, and go too far with them. Texas Hold’em is a game where preflop hand strengths make a huge difference to the playability and profitability of a hand, and one of the first things you realise when you start becoming a winning player is that most of the time “tight is right”. Playing fewer hands, and focussing only on hands that are high quality will make you money from players who are playing weaker hands than you on average.

The other benefit of playing tight preflop is that when you are playing only strong hands, it makes your play on later streets much more straight forward.

Your plan for how then entire hand will play out begins right from the point where you are dealt your two pocket cards. Unlike the flop and turn betting rounds, which you might only play every 5 or 10 hands, you make pre-flop decisions every single hand you are dealt into. If you play too loose pre-flop, splashing around with hands that aren’t going to be money winners, you’re costing yourself cash.

Therefore, the first poker technique that you learn should be playing tight before the flop.

Focus on only playing the best starting hands. These are hands that are either already powerful, like AA, KK, QQ, etc, or hands than make top pair with a very strong kicker, such as A-K, A-Q, etc. You can also play quality speculative hands such as T9s, 56s, small pocket pairs, etc. These are hands that can flop big hands light straights, flushes or sets, and take down big pots.

In a cash game, or at early stages of a poker tournament, don’t bother playing any other hands. Not only are they negative expectation, they can also be difficult to play after the flop.

A hand like Q-7s may look good, being a Queen and suited, but this hand is virtually unplayable. When it pairs its seven, it will very rarely be the top pair on the flop. When it pairs its queen, it only has a low kicker, and will often be behind any hand between Q8 to Aq. That’s the problem with this sort of weak hand: you can never be sure if you are ahead or behind. A hand like Q-7s also has no possibility of making a straight using both cards.

But they are suited! That surely is enough reason to play the hand isn’t it? Alas no. Being suited only adds a few percent to its chances of winning at showdown. Not enough to justify putting money into the pot with a weak hand.

Now compare that hand with a strong hand like AKs. When A-K hits the flop you make top pair with the best possible kicker. You’re never going to be outkicked at showdown. In fact if someone else hit top pair too, YOU are going to be the one out-kicking them! You can play this hand strongly.

Playing good starting hands make the later streets easier. When you hit the flop, you know that you have a quality hand that can see a showdown.

If you play hands that show a positive expectation pre-flop, you should be faces with very few difficult decisions later in the hand. Your good pre-flop hands are going to make good post-flop hands more often than your opponents who are playing weaker hands than you on average.

Playing tight is an excellent strategy, which should make you money from the looser players. Fold your weak hands but play your good hands aggressively. Selecting only quality hands will make the rest of your decisions easier, and put you in a great position to win.

Freerolls are poker tournaments that are completely free to enter. They usually offer prize money to the winners, and this prize money can be anything from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars, or even more. Sometimes they will offer entry to a larger tournament instead of, or in addition to, prize money.

Freerolls are a great way to build your bankroll when you are starting out, as they are a completely risk free way to win money playing poker. There are many people who have started off their bankroll entirely by playing freeroll tournaments.

Freerolls are also an excellent way to gain experience without having to risk any of your own money. The structure and format of a freeroll is usually identical to a regular poker tournament, the only difference is that it doesn’t cost you a single cent.

The fact that a freeroll costs nothing to enter also means that the play is a little bit different to a tournament where people have had to pay $10, $100, or even more dollars to enter. This article will go through what these differences are, and also discuss what type of strategy works besting a freeroll tournament, whether live of online.

Your opponents

Freerolls tend to have a huge number of players who are new to the game, and don’t want to risk real money yet. They might be playing freerolls while they learn the rules of the game, or they might just be playing because they want to have a bit of fun, and aren’t really trying to win. Most of your opponents won’t be playing a specific strategy. In fact it can often seem as though these players are raising, calling, and bluffing, seemingly at random. Because of this, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Your opponents aren’t paying attention to you.
You may have folded the last 50 hands in a row, but if you decide to raise on the 51st hand, you will probably still get 4 callers. They didn’t notice you folding for the last half hour, so they won’t give your raise any respect. This also means that any tricky bluffs that rely on your table image will be useless.

2. Players don’t like to fold.
When you bet and raise in a normal poker tournament, whether live or online, each bet carries with it the threat that if a player calls you, they might lose and be out of the tournament. In a freeroll however, players don’t really care about being knocked out, because it didn’t cost them anything to play. Because of this, you won’t often be able to win the pot with a well timed bluff. If someone has a pair of 7’s, they will probably call you all the way down to the river, even if the board comes A A K Q 10.

3. Play only good hands, and bet them hard.
When you hit a strong hand, you can bet, bet, bet, and expect to get called all the way. No need to slowplay. No need to disguise your hand. If you have what you believe is the best hand, just keep on betting till all the money is in the middle. Yes, sometimes they will get lucky and beat you, and you will be out of the tournament, but more often than not they will call away all their chips with a hand that they should have folded preflop.

Those are the most important things to keep in mind when playing an online or live freeroll. When it comes to how to play specific hands, it usually depends on the stage of the tournament that you are in.

