Donk Bet Defense Theory

[vizer02]

I have been getting donk bet into a ton at 100 NL on Full Tilt lately. A donk bet is when I am the preflop raiser and the OOP caller leads into me on the flop, usually with a smallish bet but sometimes a PSB. My question/theory applies to when I am holding missed overcards or an underpair/middle pair, not a flush/straight draw, overcards, or made hand.

This issue gets even more complicated because I think you have to consider the villain's stack size and stats before deciding what to do. I feel that if the villain has a 20-49 BB stack, regardless of stats I don't think it is profitable to reraise their donk bet. By the time they donk bet they have at least 25% of their stack in the pot already, and I doubt I can get them to fold. On the flipside, if villain has 50-100+ BB stack and they donk bet into me, I believe stats come into play. If villain is looser preflop, I am more likely to raise their donk bet than if villain is tighter.

I see donk bets used a lot in live play, and I think it is migrating more and more to online play. I believe 'donk bet' is a good name for this type of bet though, because it is most often the very bad players that make this type of bet. This makes me wary about raising their bet however, because some of these players are willing to take tpnk or mptk to showdown. This is where Went to SD percentages come into play. If they are high, I'm not even going to bother raising with air.

If I get donk bet into by a reg that I recognize as a good player, I usually instamuck because when I donk bet into a raiser I am usually holding either a set or combodraw, and I would assume the reg is doing something similar.

So here are some examples of player types/stack sizes and what I do, your thoughts?


<font color="red"> 1.) Villain has about a 50-75 BB stack, and is 47/8/1.18</font>

SB: $34.50
BB: $171.50
UTG: $72.35
UTG+1: $133.55
MP1: $49.00
Hero (MP2): $98.50
CO: $132.00
BTN: $115.20

Preflop: Hero is dealt Qh Ad (8 Players)
UTG calls $1.00, 2 folds, Hero raises to $4.50, 4 folds, UTG calls $3.50

Flop: ($10.50) 8s 6d Td (2 Players)
UTG bets $7.00, Hero raises to $22.50, UTG calls $15.50

Turn: ($55.50) Kh (2 Players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $46.00, UTG folds

<font color="red"> 2.) Villain has a 110 BB stack and is a 38/15/3</font>

SB: $110.85
BB: $37.35
UTG: $49.40
UTG+1: $62.60
Hero (MP1): $107.45
MP2: $30.40
CO: $22.60
BTN: $27.90

Preflop: Hero is dealt Ac Jd (8 Players)
2 folds, Hero raises to $3.50, 3 folds, SB calls $3.00, BB folds

Flop: ($8) 7s 5s Kc (2 Players)
SB bets $4.00, Hero raises to $16.00, SB folds

<font color="red"> 3.) Villain has a 27BB stack and is a 14/7/2</font>

SB: $27.25
BB: $96.50
Hero (UTG): $118.05
UTG+1: $111.05
MP1: $28.05
MP2: $96.50
MP3: $43.60
CO: $36.40
BTN: $232.80

Preflop: Hero is dealt Ac Kh (9 Players)
Hero raises to $3.50, 6 folds, SB calls $3.00, 1 fold

Flop: ($8.00) 7h 8c Th (2 Players)
SB bets $6.00, Hero folds

<font color="red"> 4.) Villain is a decent reg who has a 80 BB stack and is a 18/9/3</font>

SB: $110.15
BB: $94.20
UTG: $25.05
UTG+1: $70.75
MP1: $38.50
MP2: $239.30
MP3: $103.25
CO: $78.25
Hero (BTN): $99.50

Preflop: Hero is dealt As Qc (9 Players)
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $1.00, 3 folds, CO calls $1.00, Hero raises to $5.50, 3 folds, CO calls $4.50

Flop: ($13.50) 9h 5s 8h (2 Players)
CO bets $5.00, Hero folds