Hi--

I usually play online tourneys on Carbon Poker / Merge for an $11 or so entry fee, and I don't notice a whole lot of donk betting going on there. Recently, however, I have made the hour and a half drive to the Mohegan Sun Casino in CT, where I live, and I have played several tournaments in the $120 entry-fee range, and have also played in some $1-$2 cash games.

In both the tourneys and the cash games, I have noticed a LOT more donk betting than I happen to see online. Has anyone else noticed this? And if so, do you have any ideas about why this is happening? I am thinking that maybe it is just easier to keep track of things online, and maybe people playing live poker just end up betting out with donk bets right after the flop if it looks like they have something good, without even bothering to "check to the raiser," which I believe is considered to be the standard play for a number of different reasons.

Believe it or not, in one of the tourneys that I was playing in, after a guy won a certain pot with his donk bet, he stated that he "had the nuts" on the flop and wanted to bet it. That, for the most part, makes no sense at all to me. I realize that there are times when donk betting can be used by fairly skillful players who are trying to put a certain strategy in place, but in general I feel that donk betting is a mistake by players who don't know better. (Of course, I was one of those players myself when I first started playing poker, but I eventually got over that.) Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Gene06825

PS: I am no expert when it comes to using the 2 plus 2 forum, and whenever I post something, I always post it in the "Beginner Questions" area. Do you think that this is the right place for me to post this? Or do you think that there would be a better place to post this? And, if so, where? Sorry for the bother!

Who cares if it is as long as you know how to deal with it?

Well, I never claimed to be a poker expert. I have some ideas how to deal with donk betting, but I don't think that a person can ever claim that there is just one way that always works. As I said, one guy who donk bet me on the flop and showed his hand (after I folded), and it turned out to be the nuts. I have also run into that sort of thing with players playing something less than the nuts but still something very strong that beats me--when I was the original raiser. I believe that one popular method of playing against donk bettors is to just raise them substantially hoping to blow them off the hand, but that would not have worked for me in the first case, and it did work for me in the second case that I mentioned. I have also read that another and quite different strategy is to just play with caution against donk bettors until I have a better idea of their overall playing style. I think that that is probably my default style against donk betters, unless I hit my hand quite hard on the flop.

As I said, I am no poker expert, but I do like to play, and I feel that I have at least some idea of what I'm doing out there. If you happen to have any tips for playing against donk betting, please let me know. Thanks.

You're probably seeing more donking in the live games in comparison to the online games because live players suck. Most 1/2 live players couldn't beat 0.01/0.02 online.

Take a look at the back cover of Steve Selbrede’s book Donkey Poker volume 2. It shows some basic figures as to why you’re seeing what you’re seeing. The first book and second book pretty much explain some strategies that combat the dunks.

I've certainly noticed it much more since I started playing again. I have no idea as to the reasons why. But in my limited sample size it's meant they have the nuts or near nuts. Average 1/2 person wants to chase draws badly, so they have no incentive to donk lead unless they're already way ahead.