There are usually 3 stages of a poker freeroll tournament:

The early stage: This is where most freerolls start, particularly online. You have 50 Big Blinds (BBs) or more.
The middle stage: The blinds have gone up and now your chip stack is 25 BBs or less.
Late stage and the final table: This is when most players will have 10 BBs or less remaining. You’ve reached the last table.

Playing the early stage:
In the early stage of a freeroll players will tend to limp in and even call raises with just about any old cards. Even an all-in bet is likely to be called by weak hands such as K4 or 22. Therefore if you have a strong starting hand you should either make a VERY large raise (about 40% of your stack) or just go all-in before the flop.

Preflop
Go all-in from if you’re holding AA, KK, QQ or AK, even if someone has raised before you. Your hand rates to be the best at the table, and so you are willing to get all the chips in.

If you’re in middle or late position and nobody has raised, you should also go all-in with JJ or AQ.

If you’re holding smaller pairs and there hasn’t been a raise yet, its usually best to just limp in and try and hit 3 of a kind (this is called “flopping a set”). If you miss, you can fold if anyone bets, but if you hit your set, be prepared to get all-in.

In late position such as the Button position or one before it (the Cuttoff position) you can limp in and see the flop with speculative cards as long as there hasn’t been a raise. When we say speculative cards, we mean things like 56 suited, or A-2 suited. Not rubbish hands like 72 offsuit.

After the Flop
On the flop, if you have a strong hand, then go ahead and move all-in. Anything else and, you can just check and fold. A “strong hand” is usually 2 pairs or better.

If you flop a flush draw or a straight draw, you can call a bet, as long as the bet is very small compared to the size of the pot (usually no more than a 5th of the pot). If you hit your straight or flush later in the hand, you can go all-in.

If you have a medium strength hand like top pair, then you are probably best just checking and calling if you are up against 1 or 2 opponents. Against 3 or more opponents, folding is the safest option.

The Middle stage
The middle stage begins when you only have about 25 big blinds left in chips. This is a chip level where it is best to either raise or fold in a freeroll tournament. In a regular tournament you would still be able to limp into some pots, but in a freeroll tournament at this level, you want to either raise, re-raise, or fold. Calling with low pairs or suited connectors is now no good either, as even when you flop a strong hand and win, you have paid too great a percentage of your stack preflop to do it, which will lose you chips in the long run.

Be sure to keep an eye on the stack sizes of other players. You’ll need a strong hand to play against the people with short stacks, because they will be keen to push all their chips in the first time they see something that even slightly resembles a playable hand.

Preflop
Raise with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT or AK to about four or five big blinds. If anyone raises that, you can push all-in.

You can also raise in any of the middle positions you’re dealt a pair of nines, tens, jacks or queens, as well as KQ, AJ and AQ. If someone re-raises you, you should go all-in with everything except the KQ and the AJ. Those are the weakest hands in your range, so folding them to a re-raise is fine.

After the Flop
Your actions on the flop are going to be pretty straight forward because of the large amount of money that is already in the pot. If you are “heads up” (against only 1 player), then you can bet about half the pot. If they raise, then go all-in if you have top pair or better. You can also go all in if you have a flush draw, or a straight draw, as the size of the pot will make it worthwhile to draw.

If you are against multiple opponents, push all in with any of the above hands, rather than making a bet of just half the pot. Chances are that someone is going to call you anyway, so make them pay the maximum for the privilege.

Late stages and final table
Now we are getting towards the end of the freeroll tournament, and at this stage the chips will usually go towards whoever is the most aggressive. Most players will only have 10 or so BBs, so every time you take down a pot preflop it will add significantly to your stack.

People will start raising with more and more hands as they become more desperate, and as a result, you will be able to re-raise with a wider range too. The important point to remember at this stage is that any hand that you decide to play, you should move all in with. Don’t make a normal raise and don’t just call. Move all in with any hand that you think is best.

Hands that you should always move all in with are AA, KK, QQ, JJ TT, along with AK, AQ and AJ. You can move all in with these hands even if someone has already raised.

If nobody has raised you can move all in yourself with any of the remaining pairs, from any position.

If you are in the last 2 seats (ie the Button or Cutoff) and nobody has raised yet, you can also move all in with any ace, or any suited connector.

In the unlikely event that the hand gest folded to you in the small blind, you can push all in with any 2 cards that are either suited, connected, or if at least 1 card in your hand is a Q or higher.

Remember, at the end stages of the tournament, winning just the blinds is a good result, so don’t be afraid to be aggressive. Keep raising and stealing blinds, until all the chips are yours. Everyone has the same chances to be dealt a good hand, but when nobody has a good hand, the chips will gravitate towards whoever is the most active and the most aggressive.

If you are ready to play some freerolls, here is a list of the top sites we recommend for free poker: Best Online Free Poker Sites.

Good luck at the tables, and most importantly, play well!

In poker, the same cards turning out in the same order will result in vastly different outcomes depending on where you’re sitting compared to the other players at the table. Hands that are profitable when played in late positions will often be extremely unprofitable if played in earlier positions.

