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I’m all about getting maximum value from my hands but it’s hard to get paid off when your opponent doesn’t flop anything. Let’s say, for example, that you limp in middle position with JTs and get raised by an aggressive opponent in late position. The action folds to you and you call. The flop comes JTT. Now what?
You’ve flopped huge but you’ve also monopolized the board. It’s unlikely your opponent has a Jack or a Ten and he probably won’t pay you off with an overpair either.
Your opponent is likely to shut down if you check/call his cbet then check the turn and if you check/raise he’ll turbo fold. Checking the hand down and betting the river is also a marginal play since it’s unlikely our opponent will catch anything they like on that board. Your best option is to induce a bluff.
How to Induce a Bluff
Most players know how to use the old rope-a-dope line to induce bluffs when they’re in position. First you cbet when your opponent checks to you, then you check behind on the turn to get them to make a bet on the river. However, inducing a bluff from out of position can be a bit harder.
I like the donk bet against an aggressive player when I’m out of position. Make a bet that’s 1/3 to ½ the pot into your opponent and hope it gets raised. This play works best if you’ve made a couple of donk bets before this hand to balance your line.
In our JTT example, you make a bet of 1/3 pot to make it look like you’re probing with a middle pair and hope your opponent tries to raise you off the hand.
Another reason I like the donk as a bluff inducer is that it will allow you to steal pots when you’re out of position. Your opponents will be leery of your donks when they notice that you’re capable of both donk/folding and donk/re-raising. They may decide that it’s not worth playing you for the pot.
I know it sounds like a contradiction to use donk bets to steal pots and to induce bluffs, but the difference is the type of player you’re facing. Aggressive players like to steal pots and they don’t like other players playing back at them. This kind of player is more likely to raise a donk bet even when you’ve shown that you can donk with a big hand. More conservative players won’t want to take the chance that you’re donking with a big hand and will be more likely to fold unless they have a piece of the flop and you’ll keep your opponents off balance by donking with both big hands and bluffs.
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Remember that you don’t have to get tricky and induce every hand. Lines like the rope-a-dope and donk bets are tools you should use as part of a balanced strategy. It’s okay to take a standard line most of the time but sprinkling in a few moves will keep your opponents guessing and make them more likely to make mistakes.
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