Donk bets & lead lines
A donk bet leads into the preflop aggressor — the player who was expected to continue betting checks, then bets first anyway. The name is historical abuse; the line itself carries real information. A check normally caps a range (the strongest hands would have raised or check-raised), so a player who checks and then LEADS is making a claim about what the flop did: usually, that it hit their flatting range harder than the raiser's range. Low connected boards that smash the caller's suited connectors are the classic setting; dry ace-high boards rarely produce honest donks.
- Read the claim.Ask which region of the checking range the board just improved before reacting.
- Sort your continuers.Split your own range into hands that beat the lead's value, hands it dominates, and air.
- Choose raise or call by plan.Raise with hands that welcome stacks; float with hands whose equity survives later streets.
- Price your own leads.When you hold the capped seat, lead small and merged or not at all — every donk caps you further.
Worked example: the board picks the leader
Button opens, big blind calls, flop 7♠6♦5♣. Nearly all the straights, two pairs, and combo draws live in the big blind's flatting range; the button's continuation bets often carry ace-high and overpairs. When the checked-to aggressor faces a lead here, folding ace-high is routine and even overpairs are thin calls — the lead's CLAIM is simply true: this board favors the caller. Contrast K♠7♦2♣: a big-blind lead there is far more often protection with weak pairs or a slowplayed monster, because the caller's range flopped little. Same line, opposite meanings — the texture decides which.