Positions in Poker:

First some poker terminology: If you are first, second or third to play, you are said to be in ‘early’ position (the very first to act is also referred to as ‘Under The Gun’) If you are sitting in the dealer position (also known as ‘The Button’) or are one or two seats to the right of the dealer position you are said to be in ‘late’ position. All players seated between early and late positions are referred to as ‘middle’ position.

Early Position in Poker

If you are in ‘early’ position, the type of hands that you play must be predominately strong hands i.e.: big pairs or AK in a game of Texas Hold’em. The reason you must restrict your self to principally strong hands is because you have no way of knowing what other later players are holding, and if they later raise or re-raise your bet, you will have to fold all but your strongest hands. Therefore, folding your weak hands when in early position will allow you to save your chips for more profitable situations and positions.

Middle Position in Poker

When playing in ‘middle’ position, you will still have to be aware that the players behind you may bet or raise if you play the hand, and that they will have the advantage of seeing you act first for the remainder of the hand. You still need to play mostly high quality hands from middle position, but as there are less players remaining to act, you can afford to be a little bit more liberal in your starting hands. Additionally, you will be in a later position than any players who may have already entered the pot, so you will “have position” on them throughout the hand.

Late Position in Poker

When you are in ‘late’ position you have the advantage of having seen almost every other players action so far in the hand. You will have a rough idea about how highly each player before you rates their hand by whether they have merely called, raised, or re-raised. You will also get to see what your opponents do on the Flop, Turn and River betting rounds, allowing you to make better decisions. Additionally, if you enter the pot from late position, there is a much lower chance that someone acting after you will raise, as there are only the Button player and the players in the Blinds to worry about. All these advantages mean that you can often play a wide range of hands from late position, including suited connectors, suited aces, small pairs, and even hands with a gap in them such as 7-9.

Button Position in Poker

If you are on ‘the Button’ you are last to act in each betting round, and you usually only have 2 players to act after you (the two Blinds) so you can play an extremely wide range of hands. Some extremely experienced players may find that almost every hand is playable from the button, as the ability to bluff, and the ability to get maximum value out of your good hands is greatest when playing from the Button position.

The Blinds Position in Poker

When you are in one of the ‘blind’ positions, you benefit from having to call a smaller amount to play, as you already have some money in the pot. You will however be out of position for the remainder of the hand, which will not only make it harder for you to bluff, but will also make it harder to get paid on your big hands. For this reason, it is usually a good idea to play moderately tightly from the blinds, using a similar range that you would use in ‘middle’ position.

In some weak poker games, you’ll see a lot of “Raise, Call, Call and Call” type action going on. Limping into hands, or flat calling raises both have their place in a game of poker, but they should be the exception rather than the rule. Raising is often going to be better if you have a hand worth playing. Here are the two main reasons why you should be more inclined to play aggressively and raise:

1.Just calling shows weakness
2.The player who raises controls the hand

If you have a strong hand you need to be in there raising, firstly because it gets more money in the pot when you are probably the favourite, and secondly because it increases the chance that you will win the hand without a showdown, as the strength you have shown by raising makes it likely your opponent will fold to you when you bet on the flop.

Obviously there are exceptions to this rule; you wouldn’t raise a pot with merely TT if there has already been a raise and a re-raise pre-flop, for example. Just calling here might be the better option. But usually, you want to be rasing.

Just Calling Shows Weakness

Everyone knows that raising is what you do with good hands. So by just calling, you are in effect saying “My hand really isn’t that strong”. Just calling get you into trouble most of the time, because you won’t be able represent a strong hand on the flop, and therefore you have less chance of taking the pot down with bets later in the hand. If the hand isn’t good enough to raise, then often times it might not be good enough to play in the first place.

By just calling you leave yourself open to your opponent betting you out of pots you should have won simply because you didn’t re-raise pre-flop. When you raise pre-flop you show great strength, and most players will either fold to you pre-flop, or to your continuation bet if they missed the flop.

Raising Puts You in Control

When you raise or re-raise aggressively you show your serious intentions about the hand. If your opponents miss the flop, this aggression will be carried forward to your flop bet, and you are very likely to take the pot down. Your betting has shown a consistent story: “I raised preflop because my hand was strong, and now I’m betting the flop because my hand is still strong. You better get out of my way, because I’m going to win this pot!”

After raising preflop, most aggressive players will bet almost any flop as long as there are fewer than three people in the hand. The strength you have shown pre-flop will make it hard for your opponents to call, even if they hit the flop weakly themselves. Even if they do call, they will usually play passively for the remainder of the hand because you have shown so much strength, which might let you hit another card to take the lead, or might give you the chance to bluff them out later on.

Here’s an example of why aggressive players raise pre-flop:
A player limps in pre-flop and you raise with Ace-Queen. The player who limped calls your raise with pocket 9s. The flop comes K T 4. The player with 99 checks to you, and you bet. The player with 99 realises that since you raised preflop you could have many hands that hit that flop, so he folds. You win the pot with only your Ace-high. Your aggression has let you win the pot, even though your opponent had the better hand on the flop.

Such is the power of aggression.

