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  • Facing donk leads as preflop raiser

    Posted by petvet on November 1, 2020 at 8:54 pm

    Something I often find challenging is how to respond to a donk lead on the flop from the SB or BB when I am the preflop aggressor. I have 3 hands to look at

    #1 Blinds are 300/600 (8-handed) Hero (93bb) is UTG has AcQs and opens to 2bb, action folds to BB (23bb) who calls. Pot (5.5bb)

    Flop 8c9d4c. BB leads for 1bb. I find this lead quite common in our home games. How do we handle these small leads? Do we fold, call or raise?

    #2 Blinds are 300/600 (9-handed) Hero (56bb) in HJ has Qh9h and raises to 2bb and is called by SB (34bb) and BB (24bb)

    Flop Qd8d6c Pot (7.13bb) SB leads for 6bb, BB folds, Hero? This is a much bigger bet than #1 – Do we raise or call here? What about other hands in our range?

    #3 Blinds are 75/150 (9-handed) Hero (51bb) on BU has AhKd raises 2.2bb. BB(24bb) calls. Flop 7s7h4s Pot (7.8bb) BB leads 3bb Hero?

    fivebyfive replied 4 years, 3 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • yamel

    Member
    November 2, 2020 at 11:19 am

    #1 – I like a call…The flop is bad for our range, but we can’t fold to such a small bet and two overs. I’d consider a raise if I had more backdoor equity depending on how aggressive V is, if I think they will fold to aggression, etc. We are in a great spot to apply pressure on later streets given our stack size advantage. Seems like we could fire a big bet on any broadway turn card.

    #2 – This raise being much bigger and nearly 20% of opponents stack. I don’t think we have enough fold equity to raise, and if called, it is likely a hand with a lot of equity or a real kicker. I think call or fold should both be options. I’d fold this against a very tight, passive opponent b/c I’d read it as a better Q afraid of a draw heavy board…but mostly just call and evaluate what they do on turn.

  • yamel

    Member
    November 2, 2020 at 11:23 am

    #3 – this one seems very similar to first one, except the lead is a bit bigger and fewer draws on board. I’d call and see what they do on turn. We have tons of showdown value, and it is even harder for V to have hit this given the flop is paired. We don’t fear many turn/rivers and have plenty of outs to improve.

  • fivebyfive

    Administrator
    November 3, 2020 at 11:28 am

    I’m really curious about donk post-flop leads these days. It used to always be the sign of a terrible player, but enough players understand basic game flow now that it is has mostly disappeared from the game. This is why it puts you back on your heels so much.

    I think donk leads are especially hard to respond to on low-paired flops (like your 7s7h4s one, although I would prefer a rainbow one myself if I was going to consider a donk). This is the exact kind of board that I have sometimes started to donk. I have all the 7s, whereas V does not. And as that board progresses, even overpairs become difficult to continue. I also like this kind of donk lead much more if I am deeper from V perspective. Doing this with 24bb seems like a mistake because a donk lead strategy here is often going to be a multistreet plan against an early position opener.This means that I am in effect starting to commit my whole stack with 24bb.

    There is something else very important to think about from villain’s perspective. Is V going to be doing this with nutted hands? Are they really donk leading with 77 or 44 or 74 on the 774 flop? On the 8c9d4c flop, are they really doing this with 89? 88? 99? If so, they’re very likely losing big value over time by not allowing their opponents to play in flow from position. This is why I exclusively like the low paired-board donk lead. It feels like the best approach because you can do it with a lone 7, credibly rep it, but not lose tremendous value by leading it. And you can balance your checking range with full houses.

    So why is all that important? What this means is that most opponents on non-paired boards are capping their ranges at one pair (or possible draws). In both the non-paired board examples, #1 and #2, I’m flatting and seeing how they react on the turn. In my experience, if the donk doesn’t work many players will shut down on the turn.

    #3 is much more difficult for me. We can’t credibly rep a raise here, unless we’re prepared to raise with hands like AA-88? So I again like a flat, but I’m wary. In the other two examples, if my hand improves, I’m almost always ahead. Here, that could get me in trouble. So I’m much more likely to play this hand passively on turns and rivers and find folds to a big turn bet.

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