Well here is the short answer:
A donk bet is a poker bet (often small, half pot or less) that goes against the flow of the action. They are most often used by recreational poker players and they do not indicate a very strong hand. You should typically call or raise a donk bet.
What Do Donk Bets Mean?
What a donk bet really means though depends on the player type. As mentioned, donk bets are usually made by bad players.
With bad players (high VPIP and big separation between VPIP and PFR) donk bets can mean a lot of different things. They can be anything from a draw, bottom pair, middle pair, top pair or a complete airball bluff.
However, most of the time, their range is on the weaker side when they make a donk bet. And what I mean by that is that it is rarely the nuts. They prefer to slowplay extremely strong hands.
With tighter players or regulars though (low VPIP and not much separation between VPIP and PFR) a donk bet will often mean one of two things: a weak overpair/top pair type hand or the nuts. Sometimes it will be a big draw also.
In other words, with regs, a donk bet usually indicates a pretty strong range.
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The Best Strategy to Beat Donk Bets
So the best strategy to deal with donk bets is pretty simple then. Most of the time against the fish I am just going to raise them up (or call in position) if I have anything halfway decent or a draw.
Why do I do this?
Because as I said, most of the time they don't have a strong hand themselves. So by raising up their donk bet I am giving myself more ways to win the pot.
Versus the regs I will be a little bit more hesitant to raise them up. This is because as we just discussed, they typically have a stronger range when they make a donk bet.
So versus the regs it is usually a better idea to just call with most of your range. It is ok to mix in a semi-bluff raise sometimes though and you should also be raising with the nuts sometimes as well for balance.
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Check Your HUD First Though
So it is very important to know the player type before you make your decision on how to react versus a donk bet. But if you have actual data on the player, it is always better to check this first.
I will often look at the donk bet stat on my HUD before I act as well. By the way, if you don't know what a HUD is or why it is important, check out this article first where I explain it all.
If their donk bet % is something insanely low of like 10% or less, then I am going to be very careful about raising them up lightly. This is because they have the nuts or a monster draw too often.
In other words, they aren't going anywhere.
If they are donk betting super loose though, 30%+, then I am going to raise them up with a wide range. It should be noted that just calling the donk bet light and outplaying them on the turn or river is a completely fine strategy as well.
Donk Bet Example Hands
So let's look at a few example hands. I am just going to list a bunch of common spots and ask you guys what you would do. I will give my answers later in the comments.
They really are just completely random. I made them up and have no clue what I would do yet. I don't think the stakes really matter. Just assume micro stakes (NL50 or less) and little or no history between you and the opponent.
Example #1
Hero is dealt A♥K♦ in MP, raises 3x, and gets called by a nit in the SB.
The flop comes,
T♠A♣6♦
The nit donks for 1/2 pot.
What should hero do?
Example #2
Hero is dealt 8♣9♣ in LP, raises 3x, and gets called by a fish in the BB.
The flop comes,
3♣7♥K♣
The fish donk bets 1/3 pot.
What should hero do?
Example #3
Hero is dealt J♦T♦ in LP and 3bets an MP TAG opener.
The flop comes,
7♦T♠9♠
The TAG donks 3/4 pot.
What should hero do?
Example #4
Hero is dealt A♠Q♦ in the BB. An SLP (semi-loose passive) limps the SB. Hero raises 4x.
The flop comes,
3♣5♣7♥
The SLP donks 1/3 pot.
What should hero do?
Example #5
Hero is dealt A♠2♠ in LP, raises 3x, and gets called by a nit in the SB.
The flop comes,
2♥2♦8♥
The nit donks 1/2 pot.
What should hero do?
Once again I will leave my answers in the comments below. Let me know what you think about these donk bet situations as well.
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