To win an online multi-table poker tournament, you can’t just rely on getting dealt premium hands. You’ll need to bluff, steal blinds, check-raise, and pull all sorts of tricky manoeuvres, but above all, you must be aggressive, right to the very end. Here are a few tournament tips that will help you get to the final table and take home the big prizes a bit more often:

1. Bet big hands aggressively

In most online tournaments, there are lots of players who are willing to call all the way to the river with weak hands, or weak draws. These players will call huge bets down with top pair/medium kicker because they don’t believe that someone would bet two-pair, a set, or a straight so hard. Most people like to slow play their big hands, and even give free cards, so by betting your big hands aggressively, you may actually be MORE likely to get called. You’ll also get some calls from players paying too much to draw, so make sure you charge them the maximum all the way.

2. Call raises with your low pairs early

In the early stages of most multi-table tournaments you usually have 75-150 big blinds, so seeing some flops with your low pocket pairs isn’t going to damage your stack very much, even if you fold every time you miss your set. The times you DO hit a set though will give you an excellent chance to win a big pot, or even double up.

Your implied odds at this early stage of the tournament are usually so big that it can be worth investing as much as 1/20th or 5% percent of your stack to try and hit a set. If you are in position, you can profitably call for almost 10% of your stack, particularly with the larger pocket pairs, as you might be able to win the pot by betting even when you miss your set.

3. Semi-bluff your drawing hands

Let’s assume that you raised with two big suited cards (such as AK) and had one caller. Now the flop has comes 7 high. You would usually make a C-Bet on this sort of a flop anyway, to try and win the pot immediately. If you have flopped a flush draw to go with your overcards however, you can be extremely aggressive, raising your opponents bet, firing another barrel on the turn, or even check raising if you thing your opponent will bet when you check. You can often check raise all-in on a flop like this, with nothing except 2 overcards and a flush draw, because you will usually have 15 outs (9 cards that make a flush, and 6 cards that give you top pair top kicker), so you are actually a FAVOURITE in the hand against someone with a weak overpair like 99. Combined with the chance that your opponent will just fold and give up the hand, aggressive play when you have a healthy flush draw is an excellent way to accumulate chips.

4. The Shove

Many players, particularly when they are new, will let themselves get blinded down so low that their stack is no longer intimidating. This means that when the push all in, one (or both) of the players in the blinds will call them, just because they are getting good Pot Odds. Even if the short stack doubles up in this situation, they will still only have 7 or 8 blinds, and will need to push all in again very soon to avoid getting blinded down again! When your total stack is down to around 10 big blinds is when you have to start shoving all-in. At 10 blinds you still have enough chips that people cant call you with any old rubbish, so you have a good chance of winning the blinds uncontested.

You’ll need to pick the right spot to make you move, as the stack sizes of the players in the blinds can be even more important than your cards. Make sure you’re the first player into the pot (unless you have a premium hand), that way you have the maximum chance of everyone giving up the blinds without a fight.

If the action is folded around to you in late position, you can push all in with any ace, any pair, or any suited connector. The closer you are to the button the looser you can be with your hand, simply because there is less chance that one of the remaining players will have a good enough hand to call you.

The best time to push is when the blinds have medium sized stacks. If they have less than you, they might be getting desperate, and decide to call with any 2 cards. Likewise if the players in the blinds each have very large stacks they won’t be scared of you and may call light too. The best stacks to push into are medium stacks, as they are the players who you can damage the most. They won’t want to risk a large proportion of their stack with anything but a premium hand. Even when they do call, 5-6 suited will beat A-K about 40% of the time, which will bring you well and truly back into the game.

Making a living from poker was a goal I set myself from the first moment that I encountered this game, and I am very satisfied with success I have had.

As to how I got interested in poker: I was an avid Magic the Gathering player for several years (nerd for life I’m afraid!), and had been making a small amount of money winning weekly Magic tournaments. At the time I was close friends with the reigning National Champion by the name of Tim He, who was virtually undefeated for several years. Tim stopped suddenly to pursue poker in preference to Magic, and almost immediately placed third in an AAPT at Sydney, winning several hundred thousand dollars.

The idea that there was a game that pays such amazing money was all the inspiration I required to make the switch. I quit Magic almost immediately, and decided to make a serious run at being a professional poker player. I game myself 2 years, and I said that if I wasn’t profitable enough to make a living from poker after that time that I would quit and find a different game.

My first step was to get an online account set up and play ONLY with play money. I told myself that I would not deposit a single dollar until I had won 100 times the play money chips that I started with. I was playing on Pokerstars at that point, and on that site you start with 1000 in play money chips. I (through poor bankroll management and lack of skill) lost that first 1000 chips once, and then a second time. Since I had now received a total of 3000 chips, and my goal was to make at least 100 times that amount, I set my target at 300,000 in play money chips. It took me approximately 45 days of almost constant play, but it assuredly taught me the fundamentals of poker, and how to play tight in particular (as I contend that tight play is the only effective strategy to use in play money games).

