When we here the term Donk bet, we can automatically assume that it is a ‘Bad Move’ or it’s something done by poor players who just don’t know what they are doing. However this is untrue, the Donk bet simply means picking up the betting lead when it wasn’t yours on the previous street of action.

Let’s look at an example of this:

6 Handed No-Limit cash game, Blinds $2/$5
BTN: Raises to $12
SB: Folds
HERO: Calls $7

Flop: 6♠ 9♠ 2♣

HERO: Bets $15

So what happened here is that we called preflop where the Button raiser has the aggressive action and then lead out on the flop or as it’s commonly known Donk Bet.

Why Should We Ever Donk Bet?

We can use board texture and having a nut advantage on a board to our advantage in certain pots and pick up the lead in certain situations, this can be in order to either build a pot for value or simply semi-bluff in order to win a pot on the flop.

Good spots to make this move include playing against opponents that have very passive tendencies post flop, as even if they call one bet, they may not be willing to call a second barrel when we are bluffing and for the times we are looking to build a pot for value we gain chips in the pot on a board when they are going to have a low C-bet frequency.

We can use this move if there is a suitable SPR that will allow us to 3-Bet All in on flops with hands like Combo draws or strong hands like two pairs plus. This way our leads are balanced and can be just bluffs but can also be very strong, putting our opponents to a guess for if they want to call off their stack.

Let’s look at an example with the same action from the first hand where we have a stack of just $120 remaining 

Our hand: T♠ 7♠ ($120 Behind)

Pot: $26
Flop: 6♠ 9♠ 2♣
HERO: Bets $15

Great reasons for leading connected boards

• We can blow our opponent off the best hand right here hands like Ace High, King High, Queen high etc all have to fold to this bet.
• With our stack to pot ratio the way it is if our opponent decides to raise us we can apply maximum pressure with a 3-Bet all in.
• If our opponent chooses to just flat call we have a lot of equity and the betting lead so we can try and win a larger pot if we hit or bluff again if we miss our hand.

What are the times we don’t want to Donk bet?

We don’t want to Donk bet on dry boards where we are either miles ahead or miles behind in the hand, this way we blow our opponents off their bluffs when we have the best hand but we can be digging our own grave when we are building the pot with the worst hand.

Donk Betting Later Streets

We don’t only want to pick up the lead on the flop, we can also look to donk later streets of action such as the turn and river cards.

• We can do this if a turn card is very good for our range and we feel our opponent is going to check back a lot on the turn due to their previous tendencies
• We can also look to donk bet turn or rivers as bluffs on action cards, let’s say we have been calling our opponent down with a straight draw in a deep pot and the river brings a flush on board, we could pick a large sizing and donk bet this card as a bluff. This would also be balanced for the times we could do this for value too.

Sum Up on Donk Bets

They don’t suit every situation and having a protected check range still needs to be a big part of your game plan but leading in out in the occasional spot is a good trick to have up your sleeve, it can throw our opponents off guard, switch up our style a little and win us some big pots if used correctly.

Remember to just always have a balanced range whilst using Donk bets, try not to be too bluff or too value heavy use a blend of both types of hands and you won’t go too far wrong!