Donk Bets (1) - Theory I
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In today's column, we will take a closer look at donk bets. We will shed light on the purpose of such bets, possible ranges and the factor of balacing.
It is also relevant to analyse which hands your opponents often donk bet with. How do you fare against your opponents and what's more: What is the ideal way of reacting to a donk bet?
What is a donk bet?
Let's first have a look at the PokerStrategy.com - glossary:
The term donkbet comes from the combination of donkey and bet. Such a bet is an unexpected or risky bet by a player who was not the aggressor in the previous round, often into a player who was the aggressor. This is also called a gaybet or bet out of nowhere. A typical situation for a donkbet is when a player calls a raise in the first round then bets into the raiser in the next round. Donkbets can be dumb moves by inexperienced players, or deceptive maneouvers made to trick an opponent since they are often viewed as weak. Furthermore, they are used as blockbets in variants with variable bet sizes, where a small bet can be made to keep an opponent from making a large, pot odds-spoiling bet.
A simple summary of this could look as follows: A donk bet is a bet from a player who was not the last one to show aggression preflop. However, interpreting these bets is not as easy as you might hope.
Why donk bet?
This is the fundamental question every player has to ask himself.
Naturally, the question "why am I betting..." should always be part of your considerations. Do I have a value bet? Can I bluff bet? How will my opponent react to this bet?
The reasons for a donk bet are therefore limited to four main choices:
- Value bets
- Bluff bets
- Semi-bluff bets
- Info bets
Out of these, the info bet is probably the most problematic one. As you will know, info raises are usually a bad choice in No Limit, so why would you info bet in the first place?
PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)
Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25)
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
BU ($25)
SB ($25)
Hero ($25)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 7
, 7
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00
Flop: ($2.10) 6, 6, T
(2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, ...
The problem of such an info bet is that you often won't be able to explain its purpose yourself. Although you have a good made hand that you don't want to check/fold, you would be quite happy to see your opponent folding.
You assume that your opponent only raises better hands and that you can therefore find an easy fold if your opponent shows aggression.
You will often encounter the following situation…
PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)
Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25)
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
BU ($25)
SB ($25)
Hero ($25)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 7 , 7
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00
Flop: ($2.10) 6, 6, T (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, UTG calls $1.40
Turn: ($4.90) 4 (2 players)
Hero...
To be frank, you really don't want to get into this situation in the first place. The board doesn't have any draws, which weaker hand could Villain call here? He can only have called over-cards on the flop, at best. But is that enough?
- If you check/fold now, why make the donk bet in the first place?
- If you check/call now, why not already do so on the flop?
Realistically, you won't profit from the donk bet on the flop. You will rarely extract any value from weaker hands, almost never get any better hand to fold and get yourself in a very bad position on the upcoming streets.
Although this info bet really doesn't make much sense, it is usually the main reason for a donk bet (simply due to a lack of alternatives, which is however often a result of a players's lack of experience).
What are the prerequisites for a successful donk bet?
Have a look at the other three cases now: value, bluff, semi-bluff.
The goal behind a donk bet for value is clear: You want to extract value from the opponent and think that a donk bet has a higher EV than a check.
This heavily depends on the opponent. One possible option would be a very passive player who rarely contibets (shows aggression himself), but often calls down. Against him, you can make three value bets out of position.
It is also possible against very aggressive players (e.g. maniacs), where you know that they will often directly bluff raise you. When playing such opponents, you can already build a big pot on the flop.
These bets are also very valuable against regulars, since they often won't know how to react to them. Opponents don't like to fold against donk bets and it is possible that you will get light calls here.
You rob your opponent of the opportunity to check behind on the flop, which would keep the pot small (and this is not in your interest) or which would give him a free card (which you wouldn't like to happen on draw-heavy boards).
It is also good to have a look at your alternatives. What if the opponent contibets a lot, but always checks behind on the turn? Your alternatives would be to either check/raise the flop or to donk bet the turn. If you think a check/raise would look too strong and a donk bet on the turn will have the same effect, the donk bet on the flop becomes your preferred option.
PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)
Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25) Callingstation
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
BU ($25)
SB ($25)
Hero ($25)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 7 , 7
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00
Flop: ($2.10) 7, 3, 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, UTG calls $1.40
Turn: ($4.90) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.70,...
