Hi Everyone,

I have a question regarding donk betting:

I was doing fine with hand reading for quite some time. I was pretty good at putting people on hands and sniffing out bluffs (this is all in a local league with recreational players).

I didn't think an out of position player had much when they checked to me (when I raised preflop and they called).

Then I learned about the donk bet and my hand reading skills sort of went down the drain. I'm paranoid that they have the goods when they check to me and I'm def less aggressive/more afraid to c-bet (all this is in general now - wherever I play).

Any advice?

Thank you!

Ignore gut reactions and take time to make logical decisions without being too obvious/serious to scare people away or make them get better?

Look at it this way. If you put a lot of weight on your reads stick with them, they have done you well to this point.

Some villains were donk betting into you before you learned about it, and you did just fine. Nothing has changed.

Hi,

Those were both great responses - thank you

It might be a stepping stone in your playing to have acknowledged the donk bet for what it is. You'll find that *sometimes* an aggressive cbet into a donk bet is going to get them to fold better hands in the right situations; and sometimes, a cbet into a donk bet is to build the pot with a better hand against a calling station.

So, nothing has really changed you just are recognizing some of the power of the tools in your arsenal.

Are you actually asking about a checkraise instead of a donk bet? That's what it sounds like to me anyways.

Hi,

Thank you for the great responses so far (all very appreciated).

My question I guess is more focused on when my opponent checks to me (so, I raise pre-flop, a player calls from out of position, we see a flop, and he/she checks to me).

It just seems to be a norm now that people check to the initial raiser whether they flop great, decent, or poorly and that the actual "check" doesn't help too much for hand-reading.

Setting aside the player-types who always check with nothing or bet with everything, and focusing on the players that will always check-to-the-initial-raiser. I guess now that I write this post maybe my own cbet % prolly matters a whole lot too.

But, any insight or advice is always appreciated (whether it focuses directly on my specific question or offers insight into variations of it - they donk bet, they check-raise, they check-call, etc...)

Thank you!

Well it's poker you can't always expect to know what your opponent has from as simple an action as calling a preflop raise and then checking to you. You just want to consider their ranges for reaching the flop and how each part of their range will react if you cbet and then decide if you should with your exact hand.

Hi :> +1

There are some boards where it makes sense to have a donking range as the PFC w/o getting exploited easily as well as your x-fold, x-call, and x-raising ranges mainly the wet/coordinated boards.

I personally feel a donk bet is a meak attempt to get folds. You are in position and everyone should check to you and ideally you would bet more than half pot cbet. Now early position regardless of his hand might think you have missed and will fold to any bets so that's one, to make you fold.

Donk can also be kind of a blocker bet, maybe they have a weak hand or draw and this (possibly) stops you from betting or setting the price. Raising>folding>calling

So donk bets are mostly weak moves. You are the raiser and you have to show u hit the flop. So usually on DONKS you can re raise given the opponent to take back the initiative but you should have equity and outs to be safe or your game be well balanced for this move.

Lastly players try to donk their good hands as well by leading into the aggressor to built pot. Maybe by getting u to call or by getting u to raise. So it's very villain dependant but fish donk is a donk u should raise.

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for the great responses (from the first to the last). They are all really appreciated and extremely helpful.

I actually did pretty well in a tourney this past Monday night and I 200% feel it's attributed to all of your responses.

Thank you