Three-bar play
A wide ignition candle shows strong buyers (or sellers). One or two small candles pause near its top without giving much back. A close above the ignition high says the move is continuing.
Watch it play out
Replay plays a setup this strategy already finished and stops so you can call it. Live watches for the next one on Bitcoin (BTC-USD, 1-minute candles). Either way a setup is marked only when a candle closes, then it's locked and plays out to its target or its stop. Nothing to trade here.
How the live chart applies the rules
- 1-minute candles. The chart runs every strategy on 1-minute Bitcoin candles from Coinbase, whatever timeframe the strategy page suggests. Times are New York time.
- Closed candles only. Levels, triggers and stops are read when a candle closes. Entry is that candle's close.
- One setup at a time. While a setup is playing out, the same strategy doesn't start another.
- Sensible risk only. A setup counts only if its stop is between a quarter and 6 times the average candle range (ATR 14) from entry (wider for session-range strategies), and its target is at least 0.75R away.
- How a setup ends. At its target or its stop. If one candle touches both, the stop counts. A setup also ends at any exit its page names, and after 120 candles (longer for trend and session strategies) if nothing is hit.
- Replays. A replay plays the latest setup this strategy finished on the live chart's recent history, sped up. It's the same setup the live chart confirmed, with the same entry, stop and result. If the strategy hasn't finished one recently, the replay uses example candles and says so.
- The trading day. A day runs 6:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET, like futures. VWAP restarts at 6:00 PM, and "yesterday" means the last full trading day.
How Three-bar play works
- 1Where's the level?
- The high of the ignition candle (the low for shorts).
- 2What's the trigger?
- After one or two small pause candles that stay in the top half of the ignition candle, a candle closes above the ignition high.
- 3Where is it wrong?
- Below the low of the pause candles.
- 4Where does it end?
- 2 times the risk.
- Markets
- Futures, Stocks, Forex, Crypto
- Timeframes
- 1m to 15m
- Sessions
- Opening hour
- Also called
- Ignition bar pattern, 3 bar play
What it means
A wide ignition candle shows strong buyers (or sellers). One or two small candles pause near its top without giving much back. A close above the ignition high says the move is continuing.
How it is confirmed without repainting
The ignition and pause candles are all closed before the trigger, and their highs and lows are fixed.
When it fails
The pause gives back more than half of the ignition candle. That is no longer a pause, it is a reversal.
Education only. Prop Firm Duel does not provide trade signals or financial advice. This page explains how the strategy is commonly defined. Past results never guarantee future results.
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