Therefore, when he suddenly bets big, you won’t know if that is because his hand is strong or if it is because you have shown weakness by just calling small bets. The problem is that, by just calling a small donk bet, your opponent will suspect that your hand is not very strong. If your opponent suddenly bets big on the turn or river, how are you going to interpret this? However, as long as you are right more often than wrong, you are doing ok. If you think that your opponent is trying to trick you into putting money into the pot, you should fold. If you think the small donk bet is a sign of weakness, you can raise. If you put in a big raise against a small donk bet, you end up in a big pot and in a murky situation. How Should You Respond to a Small Donk Bet on a Dry Flop? If your opponent has recently seen you raise a small donk bet, he might be more likely to donk bet with a strong hand. However, you will be turning your hand into a bluff. Therefore, if you raise, it isn’t an outright bluff. In the hand example, you have a showdown value hand. If you have the table image of a bluffer, a player is more likely to encourage you to bluff. Have You Been Caught Bluffing at the Table? If you have been playing aggressively, your opponent would be more likely to invite you to raise. They know that they have a tight table image and that other players don’t expect them to bluff. For example, what is your plan, if the calling station puts in another small donk bet on the turn.Įven if your opponent checks on the turn and you check back, you may have a difficult decision on the river.įor example, what are you going to do if your opponent puts in a big bet on the river? You have shown weakness on the turn and that could invite a bluff on the river. The pot will be bigger on the turn and you may have an awkward decision. If you decide to raise and your opponent doesn’t re-raise, you will be left with a tricky decision on the turn. Even If he has a 5 outer, he will call a raise. If your opponent is a calling station, he is almost never folding to a raise. I’ve raised newbies and been caught out on more than one occasion. It doesn’t necessarily mean that a newbie isn’t capable of sandbagging. If this is the case, villain probably has a strong hand. If you are playing against a regular, you should assume that he knows that a small donk bet is inviting a big raise. If I am facing a small donk bet, I use the following criteria to weigh up whether to raise or fold. So, how can you tell whether your opponent really has a weak hand or whether he is taking the mickey? Once people have seen you use this strategy, it won’t work again. If I am heads-up against an aggressive player and I flop a set, I might put in a small donk bet. I use the small donk bet myself occasionally. In the case of a calling station, his weak range could be any one pair hand that doesn’t include an ace. This means that most of the time, your JJ is beaten on an Ace-high flop. In the case of a NIT, his weak range may be pocket pairs below top pair. His range consists of weak and strong hands. On a dry flop, villain’s range is polarised. If it was a wet flop, a small donk bet could represent a draw. The fact that this is a dry flop, with no draws is important. However, a small donk bet could be any amount up to around 1/ 3 of the pot. In the hand example above, MP donk bets 1BB. I also explain how you can use the small donk bet to exploit certain types of opponents.Įxample Hand 1: The Small Donk Bet on a Dry Flop Flop: Villain Donk Bets (Small)
#Pokerth donk play how to
In this post, I will discuss how you can analyse what the small donk bet means and your options on how to play against it. He could have a super-strong hand and be asking you to bet the hand for him. If a regular NIT or a calling station donk bets small on a dry flop, he is trying to tell you that he has a weak made hand. Almost every regular, of every playing style, knows that a small donk bet, is inviting an opponent to put in a big raise. Just because a player is a NIT or a calling station, it doesn’t mean that this player is completely stupid. It’s calling stations who often use the small donk bet, although I have seen NITs use this strategy as well. Instead of the checking to the pre-flop raiser, you bet into your opponent. They make poker sound so simple.ĭefinition of a Donk Bet: A bet on the flop that occurs when you are out of position against a pre-flop raiser. The gurus just tell you that a donk bet is a “weak lead” and you should just put in a big raise. You have to ask yourself what the small donk bet means. When you are facing a small donk bet, you should analyse it like any other type of bet. The Small Donk Bet as an Exploitative Strategy
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