Donk Bets (2) - Theory II

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In the first part of this series, you were introduced to the theory behind donk bets. In this part, we will continue this introduction and have a look at other theoretical aspects.

There are many different spots which can get you into such a situation. Today you will learn ways that will help you master it.

Preflop aggression: Why not make a 3-bet?

We are currently still analysing heads-up situations. And this is where you have to ask yourself: How did you end up in this situation in the first place?

In a raised pot, the only possibility is that you cold called from the blinds. This is the only way for you to play out of position without the initiative. In a 3-bet pot, you might very well only call a 3-bet after an open-raise from early position. We will come back to this situation later.

The basic question you have to ask yourself is: Can donk bets become a regular part of my long-term game?

The most important thing about your game is that you have a good plan at hand for many different situations. If you 3-bet, how do you continue postflop? If you only call, how do you play the flop? If you donk bet on the flop, how do you proceed on the turn?

If you generally plan to integrate donk bets into your game, you have to prefer the line call preflop / donk bet flop to the line 3-bet preflop when you are up against certain opponent types.

In the end, you are playing aggressively to try and win the pot or to extract value. But why not already do so preflop?

The following example illustrates this fundamental problem:

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

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

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

Flop: ($2.10) 6, 6, T (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, ...

This example gives you the opportunity to have a closer look at all the relevant questions: Preflop, you could have easily made a 3-bet, but didn't because you didn't want to drive any weaker hand out of the pot. In general, this is not a good play; however we are intentionally examining the best hand, AA. With hands such as QQ/JJ-, there are more even reasons that speak against a 3-bet preflop, clearly making a call the better choice.

If you decide to slow play your hand before the flop, why would you donk the flop? Do you see your opponent call so many weaker hands now, while he rarely actively bets with weaker hands? Although you want to keep his range open preflop, you confront him with a donk bet on the flop.

Would it not have made more sense to check the flop here?

You definitely have to think about these things. Just keep in mind: You want to avoid heads-up situations out of position as much as you can (especially when they are not necessary, although of course it can make sense with many hands to only call in the blinds).

Balancing and deception

This is one of the most important aspects. As you will see in the section after the next, there is a life without donk bets. It is not a must to integrate them into your game (Keep in mind: we are talking about heads-up situations here!)

However, if you do plan to implement such bets into your game, it is absolutely necessary to come up with a balancing plan.

This is not necessarily the case when you are facing weak opponents, such as calling stations. Against these, you should always try to find the maximum +EV play for the current hand. The rule mainly applies to regulars, against which you regularly want to use donk bets in the long term.

The betting types mentioned in the first part of this series need balancing: value, bluff and semi-bluff. You simply shouldn't bet/fold too many hands, because this would make you vulnerable to bluffs. A reasonably balanced frequency of bluffs and value bets is extremely important here.

What's decisive in such a situation is how donk bets generally appear - they look weak. As illustrated in Example 1: Why would someone trap preflop in order to donk bet as soon as they get to the flop? It wouldn't make much sense.

Since many donk bets are seen as weak, you will often find yourself confronted with (bluff) raises or get light call downs from made hands.

You might welcome this in some situations, but you do need to have every type of bet in your repertoire here. However, finding an appropriate frequency for each of them is up to you (one of the factors this depends on is how often you plan to donk).

The alternative may seem strange, but there are many players who never donk bet in heads-up situations. Consequently, their flop play looks as follows:

• check/fold
• check/call
• check/raise

This can indeed make sense:

Advantages:

• You have picked the spot (call from the blinds).
• You have perfectly balanced your play (you always check).
• The opponent cannot adapt to it.
• You will often get a (bluff) continuation bet.
• A check/raise on the flop creates more fold equity than a donk bet, this is important for (semi) bluffs.
• With check/raises, you can protect better and build the pot much more quickly than with donk bets.

Disadvantages:

• You can only bluff by check/raising and this will often be a costly endeavor.
• The line check/call will get you into difficult spots on the turn.
• You will often be playing way ahead - way behind.
• You don't get much information about Villain's hand.
• You check/fold hands that you might have won by making a donk bet.

The two previous sections are the most important ones in this series: It is not a mistake to never donk bet in heads-up situations. However, if you decide in favour of donk bets, you have to balance them to prevent your opponents from being able to read you.

Heads-up or multi-way?

This takes us straight to the next point: Do you have to distinguish between heads-up and multi-way?

You definitely do. There's a huge difference between playing heads-up and playing a multi-way pot. This already starts with your preflop play: Multi-way, you can often call from the blinds with speculative hands if several players have already entered the pot before you.

It is a big mistake to never make any donk bets in multi-way pots.

Again you can analyse the factors that speak for a donk bet:

In multi-way pots…

• …you don't have to balance anything.
• …is where you will find yourself much more often than in heads-up pots.
• …the preflop aggressor will not make any particularly light conti-bets.
• …you don't want to give out any free cards on draw-heavy boards if you have a strong hand.
• …the threat of free cards is much higher than in a HU pot, especially if you have a very vulnerable hand.
• …the fold equity you create is considerably lower so that you should be more than cautious with (semi) bluffs.

