SerialWinner
Member
I feel donk bets might be the most incorrectly mocked and criminally underused plays in all of poker. While not as impactful to your bottom line as, say, tightening your starting hand selection or ratcheting up your aggression, getting your donk bets right can go a long way towards boosting you to profitability.
First off, if you don’t know what a donk bet is, it’s a bet made into the player who’s been the aggressor into the hand so far. Most of the time (but not always), donk bets happen on the turn or river.
It’s called a donk bet because, well, it’s typically the type of play a donk would make.
After all, why would you bet when you could check-raise? Won’t check-raising get you more value when your opponent has air, give you more equity when you’re bluffing, and give you the opportunity to get more free cards in later hands?
Well…yes. But you should still have the donk bet in your arsenal. Here’s how to use them correctly:
Always think about board texture and hand ranges
Before deciding whether to donk or c-raise, you should consider your opponent’s hand in relation to the board. Consider the following boards after you’ve called an EP raise from the BB:
A
K
3
6
5 4
Why on earth would you donk bet the first flop? The villain here is c-betting 100% of the time. So let’s think through a few scenarios:
Be more inclined to donk in multiway pots
A lot of what I just wrote can go out the window in a multiway pot (depending on board texture, of course). For example, let’s say that same EP raiser got two other callers in addition to you, and the flop comes:
J 7 2
The preflop raiser probably still has the best hand - but here there be dragons, and he’s going to be behind a lot of the time if all the money goes in.
You’re in a bad spot positionally. If you check, the PR will most likely make a decent-sized c-bet. The other two players will likely call if they have any piece of the flop, including a draw.
A c/r, then, will be very risky, both in terms of its likelihood of success and the money you’ll have to commit to pull it off. Even if you have a hand like a set of jacks, you might not be able to raise enough to make it unprofitable to draw on you. And if you have something like AJ, there’s a good chance you get looked up by someone drawing and someone who has you crushed. Not a good spot.
But what about a donk? If you have a good hand, you can donk and the PR will either raise you, which will ruin the odds for anyone drawing on you, or they’ll call and entice some calls behind them - a bit risky, but you’re building a pretty big pot this way.
There’s one other thing to keep in mind here: player tendencies. If you know the PR is very aggressive and there’s a fish to his left, you’re probably better off checking, letting him c-bet, letting the fish call, and the c-raising. This will likely trap the fish (who now feels committed) while chasing off all but the strongest hands the PR could have.
Don’t donk to “find out where you’re at”
This is what fish do. You should only donk if you have a pretty good idea of where you stand already. Putting opponents on ranges and constantly reevaluating should be a bedrock part of your strategy.
Now, I’m not saying that you can’t change your mind if you run into a ton of aggression - of course you can. But that should be a rare occurrence.
I typically donk bet with a pretty polarized range: monsters, complete air, and maybe a pair + draw (like 76 on a 654 board). This makes the hands pretty easy to play, and I always know where I’m at - no need to put chips in the middle to find out.
Final thoughts
Whew, didn’t expect to write a book about donk bets, but I wanted to be thorough. And honestly, there’s a lot more I could write. Maybe if this gets a lot of traction or there are a lot of questions, I’ll add to it later.
But anyway, here’s the tl;dr:
Donk bets should be a part of your arsenal. Use them when it makes sense in regards to the board and the villains range. Also use them more often in multiway pots. Thank me later.
First off, if you don’t know what a donk bet is, it’s a bet made into the player who’s been the aggressor into the hand so far. Most of the time (but not always), donk bets happen on the turn or river.
It’s called a donk bet because, well, it’s typically the type of play a donk would make.
After all, why would you bet when you could check-raise? Won’t check-raising get you more value when your opponent has air, give you more equity when you’re bluffing, and give you the opportunity to get more free cards in later hands?
Well…yes. But you should still have the donk bet in your arsenal. Here’s how to use them correctly:
Always think about board texture and hand ranges
Before deciding whether to donk or c-raise, you should consider your opponent’s hand in relation to the board. Consider the following boards after you’ve called an EP raise from the BB:
A
K 36
5 4Why on earth would you donk bet the first flop? The villain here is c-betting 100% of the time. So let’s think through a few scenarios:
- You have a middling hand like Ax or Kx - well, this flop couldn’t really fit his range any more perfectly. He either has you crushed, or he’s got a hand like QQ or JJ and you’re not getting any action out of him if you donk
- You have a monster like a set of aces - why scare him off? Sure, there may be some situations where he has a set of kings or 8s and you could just shove and get a call, but more often than not you’ll put a hand like AQ on the defensive. Let him take the action and c/r a later street
- You have complete air - you should probably just give up without putting any more chips in. If you insist on trying to take the pot away, a turn c/r is probably going to be more effective than a donk bet, as you’ll get called down by a strong ace a lot of the time
- If you check, there’s a good chance he’s checking back for pot control, even if he has a hand like aces or kings. That’s good if you have a hand that wants to take a card off, but not if you flopped a monster (or have air and want to represent a monster)
- If he bets and you call, there’s a good chance he’s shutting down, especially if a scare card hits the turn or river. Again, this could be good if you have air, but it could also get you in trouble if the board doesn’t cooperate
- A c/r can be useful in these situations, except it’s pretty transparent and also risky. On the flop, it screams semibluff. On the turn or river, it screams “I have it” - but you also run the risk of missing a street of value if villain checks behind (which they will often)
Be more inclined to donk in multiway pots
A lot of what I just wrote can go out the window in a multiway pot (depending on board texture, of course). For example, let’s say that same EP raiser got two other callers in addition to you, and the flop comes:
J
7 2The preflop raiser probably still has the best hand - but here there be dragons, and he’s going to be behind a lot of the time if all the money goes in.
You’re in a bad spot positionally. If you check, the PR will most likely make a decent-sized c-bet. The other two players will likely call if they have any piece of the flop, including a draw.
A c/r, then, will be very risky, both in terms of its likelihood of success and the money you’ll have to commit to pull it off. Even if you have a hand like a set of jacks, you might not be able to raise enough to make it unprofitable to draw on you. And if you have something like AJ, there’s a good chance you get looked up by someone drawing and someone who has you crushed. Not a good spot.
But what about a donk? If you have a good hand, you can donk and the PR will either raise you, which will ruin the odds for anyone drawing on you, or they’ll call and entice some calls behind them - a bit risky, but you’re building a pretty big pot this way.
There’s one other thing to keep in mind here: player tendencies. If you know the PR is very aggressive and there’s a fish to his left, you’re probably better off checking, letting him c-bet, letting the fish call, and the c-raising. This will likely trap the fish (who now feels committed) while chasing off all but the strongest hands the PR could have.
Don’t donk to “find out where you’re at”
This is what fish do. You should only donk if you have a pretty good idea of where you stand already. Putting opponents on ranges and constantly reevaluating should be a bedrock part of your strategy.
Now, I’m not saying that you can’t change your mind if you run into a ton of aggression - of course you can. But that should be a rare occurrence.
I typically donk bet with a pretty polarized range: monsters, complete air, and maybe a pair + draw (like 76 on a 654 board). This makes the hands pretty easy to play, and I always know where I’m at - no need to put chips in the middle to find out.
Final thoughts
Whew, didn’t expect to write a book about donk bets, but I wanted to be thorough. And honestly, there’s a lot more I could write. Maybe if this gets a lot of traction or there are a lot of questions, I’ll add to it later.
But anyway, here’s the tl;dr:
Donk bets should be a part of your arsenal. Use them when it makes sense in regards to the board and the villains range. Also use them more often in multiway pots. Thank me later.
