When am I actually a donkey?

I've now been into online poker for about a month.. I've won like 3 sit & gos and won a good ammount of money in the ring games.

Reason im mentioning the above is so you readers have a base knowledge of how much i played.

Sometimes i go into ring games with little higher blinds and do the following:
1. Wait untill i have some nice cards.
2. When i have the nice cards and i feel confident i will win i bet (Pretty aggressive)
3. If im realy sure the odds are at my side and its almost no risk the other player will win then i go all in.

I won by doing this one time and one user lost what he brought to the table and he started calling me a donk and whatever.. And example here is i did this tactique with King - Ten suited and it worked as i wanted.

Maybe is hard to say if this is "Donkin' " but please help me more to understand this term.

*EDIT*
And if i am a donkey how can i stop being it?

Depends what you did with your KTs...all in preflop? All in after flopping straight or flush? It's impossible for us to say if you played the hand like a donk without seeing the hand history.

People will often insult you when they lose, even if you played the hand well. Best just to ignore it imo.

Try posting some Hand Histories in the Cash Game/Tournament hand analysis sections where members can evaluate specific hands and let you know about any mistakes or spot any leaks you may be experiencing

Oskar006 said:

I've now been into online poker for about a month.. I've won like 3 sit & gos and won a good ammount of money in the ring games.

Reason im mentioning the above is so you readers have a base knowledge of how much i played.

Sometimes i go into ring games with little higher blinds and do the following:
1. Wait untill i have some nice cards.
2. When i have the nice cards and i feel confident i will win i bet (Pretty aggressive)
3. If im realy sure the odds are at my side and its almost no risk the other player will win then i go all in.

I won by doing this one time and one user lost what he brought to the table and he started calling me a donk and whatever.. And example here is i did this tactique with King - Ten suited and it worked as i wanted.

Maybe is hard to say if this is "Donkin' " but please help me more to understand this term.

*EDIT*
And if i am a donkey how can i stop being it?

Click to expand...

You seem to play to honestly and predictably which is because you probably have a vast array of postflop leaks. Now to be fair, to beat the micros you only need to be a halve decent let alone a good one. But having said that if you have aspirations of playing profitably in the mid and high stakes you should continue to do what you can to improve your game. Do you know when to turn made hands into bluffs? Do you 3 barrel bluff when the board texture and and player type dictates you? Do you get married to your over pairs easily and willing to stack off on a not scary looking flop? Can you call your opponents down weak when its likely there bluffing with air while being able to fold 2nd nut hands to nut hands when your likely beat? Just remember in poker knowing when to fold is easy, but knowing when to hold Ace high, or fold a set or top pair or even a 2nd best flush is hard.

Oskar, you are not really giving us anything to go on. I am usually willing to speculate but there is no useful information here.

I've now been into online poker for about a month.. I've won like 3 sit & gos and won a good ammount of money in the ring games.

Reason im mentioning the above is so you readers have a base knowledge of how much i played.

This says absolutely zero about how much you played (which is typically measured by amount of hands).

1. Wait untill i have some nice cards.

Again, tells us nothing. If we knew specifically what you consider to be nice cards we could could probably say you are overvaluing your hands (as a donk will).

2. When i have the nice cards and i feel confident i will win i bet (Pretty aggressive)

Again with the ethereal "nice cards". How much do you bet? Pot? What do you consider aggressive?

3. If im realy sure the odds are at my side and its almost no risk the other player will win then i go all in.

What odds do you require to do this? How do you calculate them?

And example here is i did this tactique with King - Ten suited and it worked as i wanted.

What position were you in? Who initiated the betting? Did you 3-bet? What was the flop? What were your odds after the flop? Did you have the nuts?


At this point I am going to have to figure you are not experienced enough to know what you are doing since you did not know enough to include the critical information in your question. This could certainly be interpreted at the table by another player as donkitude - but so what - I got called a donk just the other day holding a 5-1 chip lead. As alluded to - Donk is quickly thrown out by other players who get exploited by their own misplays.

Thanks for all the helpfull posts!

MediaBLITZ the hand was basicaly like this: I was handed 10 - King suited and i call the blind. Two guys fold and there is me and another one playing.. The flop is 10 - 10 - 6 (I don't remember what colours) So this leads to a 3 - bet which i initiated and on the turn we get a king so i got my full house and thats when i move all in and he calls me with Ace - King offsuit

I don't have the hand history since i closed the client then went to the forums. But yea i belive too im pretty unexperienced player but i am here to learn so please share ur knowledge to me and correct my mistakes.

Oskar006 said:

Thanks for all the helpfull posts!

MediaBLITZ the hand was basicaly like this: I was handed 10 - King suited and i call the blind. Two guys fold and there is me and another one playing.. The flop is 10 - 10 - 6 (I don't remember what colours) So this leads to a 3 - bet which i initiated and on the turn we get a king so i got my full house and thats when i move all in and he calls me with Ace - King offsuit

I don't have the hand history since i closed the client then went to the forums. But yea i belive too im pretty unexperienced player but i am here to learn so please share ur knowledge to me and correct my mistakes.

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Are you saying there was only 4 players? Then this hand is a monster.

You probably got called a donk cause you got so lucky hitting all of that versus his top two pair top kicker. He was thinking he had you crushed.

But lets see - if you limped PF and that guy, with AK, just flatted (limped or checked BB) then he is the uber-donk.

media you are truely narrowminded if you think that some1 is a donk for checking heads up in the big blind with ak. there is nothing wrong with that play at times to mix up your play and keep your hand well disguised if an A or K comes and you both pair your liable to win a large pot as they cant put you on that hand.

Wait for it... wait for it...

Oskar006 said:

.And if i am a donkey how can i stop being it?