All in all, it is much more important to analyse the given situation in a multi-way pot in order to extract maximum EV:

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

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

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7 , 7
UTG raises $1.00, MP calls $1.00, CO calls $1.00, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.00

Flop: ($4.10) 7, 3, 3 (4 players)
Hero bets $2.80, ...

You can donk the flop here, because it is extremely unlikely that the initial preflop aggressor will bluff contibet against the two calling stations. If all the players check, the pot is still small.

Apart from that, a check/raise would be rather extreme, a check/call would not give you the initiative on the turn either. If you donk bet, you give the loose players the chance to call, and on the turn you could bet for value. Since the pot is already bigger multi-way, you could even get all-in on the river.

This is pure value play, there is nothing you have to protect.

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

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

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7 , 6
UTG raises $1.00, MP calls $1.00, CO calls $1.00, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.00

Flop: ($4.10) A, 8, 4 (4 players)
Hero bets $2.80, ...

Here on the other hand, your main concern is protection. A fourth on the turn would be a catastrophe for your hand, a paired board might prevent you from being able to start any action.

In this situation, you bet for value and for protection, many hands will try to see a free card, which you don't like at all. A good spot for you to bet.

Sometimes however, there is something missing for the perfect hand.

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

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

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7 , 6
UTG raises $1.00, MP calls $1.00, CO calls $1.00, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.00

Flop: ($4.10) A, 9, 4 (4 players)
Hero...?

Does a donk bet make sense here? It would be a semi-bluff, therefore you would have to give yourself some fold equity. Against the two calling stations, this is unlikely (that's why a donk bet for value makes sense in the previous example).

On top of that, the preflop aggressor may very well raise strong Ax hands here. However, you definitely cannot play donk bet/broke with your nine outs to a flush.

This means that if your draw is not strong enough for donk bet/broke and you don't think you can generate enough fold equity, you should play your draw passively and check/call.

Also, it is just as important to use different lines against different opponents.

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

Stacks & Stats
MP ($15) (Maniac)
CO ($25) (Calling station)
UTG ($25) (TAG)
Hero ($25)
SB ($25)
BU ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9 , 9
UTG raises $1.00, MP calls $1.00, CO calls $1.00, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.00

Flop: ($4.10) 3, 4, 6 (4 players)
Hero bets $2.80, ...

You will often be up against very different opponents that also have different stack sizes.

Your hand is vulnerable here, check/call might result in free cards, a check/raise on the other hand would be over-played.

You can donk here…

• …with the intention to play bet/fold against the preflop aggressor.
• …and hope to get light call downs from the calling station.
• …planning to play bet/broke against the maniac with half a stack.

3-bet pots

3-bet pots have their very own individual dynamics. Again, the main question is: How did you get into this situation in the first place?

You should definitely try to avoid getting into such a situation altogether. A 3-bet pot in heads-up out of position is probably the spot where most players lose most of their money.

If you defend your blind aggressively (3-bet), you at least still have the initiative.

Here, your own feel for the game comes into play. If you raise from early position, the button 3-bets and you call, what will your range look like? Every now and then you can trap (QQ+), most other hands should not stay in the pot here. Therefore, you can forget about balancing anyway.

These spots primarily emerge against weak players, where you don't have to balance anything anyway. If your skill is advanced enough to call many hands out of position after a 3-bet, you need to know how to control your postflop play.

Generally, you should play straightforward in 3-bet pots, i.e. not make any (bluff) donk bets.

Donk bets on the turn and the river

This is a very specific aspect as well. When does it make sense for you to donk the turn? For this scenario, you would have to be on the turn after playing passively preflop and playing check/call on the flop:

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 X X
UTG raises $1.00, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.00

Flop: ($2.10) 5, 6, T (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $1.40, Hero calls $1.40

Turn: ($4.90) K (2 players)
Hero bets $3.80,...

It almost impossible to balance these plays, that's why you should play a straightforward game here as well. It would make sense...

• …against calling stations, after you hit the turn well and your opponent is not likely to fire a 2nd barrel.
• …against TAGs/LAGs/maniacs that often bet the flop but check the turn (for value if you have a good made hand).
• …against TAGs/LAGs/maniacs that often bet the flop but fold many hands on the turn (if you want to bluff [turn float out of position]).
• …against TAGs/LAGs/maniacs that often bet the flop and can make light raises (for value) on the turn.

Based on your reads and the stats, you should choose the play with the highest +EV here.

It is also important to analyse what your opponents might donk bet with. You will learn more about this in the next part.

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Related articles: Donk Bets (1) - Theory I Donk Bets (3) - Confrontations with Donk Bets Donk Bets (4) - Tricky Spots Discussion forum: Discuss this article in the forum