Donk betting. Is it ever a good idea?

jugglegeek

I've noticed a tendancy for players recently to "donk bet" (leading out a flop after calling a pre-flop raise). Usually it means they have a draw and want to set their own price I find. I thought that I'd try donk betting to missrepresent my hand here. Do you think this is wise, regardless of the result?

Player	Action	Cards	Amount	Pot	Balance
MB64	Small blind		10.00	10.00	1990.00
jugglegeek	Big blind		20.00	30.00	2010.00
	Your hole cards	10 A
d6jim	Call		20.00	50.00	1970.00
bigstu0005	Raise		40.00	90.00	1930.00
Pav72	Fold
MB64	Fold
jugglegeek	Call		20.00	110.00	1990.00
d6jim	Call		20.00	130.00	1950.00
Flop
		7 10 5
jugglegeek	Bet		70.00	200.00	1920.00
d6jim	Call		70.00	270.00	1880.00
bigstu0005	Raise		325.00	595.00	1605.00
jugglegeek	Raise		680.00	1275.00	1240.00
d6jim	Fold
bigstu0005	Call		425.00	1700.00	1180.00
Turn
		7
jugglegeek	All-in		1240.00	2940.00	0.00
bigstu0005	All-in		1180.00	4120.00	0.00
jugglegeek	Unmatched bet		60.00	4060.00	60.00
jugglegeek	Show	10 A
bigstu0005	Show	Q 10
River
		K
jugglegeek	Win	Two Pairs, 10s and 7s	4060.00		4120.00

TommyD

Depends if you know why you are doing it and that you balance your donk-leading range from made hands, through draws and air (but you focus which of these holdings you do it with towards the correct player, you donk lead more with air versus players who will fold in that spot, focus more with made hands towards people who like to call/multi way pots when someone else should have hit etc).  I would also advocate mixing up your donk leads with checking to the raiser with all these holdings as well.  Just know why you are taking either line.

Had a huge pot go my way in a SPT Cardiff cash game with a donk lead.  Flopped the nuts on a J87 2 diamond flop.  I was in the SB in a 5 way pot (this was full ring).  Donk lead, got raised, got it in, created a 300+ big blind pot with the nuts (and managed to do a hold versus AJ diamonds).  My point is if I had checked here the original raiser (not AJ man) is unlikely and shouldn't really C-Bet on that board into that many people.  AJ man would bet and now I have a spot.  If I raise I look huge and he may now just call to catch and I end up not getting full value, or the board goes bad or me and I have to slow down (I remember the board paired and a back door flush did come in, scare cards for me OOP).  By changing the betting order and by having my reputation I was able to get my man committed.  He had plenty of equity though.

jugglegeek

Cheers. My reason for donking here was to represent a draw. My thoughts were that the pre-flop raiser would raise me with a worse ten. The small 3-bet on the flop is to leave me with plenty of chips to let him think I might fold to a shove. I had a plan and this time it worked but I wonder how many times the villian shows up with a set here? This was only the first level so I didn't have any reads on the player. So I should play draws air and monster hands like this occasionally too.

BigRonnieC

Depends on the player and the situation. Some people play one and done poker - they C-bet flop, if you call, they're done with hand, you don't even have to float and raise strongly on turn, any bet is enough to get them to fold as they think the game is up when C-bet called.

Similarly, some people multi-table so much or play with such speculative hands that they don't want to play poker/engage in a battle of nerves when they don't connect with the flop.

It can be great as a tool of confusion/tilt if you have a read on someone/know where you are in hand. If there's a dodgy flop, say a paired board, and it's checked to you, a donk bet when you have the goods looks like a poor attempt at a steal and often induces a raise if they have half a hand/2 pair to your trips. If not on the flop, a 2nd donk bet on turn should really play on their mind.

grantorino

In Response to Re: Donk betting. Is it ever a good idea?:

Cheers. My reason for donking here was to represent a draw. My thoughts were that the pre-flop raiser would raise me with a worse ten. The small 3-bet on the flop is to leave me with plenty of chips to let him think I might fold to a shove. I had a plan and this time it worked but I wonder how many times the villian shows up with a set here? This was only the first level so I didn't have any reads on the player. So I should play draws air and monster hands like this occasionally too.
Posted by jugglegeek

There arent many draws to represent here. You had a plan and it worked, but Im not sure many villains raise worse Ts here often, then again they may bluffraise enough. Tommys post pretty much covered it, I think though that donking is very standard 5way as people dont cbet light