On the 3rd of April 2008 I made my first deposit online of $50. I had read all the Harrington books by then, and several of the Sklanzky books as well (I am an avid reader, and for 12 month allowed myself to read nothing but poker literature). I was acutely aware that strict bankroll management is one of the most important aspects of professional poker, so I never invested more than 2% of my bankroll in a single SNG or Tournament, and never more than 5% of my bankroll into a single cash game. Some players have more liberal bankroll management than this, and some have more conservative, but I found this acceptable.

At this level I was only able to play 1c/2c cash games, and SNGs and Tournaments of no more than $1 buy in. I had told myself that under no circumstances was I to ever make another deposit online, so I played as though this $50 was all the money I had in the world.

I found that I was most successful at the SNGs at this level, so that became my primary focus. As my bankroll grew to $100, then $500, then $1000, I continued moving up the limits, keeping always within the 2% requirements that I had set for myself. I played a great deal of Double or Nothing SNGs, and also 18 player SNGs, which I found to be quite profitable. I played comparatively few tournaments, simply because I found the variance and time commitment made them prohibitive.

I also made a conscious effort to steadily increase the number of tables that I played. Once I started playing more than 6 tables I got a 2nd computer screen, and once I was playing more than 12 tables I added another 2 screens to my hardware set up.

By the 2nd of February 2010 I was making enough consistent income to quit my job, about two months ahead of the 2 years I had set myself. At this point I was playing Double or Nothing SNGs almost exclusively, and paying sometimes as much as $20,000 of buyins per day, playing $100 Double or Nothing SNGs 24 tables at a time. My income was only about $50 per hour, which is not much in poker terms, but it was more than enough for me to live comfortably.

I still believe the Double or Nothing strategy I have outlined elsewhere to be the optimal strategy for that particular type of game, and I still believe that Double or Nothings can be among the most profitable forms of poker, particularly at the lower buyins (up to about $50). At the higher levels there are often multiple players on each table playing almost identical strategies, so it becomes a bit harder to show consistent profit there. As a novice, I believe Double or Nothings, when played with a proper strategy and understanding of stack size interactions, to be one of the most effective ways to build a bankroll.

I also feel that low level SNGs are an excellent bankroll builder for new players interested in that format. For low limit cash games, since players are generally loose at those stakes, a tight Set Mining strategy is the best strategy to use.

For me, becoming a professional poker player was a conscious decision that was only made possible by clear planning, constant study, discipline, and good bankroll management. There are many players who are superior to me in skill, yet fail in one of the above attributes (most commonly bankroll management).

For those who succeed in becoming a professional poker player, this life is fun, the hours flexible, and the financial remuneration often substantial. The other benefit of playing Cash Games is that you will likely learn the intricacies of the game much faster than if you restrict yourself exclusively to SNGs.

I wish you the best of luck, but more importantly, play well!

How to Bluff: Firing a Second Barrel

“Firing a second Barrel” is a term for a very specific poker situation: you have raised pre-flop and then bet the flop (called a Continuation Bet or C-Bet), and your opponent has called you. On the turn a card comes that doesn’t help you, and you bet again as a bluff. This is called “Firing a Second Barrel” because you have fired one bluff on the flop, and another bluff on the turn.
The incentive to fire a second barrel is quite obvious: There is good money in it. Lets assume you have raised to 3BB from the button pre-flop, and get called by the Big Blind. That’s 6.5BB. On the flop you make a continuation bet of another 4bb and get called. That’s 14.5BB in the pot. Now your opponent checks to you on the turn; should you bluff again?
Well, there are certain situations where firing a second barrel is effective, and other situations where firing a second barrel is just throwing money away. If you can correctly identify the effective situations, then you will be able to take down many medium sized pots that you would have been unlikely to win otherwise.
Lets look at it from your opponent’s point of view: You have raised pre-flop, bet the flop, and fired another barrel on the turn. You opponent knows that you could be doing this with a complete bluff, a semi-bluff, or a very strong hand, and this puts a huge amount of pressure on them. If they call the turn bet, they know that there might even be another bet on the river, potentially all in. It’s a difficult situation to be in, and whenever you put your opponent in a difficult situation, there is a good chance that they will make a mistake.

A player will usually just call a flop bet, rather than fold or raise, for a logical (or semi-logical) reason. The main reasons are these:
1. They have a strong hand and are trapping.
2. They have a mediocre hand, and don’t want to build a big pot.
3. They have a straight draw, flush draw, or some other draw.
4. They are intending to bluff.
5. Some combination of the above (like bottom pair and a gutshot)
In most of those situations, the player is likely to fold to a second barrel fired on the turn. (Draws that hit, and strong hands that are trapping are the obvious exceptions)

