When are you donking into a raiser?

Ever? Occasionally? Not at all? Under what circumstances do you do this?

I've been thinking about it a lot lately because

1) I almost never do it - maybe occasionally if the pre-flop raiser is one of those specific donks that min-raises like 50% of the time and we're three to the flop with a somewhat drawy board. In a heads up pot against a regular player who made a regular raise, I almost never donk bet.

2) I kind of love it when other players do it to me. In some spots it lets me get out of a pot I don't care about with no further investment, and at other times it gives me such a clear message about their probable holdings that I feel like I'm looking at their cards when I play.

So is there a good case for adding donk bets to my arsenal, more than the very rare occasions I described? Or is it generally better to let the raiser make the first post-flop move?

i'd like to see peoples response to this too. i was thinking about this last night after i was being donked into alot on 2 tables. Its so annoying and i started thinking, why am I not doing this? I also will lead out in certain circumstances obv, but really never vs a regular raise.

I like to do it against a known blind stealer when they raise from CO/BU.

I have noticed a lot of donking going on lately too.

Originally Posted by cardsman1992

I like to do it against a known blind stealer when they raise from CO/BU.

This is a reasonable example - I've done it occasionally and they fold a lot right on the flop. Then again, it seems like if you're doing it for this reason, it's probably best to do it as a bluff most often, because if you have a real hand there's no reason to knock them out of the pot early when you know you're way ahead of them. Care to expand on this line of thought? What kinds of hands are you doing it with - any pair, just air, draws, or almost anything?

Depends on exactly how aggro/stealing the villain is. I will do it with ATC if I feel that I can get by with it against a habitual, but as you mention, I am much more inclined to try to trap him with a real hand. Against standard TAGs I will bet any flop I hit decent, and sometimes bluff them with air to mix it up.

I like to lead in spots where I have a hand and I think there's a high likelihood that the flop will get checked through.

So if I have a strong hand, and the pot is multiway I'll probably lead out if I think it will get checked to the raiser and he won't bet.

Similarly if I have a read that a player checks through alot of flops HU, instead of continuation betting, I might lead to avoid the free cards.

Some players also call a lot of flop leads, but fold a lot of turn barrels, so leading against them is good.

I try to avoid leading too much into overly aggro guys if I don't wanna get raised off my marginal hand.

Great reasons.. also FYP

Originally Posted by griffey24

I like to lead in spots where I have a hand and I think there's a high likelihood that the flop will get checked through.

So if I have a strong hand, and the pot is multiway I'll probably lead out if I think it will get checked to the raiser and he won't bet.

Similarly if I have a read that a player checks through alot of flops HU, instead of continuation betting, I might lead to avoid the free cards.

Some players also call a lot of flop leads, but fold a lot of turn barrels, so leading against them is good.


I try to lead a lot into overly aggro guys if I wanna 3bet shove my drawing hand .

what is standard like when you call a pfr with 22 from the sb and it's hu to like a 9-hi flop and villain is likely to have missed overs and is likely to cbet? i feel lost in this kind of spot trying to get max value from worse hands.

If my hand needs protection and I think there is a good chance villain will check.

I will do it with any hand I want to play for stacks for so I can go bet 3 bet shove. Anybody who likes to raise donk leads is a good candidate for one of my leads as well.

this is a spot where i donk lead frequently.

Seat 1: DBL_J_22 ($199.40 in chips)
Seat 2: parangsae ($161.65 in chips)
Seat 3: schickli ($307.60 in chips)
Seat 4: will641 ($200 in chips)
Seat 5: JohnnyJay222 ($92 in chips)
Seat 6: 1001pk ($126.15 in chips)
1001pk: posts small blind $1
DBL_J_22: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to will641 [6d 6s]
parangsae: folds
parangsae leaves the table
schickli: folds
will641: raises $4 to $6
JohnnyJay222: raises $4 to $10
1001pk: calls $9
DBL_J_22: folds
will641: calls $4
*** FLOP *** [7s 6h Th]
1001pk: checks
will641: bets $24
JohnnyJay222: calls $24
1001pk: folds
*** TURN *** [7s 6h Th] [Ts]
check_kills joins the table at seat #2
will641: bets $166 and is all-in
JohnnyJay222: folds