At a glance
- On the HUD
- Flop RDnk·Turn RDnk·River RDnk
- Formula
raises / times they faced a donk bet as the previous street’s aggressor and could raise- Typical range
5–20% on every street
- Where it shows
- Badge: the aggressor facing a donk bet.
- Trust it after
- 12 chances. Below that the number is faded; reads need 12 chances and a number at least one standard error outside the typical range.
What it measures
Raise donk bet takes the same spot as fold to donk bet and counts the most aggressive answer. The player held the lead (they raised preflop, or bet or raised last on the previous street), a player out of position bet into them first, and they raised.
A typical hand: the hijack opens, the big blind calls, the big blind leads small on a 9-8-4 flop, and the hijack raises. Some players raise leads on reflex because they think a lead means weakness; others raise only sets and two pair. This stat tells you which kind you’re facing before you decide to lead.
It differs from raise c-bet, which is the caller raising the aggressor’s bet, and from the general raise stat, which counts raising any bet on the street. Raise donk bet is narrower: it only looks at how the aggressor answers when the lead is taken away from them.
How it’s calculated
Raise donk bet = raises ÷ times they faced a donk bet as the previous street’s aggressor and could raise.
- Chance: the same spot as fold to donk bet. They were the aggressor going into the street, a player out of position to them led before they acted, and they faced that lead with no raise in between. On top of that, they needed chips behind beyond the call.
- Counts: if they raised.
- Excluded: leads that put them all-in or left nothing to raise with, and streets where fewer than two players could still bet (not everyone all-in).
The aggressor going into the flop is the preflop raiser; going into the turn and river, it’s whoever bet or raised last on the previous street. There are no narrower versions: one number per street, with every lead size counted together.
Because the two stats can have slightly different chances, the call rate is roughly 100% minus fold and raise. Example: Omar faced 30 flop leads as the aggressor, 28 of them with chips to raise. He raised 5 and folded 12. Raise donk bet is 5 ÷ 28 = 18%, fold to donk bet is 12 ÷ 30 = 40%, and he called the other 13, about 43%.
Why it matters
A raise against a lead decides how big the pot gets. The leader usually bet small to keep things cheap; a raise blows that up. In a 10 bb pot, a 3.3 bb lead raised to 10 bb and called makes a 30 bb pot with one or two streets still to come. Whoever raises more often, and with the better range, wins most of those pots.
For you as the leader, this number sets your leading range. Against an aggressor who raises over 20%, leading a medium hand is a trap you set for yourself: fold it to the raise and lose your equity, or call and play a bloated pot out of position. Against one under 5%, you can lead medium hands and draws to set your own price, because the raise rarely comes.
For reading the aggressor, put it next to fold to donk bet. High raise with high fold means they rarely call: they’re playing raise-or-fold, which you beat by leading strong hands and continuing against the raise. High raise with low fold means they never let a lead go, and only value leads make money.
Too low, about right, too high
The HUD colors raise donk bet (gold over 20%, blue under 5%) but has no read hint for it, so it never becomes a read sentence. Use the bands below together with fold to donk bet.
Too low: under 5%
What it says
They almost never raise a lead. When someone bets into them, they fold or call, and their strong hands go into the calling range to raise later or to let the leader keep betting. Passive players, Stations and many Rocks sit here. A raise from them is a narrow range: sets, two pair, sometimes the nut draw. In passive home games this is one of the most common profiles, so don’t mistake it for a leak in your leading.
How to exploit it
- Lead your medium-strength hands and draws. They won’t get raised off them, and you set the price.
- Small blocking bets on the turn and river work well against them.
- On wet boards, lead your strong made hands too: a player who only calls lets draws see cards at your price, so make the price high.
- When they do raise, fold one pair and weak draws without agonizing.
- Their calls are wide and include their strong hands, so don’t keep firing after they call a lead unless you have value.
About right: 5–20%
What it says
They raise some leads and call or fold others. Usually that means strong hands and good draws raise, the middle calls and air folds. Most regulars sit here. The interesting part is the mix: a 15% raiser who folds only 30% is far more dangerous to lead into than a 15% raiser who folds 55%. Many players in this band raise draws and call made hands, so their raises come on wet boards much more than dry ones.
How to exploit it
- Read the two numbers together; the call rate is roughly what’s left over.
- Lead hands that are happy to face a raise (two pair, top pair plus a draw) and hands that are happy to fold (pure bluffs), and check the middle.
- On the turn and river, assume their raises are value-heavy unless you’ve seen them show a bluff.
- Check their raise size: small raises from a normal raiser are often strong hands that want a call.
Too high: over 20%
What it says
They attack leads often. Some of these players are good: they know a small lead often comes from a capped range and raise it with draws and air. Others are LAGs or Maniacs who raise whatever looks weak to them. Either way their raising range is wide and the leader is the one under pressure. A high number is also easy to get from a small sample: three raises in ten leads is 30% and means very little.
How to exploit it
- Stop leading medium hands into them; check-call or check-raise those instead.
