How Donk Betting Can Up Your Winrate

A significant number of players go through large parts of their poker experience without ever incorporating donk bets into their strategy. donk There's a clear reason why these bets carry the label 'donk': traditionally, they have been utilized mainly by less skilled players as part of their game. poker strategy .

Are donk bets as detrimental as they're often portrayed? You might be surprised to discover that donk betting serves an important function in a theoretically sound approach to the game. In other words, neglecting to use donk bets in specific situations can actually hinder our overall potential to win.

In this discussion, we will delve into the key scenarios in which we should contemplate making a donk bet.

Let’s start by defining our term:

Donk Bet – A postflop wager made by a player acting out of position who was not the aggressor in the previous betting round.

To engage in a donk bet on the flop, we must first be the player who called preflop. This might involve calling an open raise or a 4-bet—the critical aspect being that we did not make the last aggressive action before the flop. For donking on the turn, this means that we initiated the action on the flop, although we don’t necessarily have to be the one who called preflop. 3bet Historically, players have been conditioned to check at every opportunity to the prior aggressor, meaning that many are entirely resistant to the concept of donk betting. call OOP We'll explore two primary contexts where donk betting becomes worth considering:

- Theoretically sound donk betting

Theoretically Sound Donk Betting

- Exploitative donk-betting
In situations where we anticipate facing a high frequency of c-bets (on any postflop street), the application of donk betting is limited. This is because if our opponent nearly always continuation bets, we may benefit more from a check-raise, which often yields better outcomes.

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Exploitative Donk-Betting

Our strategy for donk betting partially reflects our assessment of the c-betting tendencies of our opponent. If they continuation bet excessively, we will refrain from donking. Conversely, if they do it too infrequently, we might think about employing a more aggressive donk betting approach. continuation bets The second scenario in which donk betting becomes a crucial exploitative method is when our opponent is not proficient at responding to donk bets.

We can identify some common fundamental mistakes to watch for:

- Calling excessively against donk bets

- Raising too aggressively against donk bets

Folding/Calling too much – The appropriate fold percentage against donk bets should hover around 40% for each street, assuming we're discussing single-raised heads-up pots. If we observe that our opponent folds 70% of the time to turn donk bets, it signals that we should be expanding our bluff-heavy donk betting range in those turn situations.

- Folding too much to donk-bets
In fact, it might be wise to avoid check-folding on the turn entirely. Any hand we might consider folding can potentially be donk-bet for profit. Many players fail to include fold-to-donk stats in their main HUD or check for this data in popups. However, savvy players are always on the lookout for any exploitable opportunity.
Raising too aggressively – There's a school of poker thought that advises: 'Always raise against flop donk bets and fire on every turn.' While this advice may lack sophistication, it can have its advantages against players who are oblivious.

But what if we knew our opponent adhered to that style of play? Certainly, we would be leading with all our strong hands on the flop, confident in obtaining a sizeable payout, since this approach would prompt both a flop raise and a turn bet. There's little need for us to keep our ranges balanced because these maneuvers constitute exploitation. It's perfectly acceptable to donk bet solely for value without any bluffs mixed in.

Theoretically Sound Donk Betting check If we were attempting to design an ideal GTO poker AI, overlooking the possibility of donk betting would be a mistake. Mandating that the robot checks only to the preflop raiser would prevent it from executing perfect GTO strategies, which explicitly includes donk betting.

The simplest way to grasp this principle is to recognize that GTO poker is indifferent to who has the initiative – it doesn't consider who was the aggressor on the previous betting round or who was the caller; it focuses solely on the current distributions of each player’s range (in conjunction with factors like stack depth, etc.).

Multiple elements enable us to classify one range as being 'stronger' than another, with pot equity being just a small facet of that. Presently, there's a great deal of misinformation concerning this topic circulating in training videos and even among high-stakes professionals. When we use the term 'stronger,' we will assume that pertinent variables have been considered, although we won't delve into specifics in this discussion.

If Player A, who is out of position, possesses a stronger range than Player B, who is in position, Player A shouldn't check his entire range. Why? Because Player B would exploit this by checking back frequently and gaining additional equity. Thus, it becomes essential for Player A to diversify their range by incorporating some hands into a donk-betting strategy, preventing their checking range from being easily exploitable. When Player A does check, their range should be weak enough to still encourage Player B to attack with reasonable frequency.

On the other hand, if Player A’s range is already weak, employing a donk bet doesn’t serve much purpose. Player B will already have a significant motivation to play aggressively in position, and further diminishing Player A’s checking range won’t aid in their effort. Instead, Player A should pool resources into their checking range and make the best defense possible. Despite this, they will still find themselves folding more often than average, even when adhering to a GTO approach.

It's worth noting that this doesn't imply Player A made any errors. It merely indicates that certain board textures, such as specific flops, turns, or rivers, can favor one range over another, and skilled GTO players must adjust to those conditions. A classic example often referenced is when a board pairs with a relatively high second card. range advantage Consider the situation where the big blind calls against a button open, and the board texture unfolds as follows:

The underlying logic here is that the button may not choose to continuation bet with holdings like Jx on the flop. These hands are not particularly strong, and therefore might be better played as checks. On the flip side, the big blind will be calling with all their Jx holdings against a continuation bet. Consequently, the turned Jack becomes more advantageous for the big blind than for the button. At this point, they assume the role of Player A in our earlier theoretical exploration.

If the big blind opts to check their entire range now, the button can capitalize on this by checking back often. Therefore, the big blind is required to establish a donk-betting range. Naturally, the validity of this scenario hinges on the actual ranges that each player is employing. The key takeaway here is to extrapolate the relevant principles.

Timothy \"Ch0r0r0\" Allin is a seasoned poker player, coach, and author. Since his journey began in 2006, he has managed to build his bankroll from the ground up without ever making a deposit. After competing and succeeding in some of the toughest poker lineups worldwide, he now shares his expertise and strategies through the 888poker magazine. bet 888poker-EGR-logo-Mobile-Header-2021-white

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Board Texture:Q♦J♠ 6♥

BTN fires a continuation bet and BB calls.

Turn Card: J♣

BB donk bets.

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Summary of When to Donk Bet