Donk Bet in Poker: Betting Into the Previous Street's Aggressor
A donk bet is a bet made out of position, before the player who bet or raised on the previous street has acted. Example: the button raises preflop, the big blind calls, then bets the flop first instead of letting the button make its c‑bet. The name comes from donkey: originally, a bet seen as clumsy.
A♠8♠ facing a river donk
Heads-up, you are on the button with A♠8♠ and you bet the flop and the turn. Board A♦ J♣ 6♥ 3♠ 9♦, the big blind bets first, 150% pot. Fold or call?
See the answer
You bet the two previous streets; the big blind bets the river before you: that is a donk. Its bet is 36bb into a 24bb pot: calling puts in 36bb for a final pot of 96bb, so you need 37.5% equity. Against specific hands, on the river:
| Big blind's hand | What it holds | Result for A♠8♠ |
|---|---|---|
| K♥Q♥ | missed draw | wins |
| T♣8♣ | nothing, no pair | wins |
| J♥T♥ | pair of jacks | wins |
| A♣2♣ | pair of aces, weaker kicker | wins |
| A♥Q♣ | pair of aces, better kicker | loses |
| A♣K♥ | pair of aces, better kicker | loses |
| A♥6♦ | two pair | loses |
| 9♥9♣ | set | loses |
A♠8♠ beats unpaired hands and weaker pairs, and loses to aces with a better kicker and anything stronger. The expected answer is the call.
Donk bet, probe and c‑bet
| Name | Who bets | When |
|---|---|---|
| C‑bet | the previous street's aggressor | they keep betting |
| Donk bet | the out-of-position player | before the previous street's aggressor has acted |
| Probe | the out-of-position player | after the aggressor checked back the previous street |
Keep going
- The aggressor's bet: the continuation bet.
- Calling the river with a medium hand: river bluff catcher.
- Bets bigger than the pot: overbet poker.
- The raise after a check: check‑raise poker.
- Two-player poker: heads-up poker strategy.
- One spot every day: the daily poker puzzle.
- The bet after a checked flop, not to be confused with it: the probe bet.
Sources
- Every result is computed by exact enumeration with the app's equity module, and the price with its pot odds module, checked on October 11, 2026.
- The answer to the spot follows rules written by the app's author; it does not come from a solver.