Donkbetting

What is donkbetting? Put simply, it’s when you bet out of position when you were not the pre-flop raiser. The most common scenario is when the BTN open raises, SB folds, and the BB calls. On the flop, the BB donkbets.

It is an unusual line some players will take and it’s important to know how to react to donk bets so you don’t play like a donk yourself. Because it is not a normal line most players will take, it can create confusion with your opponents which is what makes it an optimal play sometimes.

Firstly, it’s important to understand that not every player will donk bet with the same range of hands. You may find that fish will donk bet with a really wide range which consists of complete air to bottom, middle, or top pair, other players will only donk bet with a strong hand. Like everything in poker, betting patterns are very much player dependant and you shouldn’t assume a player is donk betting with a specific range of hands until you have a good read on how they play.

Generally, the donkbet is utilized by weak players who bet out of position with weaker holdings. If they connect with the board in some way they will bet simply because they have a made hand and they will sometimes do it as a bluff when they think the flop didn’t help their opponents.

On the other hand, competent players will typically be donk betting with stronger hands, especially when their hand is vulnerable to a better drawing hand or if the board probably helped their opponents as well. It can be a good strategy to use when betting flush draws and you expect your opponent not to raise. Check calling out of position with a flush draw is a really weak play because if you don’t hit on the turn you generally just have to give up your hand, so alternatively you can check raise with strong draws like flush draws on the flop in order to get a free card on fourth street. By donk betting, not only do you gain initiative in the hand when you were not the pre-flop aggressor, but you get to see the next card for a cheaper price.

Once you have developed a certain dynamic with observant players and they know you are capable of donk betting with flush draws, it can then be worthwhile to donk bet with hands like flopped sets when there is a potential flush draw. Your opponents will think you are doing it with a flush draw and raise you when you have a set, so you can 3bet and get stacks in the middle on the flop, which is the main objective when you flop a set.

Whether or not you should donk bet with strong hands really depends on the situation. It is a much better play when there is a tight player in the hand and so you put them on a narrow range. If you put your opponent on a tight rang like QQ-AA and the flop is 348 with two suited cards, well then it would make sense to donk bet in these situations because your opponent will not be able to get away from big pairs on a low card flop. However, if the player involved in the pot was raising with a wide range and continuation betting pretty much all the time, well then it would be a mistake to donk bet because its unlikely the opponent has a hand and you will lose an extra cbet on the flop. Unless you are confident they would raise your donk bet with air, then it would be better to fake weakness by checking and allow them to spazz out.

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