Donk Bets (4) - Tricky Spots

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We already introduced you to some of the things you have to keep in mind if you want to integrate donk bets into your game. We also talked about quick ways of analysing how your opponent's donk bet can be interpreted. Today, we will examine four spots in which donk bets play a role.

Spot 1 – Possible donk bet in heads-up

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
UTG ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BU ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A , J
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00

Flop: ($2.10) 3, 4, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, ...

Preflop, you decided to defend passively. You don't really hit anything on the flop, but you have a few outs (two over cards, back door flush, back door straight).

You can donk here if you think you will get a lot of fold equity, for example against TAGs who only play straightforward, or against rocks. When up against a calling station, you have to be prepared that a weaker hand will call every now and then, in this case this is a marginal spot.

Against loose players who don't give you much credit and who might re-bluff you, you should not make this bet.

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
UTG ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BU ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A , J
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00

Flop: ($2.10) 3, 4, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, ...

You really have some interesting outs here. Possible options would be a donk bet, a check/call or a check/raise.

If you donk here and your opponent raises, can you continue to play your hand? If you are positive about this and think the line bet/3-bet is profitable, go for it. This will particularly pay off in situations where the opponent folds many hands on the flop - after all, you are playing the hand as a semi-bluff and want to create some fold equity here.

Against straightforward players who like to contibet, but fold to heavy action, a check/raise should be the better choice.

Check/call is very passive and will only be profitable if you don't see your opponent fold any hand.

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
UTG ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BU ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A , J
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00

Flop: ($2.10) 3, 4, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, ...

It has become a mere question of value and protection now:

How will your opponent interpret the donk bet? Naturally, you want to play bet/3-bet here, but is your opponent capable of making loose raises, possibly even as a (semi) bluff?

Or will your opponent also contibet a flop like this every time and only give you little credit if you check/raise?

Against passive opponents, you can donk here. They will probably only contibet few hands, but call down a lot. You can also donk bet against very aggressive players, since they could often bluff raise such spots.

Against normal players, a check/raise is definitely possible. That way, you would at least get the contibet, protect your hand as much as possible, and already get a strong hand to go all-in on the flop, a hand that otherwise might only call your donk bet on the flop for reasons of pot control.

Spot 2 – Confronting a donk bet in heads-up

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
UTG ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BU with K , Q
3 folds, Hero raises $1.00, 1 fold, BB calls $1.00

Flop: ($2.10) 5, 5, K (2 players)
BB bets $1.40, ...

In many donk bet situations, you find yourself in a way ahead - way behind situation. On the one hand, your hand is quite strong, on the other hand you might be able to isolate yourself against a strong range with a raise. What can you accomplish with a raise here? You will rarely have the read that Villain plays donk bet/broke with any king here. Calling down is usually your only option.

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
UTG ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BU with K , Q
3 folds, Hero raises $1.00, 1 fold, BB calls $1.00

Flop: ($2.10) 4, 5, K (2 players)
BB bets $1.40, ...

In this case, you have no problem with the donk bet. This time, you could raise and easily go broke.

If you are facing aggressive donkers who often get on your nerves, this is a good spot to balance your bluff raises. If you often call Villain's donk bets, you can also find a call here.

The more aggressive your opponent, the more inclined you should be to raise because Villain can also go all-in with weaker flush draws on the flop. On the other hand, it also wouldn't be a problem if both of you improve on the turn.

Only the straight draw represents a problem. It is important to analyse how Villain continues to play draws on the turn or busted draws on the river. If he usually keeps donk betting here, a call down is a good choice. If he only plays the draws aggressively on the flop (due to good equity), you can very well raise here.

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats                          
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
UTG ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BU with K , Q
3 folds, Hero raises $1.00, 1 fold, BB calls $1.00

Flop: ($2.10) 4, 5, J (2 players)
BB bets $1.40, ...

You don't have a made hand this time, however you have two over-cards and a flush draw. Again your hand is strong enough to play raise/broke, the question however is whether or not a call would be the better option.

Against very passive opponents, calling is the best option, since you might isolate yourself against a strong range. Such opponents rarely play bet/broke with a pure 8/9 outer.

Against aggressive players on the other hand, a raise will be profitable; it will create fold equity and if you go all-in, you will usually have an acceptable amount of equity.

Spot 3 – Donk bet in a multi-way pot – Made hand

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25)
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BU with K , K
UTG calls $0.25, 2 folds, Hero raises $1.25, SB calls $1.25, BB calls $1.25, UTG calls $1.00

Flop: ($5.00) 6, 6, T (4 players)
SB bets $3.00, 2 folds, Hero...

