PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
Hero (t14702)
UTG (t30344)
MP (t15991)
CO (t16405)
Button (t34712)
SB (t61552)
Preflop: Hero is BB with Ks, 9s.
3 folds, Button raises to t1200, 1 fold, Hero calls t600.
Flop: (t2150) 6d, 7c, Kd (2 players)
Hero bets t1444, Button raises to t2888, Hero calls t1444.
Turn: (t7926) Ac (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t6000, Hero raises to t10544, Button calls t4544.
River: (t29014) 2c (2 players)
Final Pot: t29014
Results in white below:
Hero has Ks 9s (one pair, kings).
Button has Qc Td (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins t29014.
Finding creative ways to induce bluffs is a great way to win big pots with hands that are strong relative to your range but not particularly strong in an absolute sense. Like, against a random in the $150 6-max, you aren’t going to be a big favorite if you check-raise-call the flop or check-call down multiple barrels. But here, my donk bet induces him to put his whole stack in when I’m a 90% favorite.
The turn is obviously not the greatest card for me, but I think even if he bets this big with his paired Aces, his range is wide enough for me to get it in.
I don’t think villain will check behind very often if he is bluffing. It’s very unlikely that you take this line with an A, so your most likely hand is a K – and probably a weak one cause most players would check-call or check-raise strong Kx, or some kind of marginal pair/draw that you just didn’t want to fold to a minraise. Also his bet sizing just isn’t consistent with very many made hands.
would you make the same turn play if it had been the As or Ah?
Yep, even if it was the Ad, as I think a flush draw is a small part of his flop min-raising range at best.
I don’t understand why you refer to your flop bet as a Donk bet. Is it because, as Christoph stated above, most players would check raise or check call the top pair when defending their BB? Following that line of thought, since most people, including villain, would expect a check if you caught the K, couldn’t your leading out on the flop be explained as you hoping the villain has a made hand and because you bet, won’t believe you have a K? Or do you describe your bet as a Donk bet because of the size of your bet? Thanks!
If you are out-of-position against the pre-flop aggressor and you lead into them instead of checking it to them on the flop it’s called a donk bet. It’s just standard terminology much like c-bet, value bet, ect. It got its name from the fact that some new/bad players will often make the play but only with mediocre hands (ie. never air or a strong hand), which is easily exploited. It used to be that a lot of good players would never/almost never make donk bets, but as the game has evolved more people are integrating them into their games.
Bond2King – thank you for the explanation.
I don’t take issue with your definition, but I disagree that it’s standard terminology. It’s NLH-punk jargon and a recent coinage.
The standard term, which predates “donk bet” by decades, is “lead bet.”
For the sake of clarity and universal comprehension, serious poker writers (that would be you, Andrew) should probably prefer “lead bet”. Not only is it clearer, but it lacks the derisive connotaton which readers will assume, whether intended or not.
Honestly it’s not a term that I much like either, but eventually I just started using it because everyone else was. “Lead bet” is a good alternative, though, thanks. FWIW the rumor I’ve heard is that “donk bet” is actually a term that originated in FLH, but I couldn’t tell you where I heard that or whether it’s true.
Sometimes I think you give your opponents too much credit. Actually, I often think that. 🙂
His bet-sizing on the turn is so awful (either bet smaller and fold to a c/r, or just shove if you’re going to call anyway) that I can’t imagine that much more went through his mind than, “I can represent an ace by betting here.” I don’t think he paid any attention to your stack size when he bet the turn, so I doubt he put much thought into the meaning of your flop action.
Lin’s commnet on the villian fits my game unfortunately.
Lin, Andrew, others:
Any suggestions on good sources to study proper bet sizing.
Thanks,
A little late to the party, but a) what bet sizing on the Flop and Turn would have made you give him credit for at least a better K? and b) what bet size (if any) would have made you fold?
Just trying to get a better understanding on why you’ve got him on a worse hand. Thanx!
Especially on the flop, it’s not really a matter of ruling out hands that are better than mine. It’s more like getting him to bluff often enough that I can profitably continue with my hand even if he also plays better hands this way.
On this particular turn, there are very few better hands that would play this way. The very large bet seems designed to show me that he’s committed to the pot and force me to fold, which isn’t what I’d expect him to do with 2 pair+. With those hands he’d want to charge enough that I wouldn’t have odds for a flush draw or something but ideally give me the illusion of fold equity in order to induce a shove from me.
So basically, if you CR the flop, he’s either going to fold if he’s behind or call if he’s ahead. If you Ch-C the flop, turn and river, you’re probably behind but you won’t really know until all your chips are in. But by donking the flop, he’s going to raise you with most of his range whether he’s ahead or behind. So that’s +EV on its own.
And then you’re just seeing what he does on the turn and decide he’s FOS since his bet is so large. Right?