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Are you wondering if you are a donkey? If so, then I'd have to say > "Yes. You are a donk (donkey/donkin'/donktard/uber-donk/etc.)"

How to stop being it (< 'it' referring to 'donkey')?
Easy... just stop bein' one.

How does one learn to get better at anything? Take tying your shoe for example (I was a shoelace tying donk for awhile when I was 4yrs. old). At that age I couldn't read any guides on 'how to tie shoes' but I was able to listen to advice from others (some I would listen to but others, the ones with shoelaces always coming undone, I would not listen to (I figured they were doin' something wrong too... or maybe just 'unlucky'?).
I also watched others tying their shoes & took mental notes about it. Then I practised tying my shoes, practised some more.... & more, etc. At first I had to ask questions & get help from others, showing them examples of how I was trying to tie my shoes & then would listen to advice to correct my mistakes. I kept practising what I learned til' I was no longer a donkin'

You should read a few more books and get more knowledge. it seems like you're playing poker like 90 percent of the world knows how. There's a lot more to it than al in call fold.

I will go to the library and see if i find some nice books.

Oskar006 said:

I will go to the library and see if i find some nice books.

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Start with Phil Gordon - he's an easy read and establishes the basics very well.

trigga3 said:

media you are truely narrowminded if you think that some1 is a donk for checking heads up in the big blind with ak. there is nothing wrong with that play at times to mix up your play and keep your hand well disguised if an A or K comes and you both pair your liable to win a large pot as they cant put you on that hand.

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LOLOLOLOLOLOL

edit: LOLOLOLOLOL

edit 2: was this on PKR? people just chat so much shit on that site -.-, you should have raised it pre but apart from him limping or flatting AK pre makes him the donk.. some people have no clue.

Campbell92 said:

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

edit: LOLOLOLOLOL

edit 2: was this on PKR? people just chat so much shit on that site -.-, you should have raised it pre but apart from him limping or flatting AK pre makes him the donk.. some people have no clue.

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This was actualy on PKR and i did notice like everyone calls everyone donk here.. But anyway i got a book now from Phil Gordon so will do some reading, Thanks!

Oskar006 said:

This was actualy on PKR and i did notice like everyone calls everyone donk here.. But anyway i got a book now from Phil Gordon so will do some reading, Thanks!

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Which book did you get?

Pay no attention to people calling you a donk, fish etc. at the table. If they're wrong, you should ignore them, and if they're right, you have much more important things to deal with than how to react to being called names.

Also remember that being a donk is relative. If you're crushing a given table and then decide to move a much higher-level one, you instantly go from being the shark to the fish.

And we all have donk moments, even the very best players.

Don't chase to the river just because you can - don't call large bets with garbage hands just because you can - and dont play every hole pair you get just because you can, and you wont be a donkey. You dont need some "Super Secret Strategy" to be somewhat successful in this game. Just stick to the basics and you'll wind up winning some money.

"Donk is quickly thrown out by other players who get exploited by their own misplays." MB you are so eloquent.
it's used to hurt your feelings .....just as your play made theirs hurt.....to some with anger issues saying this is being polite vs the barrage of "words" being spilled from their lips that would get their chat banned.
Poker hand history (hind sight)....is great for analyzing your play and improving your game.....but to determine why someone calls you "donk" all you need know is "name calling" is used to get in your head and hurt you .....guess what? it worked.....
adjust your play if you think it needs it.....but let table chat roll off your back... for most of it is just air being released from a tight "valve".

PS Phil Gordon is a donK....jk...lol

Everyone does donk plays - Phil Gordon included. Experienced players will sometimes do it if they think they can get away with it.

Just yesterday I limped with AA (a real donk play). What made it even more donkalicious was (as someone pointed out after the hand) was that table is notorious for limping (we play weekly). I could have easily ended up with 5 or 6 people in the hand who would also limp and I'd end up crushed on the flop. But for some reason on this particular day there was much more raising than limping going on and I took a stab at limping AA from UTG2 (plus, honestly, I was feeling a bit tilty). Not a particularly bright move but I got re-raised huge by AK and to make a long story short I doubled up.

Now here is the point - it was an absolutely, 100%, donk play.

I saw a YouTube clip the other day - 2 top level pros that you would know - the BTN with AA limps in. SB folds and BB checks (with AA).

What donks! (they chopped)

I got a book called Phil Gordon's Little green book. I don't know if thats a good one but i like what im reading so far.

Oskar006 said:

I got a book called Phil Gordon's Little green book. I don't know if thats a good one but i like what im reading so far.

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Okay, that's a good one and the one recommended by most CC members for starting with. So you are on your way

Big thanks! I will try to suck up all information the best i can and then try it out at the tables.. Hopefully i will become a slightly better player.

Gordon's Green Book is a pretty good starting point for a beginner. It's relatively basic, but frankly, few beginners are truly ready for anything intermediate or advanced. The most practical route to getting better is actually to reduce your bad and mediocre plays rather than to learn high-level concepts and plays to use against low-level opponents.

Arjonius said:

Gordon's Green Book is a pretty good starting point for a beginner. It's relatively basic, but frankly, few beginners are truly ready for anything intermediate or advanced. The most practical route to getting better is actually to reduce your bad and mediocre plays rather than to learn high-level concepts and plays to use against low-level opponents.

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Totally. To misquote my own signature...

"Most of the money you'll LOSE at poker comes not from the brilliance of your opponent, but from the ineptitude of your own play."

First step is solid ABC (aka, by the numbers) poker. If you do not get that down and try to move forward with high-level concepts (as Arj puts it) it's like switching from oars to a motor on a boat that has holes in the bottom. You just might sink even faster.