In this case, you should just keep betting against a passive player. You think that he will not bet often enough himself, but will love to call weaker hands. You simply assume that the EV of a donk bet will be higher than that of a check in this situation.
PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)
Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25) TAG
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
BU ($25)
SB ($25)
Hero ($25)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 7 , 7
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00
Flop: ($2.10) 7, 6, 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.80, UTG calls $1.80
Turn: ($5.70) 2
(2 players)
Hero bets $4.80,...
You are making the assumption that the opponent will often check behind on this board. That's why you directly want to protect here. In such a case, you are reaching a boundary:
- Villain will fold a lot.
- You won't get a bluff contibet from him.
- By check/raising on the flop, you would protect better.
- Villain will not raise many donk bets, but play many hands for pot control (or even call draws due to implied odds).
- The line donk bet/3-bet (push) will therefore not work out in many situations.
These examples alone show you why donk bets are so problematic. They do have some advantages, but also many disadvantages.
Let's come to the second option, the bluff donk bet.
The situation is quite clear here: You have nothing and only want to get the opponent to fold. You might already be content if your opponent folds on the flop, but you could also plan to 2nd barrel the turn, perhaps basing your decision on a good scare card.
This would create fold equity on the flop and on the turn.
PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)
Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25) Tight-passive
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
BU ($25)
SB ($25)
Hero ($25)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 7 , 6
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00
Flop: ($2.10) A, K, T (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, UTG calls $1.40
Turn: ($4.90) J (2 players)
Hero bets $3.40, UTG folds
This example also shows that such a spot is marginal (we are ignoring the marginal preflop call in this analysis).
Does it make sense to bluff here? The opponent is rather tight-passive, he does not play many hands, but also doesn't just call down everything. Your showdown value is zero, the turn completes the straight draw as well as the flush draw. Even if he had AK, Villain would have difficulty calling here (he folds every PP).
Villain only has to fold in around 40% of cases to make the move +EV here. Is this condition met?
This aspect is by far the most complicated of all. If you have a draw out of position, it usually isn't a very profitable spot. As you already saw in Example 5, you should try to avoid such situations as much as possible.
You don't necessarily have to call a suited connector after a simple raise when you are out of position.
Therefore, you will often have weak draws, such as an open-ended straight draw (if you called a pocket pair in the blinds) or over-cards (possibly with additional outs to a straight or a flush).
The problem with such hands is simply that you can't profitably bet/call them. You would therefore have to donk bet/fold most of your draws.
PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)
Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25) Unknown
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
BU ($25)
SB ($25)
Hero ($25)
Preflop: Hero is BB with A , Q
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00
Flop: ($2.10) 4, 9, T (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, ...
You donk bet as a semi-bluff because you have two over-cards, the back door flush and the back door straight. However, this won't ever be enough to make a profitable 3-bet if Villain raises.
PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)
Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25) Unknown
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
BU ($25)
SB ($25)
Hero ($25)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 6 , 7
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00
Flop: ($2.10) 4, 5, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, ...
The situation looks different in this case, but the preflop play is again debatable.
You can push to a 3-bet here, donk/fold would not make much sense with this hand. However, you should try and figure out whether a check/raise might be more profitable here. It would create more fold equity than a simple donk bet would.
If you check and the opponent does the same, you get a free card, which you can actually consider a good thing.
However, if Villain calls your donk bet, you have to make sure that you have a plan for your turn play, especially in cases where you don't improve. Your equity will naturally drop dramatically if you don't hit on the turn.
You have to analyse thoroughly if there are opponents against which such a play is appropriate. Can you create enough fold equity through a donk bet? Can you create enough fold equity with a 2nd barrel? Will your opponents pay you off often enough if you hit the turn (river)?
| » SUMMARY |
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All these examples illustrate that playing out of position is always unpleasant. We have shown you which basic questions you have to ask in order to figure out when a donk bet is appropriate. The upcoming parts of this column will provide you with additional examples of relevant situations. Before coming to these examples however, we will work to further expand your theory knowledge: How did you get into such a spot in the first place? What about balancing, what are your alternatives and how does your play change in multi-way pots? Can you also donk bet in 3-bet pots? And how do you react to donk bets on the turn and on the river? These are the questions we will examine in the next part of the column. |
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