Here is an example to illustrate the power of the 2nd barrel.
Imagine you are in the BB with A8s. I raise to 3BB from the button, which I’m likely to do with a wide range of hands, and you call. The flop is A 9 4 rainbow. You check to me, as is usual. I make a continuation bet of 4BB. You can call or raise. You decide that if I have an Ace, you are just as likely to be ahead or behind. Your hand is possibly not strong enough to raise, since any worse hand like KQ will just fold, and any better hands will call. However if a K or a Q comes on the turn or river, you might get 1 more bet out of me. Also if I raised with a pocket pair like JJ or TT, I wont call a check raise now with the Ace on the board, but I might call a small bet on the river. There are no draws to be concerned about.
All in all, you decide that your hand isn’t big enough to build a large pot, and you could just as easily be behind as ahead, and that you therefore maximize your Expected Value (EV) by just calling.
The pot is 14.5BB. The turn comes J. You check, and I fire out another bet for 12BB. That’s about 80% of the pot. You realise that if you call, the pot will be 14.5 +12 +12 = 38.5BB. That’s a pretty big pot. If you call this one, you might get hit with another bet on the river, which might be as much as 40BB. That would be about 65BB you’ve put into this pot, just to see a showdown with your top pair, mediocre kicker. Now your A8 isn’t looking so good. You start thinking that your opponent isn’t likely to have bet the turn with a weaker Ace than you. Maybe your opponent has two pair with AJ, A9 or even A4? Maybe he just has a big kicker like AK or AQ? You’re losing to those ones too. Perhaps he flopped a set, and is trying to get you pot committed? Heck, maybe he raised with J9 offsuit, and got lucky on the turn?
You don’t really want to call a big bet now if you can’t call another one on the river, which is probably what you would have to do if you opponent decides to bet again.
Perhaps you decide to call and perhaps you decide to fold, either of which could be a huge mistake depending on what cards your opponent actually has. I know that I would have trouble calling a big bet like that on the turn with only top pair and an 8 as a kicker. It’s scary. The button player can’t believe that I have less than an Ace at that point, so the chance that I’m beaten rises dramatically with each additional bet.
Let’s change the scenario slightly. Let’s say that you called in the BB with 9Ts. You hit middle pair on the flop. You’ve seen me raise from the button with some real rubbish hands, and that I make a C-Bet almost 100% of the time. You think that there is a solid chance you are ahead with your middle pair on this flop. Again you decide not to raise, because most better hands (like any Ace) will call, and all worse hands will fold. You might be able to get a hand like JJ or QQ to fold if you check raise, but you think those are reasonably unlikely, so you aren’t overly concerned about those pairs. You consider raising to protect your hand against random overcards, but you still don’t want to build a big pot out of position with only middle pair, so you just call the flop bet and see what happens on the turn.
Again the turn is the J and you check to the aggressor. Again he fires a second barrel of 12BB. Now you really can’t call. You are still out of position, with what is now third pair, AND your opponent is firing again. You hand just doesn’t seem good enough, so you fold.

There are 2 more common situations where firing a 2nd barrel should be successful:
Your opponent raises on the button, and again you call in the BB with T9s. This time the flop is A 5 4 with 2 of your suit. Your opponent bets 4BB and you call with your flush draw. Strictly speaking you aren’t getting enough pot odds for your draw, but its possible that your opponent missed as well. If that is the case he will likely check the turn, giving you another chance to make your draw. Also you think that in the situations where your opponent actually did hit the Ace, your implied odds are enough to justify calling.
The turn comes an offsuit J and you check again. Your opponent bets 12BB. You are getting slightly better than 2-1 to call, and are only about 4-1 to hit your draw with only 1 card to come. You don’t think that the implied odds are there anymore, as your opponent would need to call a large river bet with an obvious 3 flush on the board. You decide to fold.

The other situation where a player would call a flop bet and fold to a turn bet is where they don’t have anything themselves, but they believe that its unlikely that you hit the board either. If you check the turn to them, they intend to bet and take the pot away from you. This is called a “Call Bluff” or “Floating”. It plays out like this:
Your opponent raises in mid position, and you call on the button with 45s. The flop comes J 8 2, with none of your suit. Your opponent makes a C-Bet of 4BB. You think that because your opponent is a moderately tight player, he will C-Bet often, but will rarely fire a second barrel unless he hits the flop strongly. Since this is a flop that is likely to have missed a player who plays mainly high cards, you call the flop bet. If your opponent checks the turn, you will bet yourself, with a high chance of taking down the pot.
The turn card is irrelevant, because you will fold to any bet, and bet if your opponent checks. In this case the turn comes a 9, and your opponent bets 12BB, and you muck as intended.

When should you fire a second barrel?

The best situations to look at firing a second barrel are:
1. Boards with lots of draws on the flop, none of which hit on the turn
2. Paired boards
3. Boards where the turn card could have helped you i.e. a Scare Card
4. Boards that your opponent thinks would have missed you, so they are likely to call bluff.

Boards with lots of draws on the flop, none of which hit on the turn
If a flop comes K 7 2 rainbow, and your opponent calls your C-Bet, it’s safe to assume that they are NOT calling with a draw. Therefore your opponent’s hand range is proportionately more likely to be a monster, a weak hand, or a call bluff if they are in position. If the board comes 9 T J, with 2 of a suit however, there could be all sorts of drawing hands mixed in with the possible marginal hands and monsters. If the turn comes an offsuit 2 or some other irrelevant card, firing a second barrel may be enough to get the drawing hands to fold.

