+EV Shove against Donks
Inevitably you’ll encounter a few donks in your poker playing. You know, those players that just don’t know when to stop betting. They’re betting into all your raises, are first to the pot if they can be or raising if they can’t, and it seems like they’re playing just any two cards. And they get paid, somehow LAGs get paid. So we’re going to explore the expected value of calling down a donk with various poker online hand ranges. First it should be obvious that if you’ve spotted a donk you want to stack off asap with AA, KK, QQ, and AKs. The top four online poker hands are a no brainer. It’s your other playable hands that you have to worry about. Let’s first look at pocket pairs. From JJ down to 22, you may be getting +EV depending on your position My advice would be to use your position against a donk player, and simply call and revaluate on the flop. If the board reads good for your hand, like all under cards against your pocket pair, then you’re getting +eV in the long run to stack off against the guy who’s donk betting into you. With 55 and lower though, you’ll probably be playing for set value. Next are your high suited paint cards. KQs KJs, AQ-A10s, and QJs. Unlike pocket pairs, these hands only play well in opposition. Since you’re having to guess without information if you take the initiative, and if you give up, the initiative shifts and you look like you’re taking a calling station line, which is highly exploitable. So play these hands smartly in position, try to get to a cheap flop, reevaluate and get to showdown cheaply if you’re on ly mediocre, but if you have the nuts, turn up the pressure.