In multi-way pots, you should always be cautious when it comes to donk bets. In this case, there are barely any draws (gutshots at best) out there, that's why you can narrow down Villain's range to three hand types:

• Strong made hands (e.g. 6x or slow played over-pairs)
• Weak hands that info-bet (e.g. T9, 99-77)
• Bluffs that can expect much fold equity (over-cards, small PPs, SCs without any hit)

A raise wouldn't really make sense against any of these hands. At best, it could make sense against strong Tx hands and JJ/QQ, because they might give up on the turn if a scare card appears. However, this range is too small, every opponent has a thin donk bet/broke range here. Since there is nothing to protect, you should find a call.

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25)
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BU with K , K
UTG calls $0.25, 2 folds, Hero raises $1.25, SB calls $1.25, BB calls $1.25, UTG calls $1.00

Flop: ($5.00) 6, 6, T (4 players)
SB bets $3.00, BB calls $3.00, UTG calls $3.00, Hero...

Same spot. However, this time the big blind and the UTG call the donk bet. It's not a pleasant situation, slow playing with 6x is definitely possible here.

However, this is a better situation for a raise than the previous example. The problem is the following:

• A call nearly commits you to the pot. There would be $17 in the pot on the turn, but you would only have a little over $20 left. You can no longer get out of the pot at this point.
• In the previous hand, you only had one opponent left in the hand, who had few outs against you. Multiple opponents however usually have many outs against you. Take the hands AT, JJ and 78s. You like to go all-in against each of these hands on the flop, but taken together, they would have 11 outs (3*A ; 2*T, 2*J, 4*9) against you. You should rarely take this risk.
• Keep in mind: There are scare cards for Villain, even if they don't hit on the turn. Any over-card would not be good for you (A,K,Q). You could live with a set, but Tx und JJ will no longer be able to call you from the turn onwards.

Spot 4 – Donk bet in a multi-way pot - Draw

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25)
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9 , 8
UTG calls $0.25, 2 folds, Hero raises $1.25, SB calls $1.25, BB calls $1.25, UTG calls $1.00

Flop: ($5.00) 4, 5, Q (4 players)
SB bets $3.00, 2 folds, Hero...

You have a draw now, and after the big blind and the UTG fold, you almost end up playing in a heads-up pot. Your 9-outer would simply be over-played if you choose to raise/broke, you would only have the correct odds to call a push due to the size of the initial pot on the flop.

That's why calling is the best choice here.

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
UTG ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9 , 8
UTG calls $0.25, 2 folds, Hero raises $1.25, SB calls $1.25, BB calls $1.25, UTG calls $1.25

Flop: ($5.00) 4, 5, Q (4 players)
SB bets $3.00, BB calls $3.00, UTG calls $3.00, Hero...

Considering our explanation for spot 3, would a push make more sense here!?

At first glance, it seems that calling is the best choice here, but you can also think about pushing. The pot is bigger and pushing will therefore less likely be a clear –EV play.

Let's assume you give one player 55 and the other 44, and neither of them ever folds, you would invest $23.85 to stay in a $79.25 pot. You would need an equity of around 30% for this.

Equity analysis
Board	Q 5 4
	Equity	Win	Split	Loss	Hand
Player 1	29.01%	29.01%	0%	70.97%	9 8
Player 2	66.45%	66.45%	0%	33.56%	55
Player 3	4.54%	4.54%	0%	95.46%	44

It's still a very marginal spot. You can't expect to generate any fold equity against this range. You don't fare any better against possible ranges that include better flush draws (you would no longer be able to fold if you call on the flop or the turn) or top pairs (that don't take away any outs to the full house from the set).

That's why calling the flop should be your first choice.

PartyPoker $25 NL Hold'em (6-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25)
MP ($25)
CO ($25)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BU with 9 , 8
UTG calls $0.25, 2 folds, Hero raises $1.25, SB calls $1.25, BB calls $1.25, UTG calls $1.00

Flop: ($5.00) 6, 7, Q (4 players)
SB bets $3.00, BB calls $3.00, UTG calls $3.00, Hero...

In the previous example you couldn't make the push, but this time you have countless outs.

Equity analysis
Board	Q 7 6
	Equity	Win	Split	Loss	Hand
Player 1	44.04%	44.04%	0%	55.96%	9 8
Player 2	51.5%	51.5%	0%	48.51%	77
Player 3	4.47%	4.47%	0%	95.53%	66

Equity analysis
Board	Q 7 6
	Equity	Win	Split	Loss	Hand
Player 1	41.8%	41.8%	0%	58.2%	9 8
Player 2	29.1%	26.21%	5.79%	68.01%	AA, QQ, 66-77, AQs, AQo, A 3, A 4
Player 3	29.1%	26.21%	5.79%	68.01%	AA, QQ, 66-77, AQs, AQo, A 3, A 4

If you go all-in on the flop against this range, this would be extremely +EV for you. You can go ahead and push here, create some fold equity and feel good at the fact that you will do quite well if you get called.

LINKS
Related articles: Donk Bets (1) - Theory I Donk Bets (2) - Theory II Donk Bets (3) - Confrontations with Donk Bets Discussion forum: Discuss this article in the forum