Paired Boards
Paired boards are generally considered to be good bluffing flops. This is due to basic mathematics. If the board comes with cards of 3 different ranks, then there are 9 cards in the deck that could make a pair or better. A flop of A J 8 for example means that there are three Aces, three Jacks, and three 8’s left in the deck that could have paired with this flop.
On a paired board, lets say JJ8, there are only 5 cards that could have connected i.e.: the two remaining jacks, and the three remaining 8’s. The fact that paired boards are less likely to hit anyone, combined with the fact that if you DID hit the flops, you could have a big hand like trips, means that more often than not, the first to bet at a paired board will win.
The flow on effect to this however, is that good players will more often expect a bluff on a paired board, and may therefore call a C-Bet more liberally on such a flop. In position they are more likely to call as a Call Bluff, and out of position they are more likely to call with a weak pocket pair that they think might still be best. On this board I would fire a second barrel about 80% of the time against a single opponent, regardless of my position.

Boards where the turn card could have helped you i.e. a Scare Card
A Scare Card is any card that your opponent thinks could have given you a better hand. The most effective Scare Cards are usually ones that could have connected with AK. Whenever you raise, your opponents usually weight your range towards high cards, and AK is top of the list in their head. The board comes JT4 and they call a C bet, then the turn comes a Q, and you fire again, some players will fold hands as good as good as 2 pair, because they will be “certain” that you have AK and have just hit your straight.
If you make a continuation bet on a Q 6 2 board and your opponent has hit the Queen (by holding KQ or QJ for example), then you will certainly be called. If an A comes on the turn, your opponent may think that this A hit your hand. This would count as a Scare Card, and you may win the pot by firing a second barrel.
A Scare Card can also be a card that seems to fill a flush or a straight, although because your opponents will often be the ones drawing, firing a 2nd barrel when a Scare Card like that hit can be a bit more dangerous.

Boards that your opponent thinks would have missed you, so they are likely to call bluff.
This would be when you have raised pre-flop from early position, and someone has called from the button. The flop comes 2 5 8 rainbow. You C-Bet, and the button calls. The button might have a set, or an overpair, an underpair, overcards, or absolutely nothing, but he has every reason to believe that YOU also have nothing. You raised from early position, which usually means either high cards, or a big pair. The flop was extremely low, so it’s unlikely to hit you. Many players would call a C-Bet in this situation, with the intention of betting if you check, and folding if you bet. They don’t need to have much, even KQ, as overcards would usually be enough. They might hit a K or a Q, you might check the turn and they can bluff you out, or they might even have the best hand with K high. All these factors combined make a Call Bluff likely.
The turn comes another 2. If you fire a second barrel on this board, an opponent who was Call Bluffing will likely fold, as would an opponent with underpairs, overcards, and possibly some of the weak overpairs. Opponents with sets and strong overpairs will either call or raise.
If you are in position on a low flop, then there shouldn’t be anyone calling your C-Bet just with the intention of Call Bluffing, as most players will only Call Bluff in position. Therefore, if there is anyone still in the hand after you C-Bet in position, their range is more likely to be pocket pairs, other marginal to strong made hand, very strong high card hands that they think might still be best (like AK or AQ) or an obscure draw with something like 67 or 34. These hands may still fold to a 2nd barrel, but it’s less likely than when their range includes Call Bluffs.

When you should not fire a second barrel

Other boards
Firing a 2nd barrel on boards other than the ones listed above is more risky, and generally requires specific knowledge of your opponent to be effective.

Multiple opponents
The situations described above all assume that you are only facing one opponent. If you have multiple opponents, the chance that your bluff will get called multiplies. I would rarely fire a 2nd barrel into multiple opponents unless I felt very sure that the situation was perfect. Maybe a paired board with a 2 flush, and a Scare Card landing on the turn while I’m in position would be good enough for me . . . but only just.

Firing a 2nd barrel too often
Firing a 2nd barrel is a powerful move, but one that should be used sparingly. If you fire a 2nd barrel every time your C-bet gets call, you will find your opponents catching on rather swiftly. They will be more willing to call you down with weak hands, and will also set traps for you more often. If you limit yourself to only firing a 2nd barrel in profitable situations, and mix in a solid amount of turn bets with your made or drawing hands, the move should show good results.

Set Miners

Set miners are big online. Very big. They play only pairs and AK. They may make button steals with other, slightly weaker hands (like AJ or KQ), but generally, they only play the best. AK and pairs account for just over 7% of hands that are dealt. If you have a large number for hands in your history for this person, and they have a VP around 7-8% then chances are you are playing against a set miner, particularly if their steal percentage seems to be low.

Set Miners traditionally buy in for the maximum 100BB, so that they can stack another deep player when they hit their set.

The set mining strategy is rather simple: when first to enter the pot, limp with all low-mid pairs in early or middle position. With AK, some players will raise in early position, some will just limp. Raise with all pairs and AK in late position. Always raise or re-raise with AA-QQ, and some players also re-raise with AK. Call any reasonable raise (up to about 5bb) with any pair, hoping to flop a set. If they miss, set miners will usually fold to the aggressors C-Bet, unless they have flopped an overpair, like TT on a 9 5 2 flop.

