To barrel is to keep betting on a later street after your previous bet was called — a second barrel on the turn, a third on the river. A barrel needs a reason of its own: a card that helps your range, real equity, or both.
You c-bet the flop, villain called, and the turn arrives. His flop call has capped his range — he mostly holds one pair, draws and floats, because sets and two pairs often raise — while your range still contains every overpair and top pair. Fire a second barrel when the turn card helps that picture: an overcard that hits your range harder than his, or a card that gives you real equity. A barrel works two ways at once — it folds out the floats and weak pairs now, and when called you still have outs.
Give up when the card favors the caller: a board pair on a middling flop, a third flush card, a straight-completing card, or when you hold no equity at all. The easiest way to decide is on the flop: sort the turn cards into cards that make your hand, cards that improve your range, and cards that favor the caller. The first two bins are barrels; the third is a give-up. From the defender’s side, a barrel is a stronger statement than a c-bet, and a triple barrel of big bets is value far more often than theory requires.
Worked example
FAQ
When should you fire a second barrel?
When the turn card improves your range more than villain’s — an ace or king on a low flop — or gives you real equity such as a strong draw. Barreling every turn ‘because I bet the flop’ is the mistake.
What does giving up on the turn mean?
Checking instead of betting again, because the card favors the caller or you have no equity. It does not mean folding to any bet: checking keeps medium hands cheap, and you can still call a river bet with showdown value.