Although the world of casinos and online gambling are notorious for being riddled with a massive amount of jargon and technical language that is often incomprehensible to the outside world, the term ‘Donk’ more than likely takes the prize for being the most ridiculous!
However, you shouldn’t let the hilarity and ridiculousness of the word put you off as a donk bet is a core part of advanced betting strategies. Although you might not have heard of it before reading this article, if you have ever graced the virtual floors of any of the best NJ online casinos, you will more than likely have come across someone trying out a donk bet.
But what, exactly, is a donk bet, and more importantly, how can I put it to use in my own gambling strategies?
Surprisingly, the term ‘donk bet’ entered into the poker playing lexicon relatively recently and has only become widely popularized within the last decade. Initially, it was used to describe a strategically poor play, with ‘donk’ being taken from ‘donkey.’
Although it was originally a more generic term to describe a poor strategic choice, it is now used more specifically to refer to a type of post-flop bet. More specifically, it is a post-flop bet where the player who is out of position starts to lead into the aggressor pre-flop. We tend to see the term used most often when a player with a big blind will lead into the pre-flop stage as a raiser. As the player who was the aggressor before the flop now has the betting lead—which would indicate to the rest of the table they have a good hand—the player who is out of position will be expected to check. The in-position player will then most often continue the aggressive strategy with a continuation bet.
If this is a somewhat confusing explanation, it basically refers to a circumstance where a player in a late position raises before the flop and then defends a large blind with a call. After the flop, the player with the big blind position will then lead the round with a bet. This is called a ‘donk’ bet because it is usually more inexperienced players who fall for this trap.
We most often see donk bets happen in the middle of no-limit hold’em games. And although the term is often used in a derogatory sense, we can see, based on the explanation provided, that they can have some strategic value—despite being a little unorthodox! For example, they might be used to induce other players at the table to raise, or they might be used as blocking bets.