If they flop a set, they will try to get all in as efficiently as possible. As the Non-Aggressor, sometimes they will just call a C-Bet in position, and then raise on the turn or river, as long as they can comfortably get all in by the river without over betting the pot. On a board with either flush or straight draws, they will be more likely to raise on the flop, fearing a cooler. On a dry board, they are more likely to merely flat call on the flop. Set miners will often Check/raise the aggressor a small amount when out of position if they feel this is the best way to get their opponent pot committed.

As the Aggressor flopping a set, they will often C-bet, then fire again on the turn, and then attempt to get all (or almost all) of their chips in on the river.

With AK as the Aggressor, they may C-bet when they miss the flop, then give up on the hand if they meet resistance and don’t improve. Some set miners will even check/fold when they miss the flop with AK. Make a note of these players, because a flop bet will often take the pot away from them, and this situation occurs often.

If they hit Top-Top or flop an overpair they will usually C-bet, but then they will try to keep the pot small. They may make another bet on the turn or river, but rarely both. They are not trying to get pot committed with Top-Top.

Strengths of the style:

Simple to play

Since you are playing a very limited number of hands, this strategy is reasonably easy to learn. As long as you are disciplined enough to stick to pairs and AK, its hard to go too far wrong; You will either flop a set, Top-Top, top two pair, or absolutely nothing, so there are very few tough decisions to be made. You can C-bet when you miss flops, but other than that there really isn’t any bluffing or tricky plays involved with this style. If you hit the flop hard, try to get as much money in as you can. If you miss, you can fold (or C-bet, then fold if you meet resistance). The tight starting requirements mean that it’s very unlikely that any given hand will present you with tough decisions, and the less tough decisions the less chance that you will make a mistake. A very easy strategy to learn, and one which is probably the most conservative and safe of all the mainstream strategies.

Easy to multi-table

If you are trying to collect a large amount of Frequent Player Points on Pokerstars, or farming rakeback on another site, trying to clear a deposit bonus, or just trying to increase your hourly profit, multi-tabling is often an effective way to do it. Because you play very few hands with this style, and the decisions you face are usually quite straight forward, Set Mining is quite a popular strategy with multi-tablers. Since you play only 7% of hands with this style, even people who play 10-12 tables simultaneously are still involved in no more than one or two relevant hands at a time.

Set miners can make money.

They do. A set miner of at least moderate skill should be able to apply this strategy effectively enough to make money. I regularly encounter solid, multi-tabling Set Miners, and my Pokertracker stats usually show them doing well. This is not to say that Set Mining is the best strategy; it isn’t. A good player who adapts effectively to his opponents’ playing styles will always perform better than someone using a semi-mechanical strategy like Set Mining. But, when properly applied, this style is at least as legitimate as any other. If you’re on a table full of professionals, its likely that you will lose money, because they will be able to adapt to your style effectively. . . but I wouldn’t want to hang around on a table full of pro’s anyway J

Weaknesses of the style:

Rarely bluff

Stereotypical set miners rarely bluff, which allows a wily opponent to get away from hands which may be second best. For example: You raise in middle position with QQ and a set miner calls on the button. The flop comes J 7 2. You C-Bet, and the set miner raises a solid amount. If I had seen this player regularly fold to C-bets in the past (as a set miner generally will) then you may be able to let this hand go easily. Against a different style of player, you might call or you might re-raise, but against a set miner, you are very likely behind here. If he only plays pairs and AK, then he is either bluffing, or has you crushed. Discretion is the better part of valour in a situation like this. If he lets you win most hands with your C-Bet, then folding a mere overpair hand when he makes a significant raise is more than warranted.

Missing out on opportunities

Set miners usually don’t bother to play suited connectors, suited Ace-rag, or 1 gapper type hands, even in situations where it would often be profitable to do so. If a set miner is on the button, and there are 3 limpers in from of him, he will usually just fold hands like 56o or 79s. This is almost certainly a situation where playing a speculative hands would be profitable, and set miners often forgo that opportunity.

Perceptive players will attack your limps

Because an early limp by a set miner is almost always a pair or AK, its often possible to raise the button with any 2 cards, then take the pot down with a C-Bet on the flop (provided no one else has entered the pot). Since they will miss the flop most of the time, you should show a significant profit with this line of play. Also, since you are often raising with rubbish, you are unlikely to get stacked when the set miner actually flops a strong hand, as you will be able to easily throw you hand away if you meet resistance. Even if you raise and hit a moderately strong hand like top pair mid kicker, it’s easy to let the hand go when you know that your opponent is playing such a specific range.

For example: A Set Miner limps in 3rd position, and you button raise to 4BB with KTo. The flop comes K 9 4 rainbow. The Set Miner checks to you, and you C-Bet. If the Set Miner check-raises you, I would let the hand go almost 100% of the time. He has a set, or he has AK, or he is making an extremely out-of –character bluff. The only one of those that you are beating is by far the least likely. Unless you have a specific reason to believe that the Set Miner is making a move, your KT should go straight into the muck.