- Lead your strong hands small to invite the raise, then re-raise or call. Their raise to 10 bb over your 3.3 bb lead into 10 bb needs you to fold 42.9% to profit as a bluff, so continue with enough of your leading range.
- Cut bluff leads. Every raise costs you the whole lead, so the folds have to come from the rest of their range.
- Against a raise-or-fold player (high fold to donk bet too), lead your best draws: you either take the pot or get it in with equity.
On the flop, turn and river
Flop: raise donk bet
On the flop the aggressor is the preflop raiser, and most raises of a flop lead are strong hands that want the money in or draws using the raise as a semi-bluff. With the deepest stacks and the most cards to come, the flop is where good aggressive players raise leads most freely, especially small leads on wet boards.
In many home games the flop number runs higher than the turn and river ones, because plenty of players raise any lead with an overpair “to see where they’re at.” If their flop RDnk is high but their turn and river numbers are low, their flop raises are mostly overpairs and draws, and they slow down once called.
Exploit: against that pattern, lead your sets and two pair small on wet flops, re-raise their raise, and expect a call from the overpairs. Against a low flop raiser, a small flop lead with a pair and a draw is a cheap way to see the turn.
Turn: raise donk bet
On the turn the aggressor is whoever bet or raised the flop last, and the lead usually comes from the player who called that flop bet. The pot is bigger, so a raise commits a big share of the stack: in a 20 bb pot, raising a 10 bb lead to 30 bb puts in almost a third of a 100 bb starting stack in one action.
That’s why turn raises are more value-heavy in most games. A turn raise from a player with a normal or low turn RDnk usually means two pair or better. A high turn RDnk means they also raise draws, most often when the turn brings a flush draw or an open-ended straight draw to go with a pair.
Exploit: if a player’s turn RDnk is low, your turn lead after calling the flop is a cheap way to set the price for your draws and medium pairs. If it’s high, check your draws to them and do the raising yourself with a turn check-raise, so you hold the initiative instead of facing it.
River: raise donk bet
A river raise can’t be a semi-bluff. Every river raise is value or a pure bluff, and at low stakes river bluff-raises are rare. So a river RDnk inside or under the typical range is close to all value: fold your small leads to it unless your hand is strong.
The river lead itself is often a small bet with a medium hand, which is exactly what a thinking aggressor raises, either for thin value with top pair and a good kicker or as a bluff with a hand that blocks the nuts. A river RDnk over 20% with a real sample is unusual, and it tells you the player knows small river leads are capped.
Exploit: against a high river raiser, stop making small blocking leads with medium hands; check and call instead. Lead your strong hands small, because that’s the bet they raise. Against a low river raiser, blocking leads do their job: they set a cheap price for a showdown.
When it’s your own number
No read hint goes with raise donk bet, but your number is on display to anyone running a HUD. If it’s high, players who notice will stop leading medium hands into you and lead only their strong ones, so your raises run into value more often. If it’s very low, they can lead any medium hand into you at a price they choose, knowing you won’t raise.
Check yourself: when you raise a lead, can you name what you’re raising for? Good raises are value hands that want money in and draws with real equity. If your river RDnk is high, review those hands; river raises against small leads should be value-heavy unless you know the leader folds medium hands to a raise.
Using it on the HUD
Raise donk bet shows on the aggressor’s badge when they face a lead, next to fold to donk bet, so right after you lead you can see both answers. It has no narrower versions; you get one number per street.
Gold means over 20%, blue under 5%, and a faded number has fewer than 12 chances behind it. Raise rates are small numbers, and small numbers need big samples: 10% over 30 chances is ±5.5 points, over 100 chances ±3. A player at 2 raises in 12 chances is showing you something, not proving it. Expect the flop number to take a few hundred hands to settle, and the turn and river longer.
Read it with the player’s aggression factor and with your own leading habits: if you only lead strong hands, a low number against you may just mean they’ve noticed.
Questions
What does raise donk bet mean?
It’s how often a player who held the betting lead raises when someone leads into them from out of position. On the flop that’s the preflop raiser raising a donk bet; on the turn and river it’s whoever bet or raised last on the previous street. The HUD treats 5–20% as typical.
Should you raise donk bets?
Raise them with strong hands and good draws, especially when the lead is small and the leader is the kind who leads medium hands. Avoid raising leads from passive players as a bluff, because their leads are usually made hands that won’t fold. Against a player whose donk bet is over 15%, the HUD’s own read suggests raising their leads more.
How do I play against a player who raises my donk bets?
Lead only hands that are happy to face a raise, and check the rest. Medium-strength hands play better as a check-call against an aggressive raiser, and strong hands can lead small to invite the raise. Bluff leads lose value fast against a raiser, because every raise costs you the whole lead.
Is a raise of a river lead usually a bluff?
Usually not. On the river there are no draws left to semi-bluff with, and most low-stakes players rarely raise the river as a pure bluff. Unless the player’s river raise donk bet is well above 20% over a decent sample, or you’ve seen them show river bluffs, treat a raise of your river lead as a strong hand.