I am writing this article with a little bit of trepidation. I hate when people go off the deep end when a player makes the appropriate play, even though it may have seemed to be a "donk-out". My intention is to show why that question is rather stupid in certain situations, but I fear that some may take it a bit too far and use it as an excuse to make the call in the wrong situations and further exacerbate the donkey situations.
1. An All-in with a good hand, gets called by Any Two Cards.
2. An All-in gets call by a mid-level hand.
3. A premium hand raises/bets and gets called down.
4. A decent hand gets called down by a chaser (either rivered or runner-runnered)
5. A scary board (trips, boats, straights and flushes), a big bet, and it gets called by the top-pair/kicker caller.
1. Playing a Loose style - seemingly the worst reason, but if you know the style is in play, you should have made the appropriate adjustment to effectively combat this player. Don't keep raising into the loose player thinking that all of the sudden they are going to stop calling, no matter how bad a call it may seem to be, get to know the right way to take this player out of the game. (And it isn't to make bigger raises, you're just asking for the bad beat then.)
2. Playing the Position - If you wind up heads-up, expect the player with position to call moderate raises/re-raises, it is more than appropriate. Likewise, the late position player knows that the post-flop bet out of the early position should be heavy or all-in, now the position player is at the point where they do have to make a good decision, so don't be surprised if you get called by any pair, they may have the read on you.
3. Playing the Stack - Big Stack poker, very freeing on your options as you have the ability to force your opponent to make the decision about their game/tournament life. Likewise, crippled short stacks have to make moves with decent, but less than powerful hands. In either situation, they may be in just for the pot-odds and catch a good flop and are now just waiting for the others to throw their chips away.
4. Playing for the Win - We've all seen it, the low-stack moves all-in, the table is short-handed and the big blind has enough to cover the bet comfortably and is already in for a third of the overall bet. Even with 7-2 offsuit the appropriate play is to call. Unfortunately, I've found myself asking "How can you not make that call?!?" at many a bubble situation. Even if the BB is only in for a fourth or a fifth of the overall bet, they have to consider it, the card odds may not seem to be in their favor, but the pot odds most likely are. Take the chance and eliminate the opposition if possible, especially if you are at the bubble.
5. Playing the Odds - You limped in holding 6-7 clubs, you're facing a raise of 3 times the blinds, what should you do? Even if the raiser has the AA, with position,and everyone else has folded,you have pot odds to call. You're hand is 26% (1 in 4) and you are getting between 3 and 4 to 1 money on your call. Sure, there is no shame in laying it down, after all, you're only going to make it one out of every four times and I've said a dollar saved is as good as a dollar won, but if you don't play the odds, you leave allot of money on the table for everyone else. Tweak and twist this a little more, the Loose player knows that when a big bet comes out, he shouldn't be looking for the Big Slick to call with, but those middle connectors, suited preferably, Why? You don't want to be flopping the same neighborhood as the better, you could be in a chase and throwing chips away. Looking for the middle of the board, you know you either lead in a big way or can fold without regret when that flop comes down.
6. Playing the Opponent - Certain players repeat their actions, almost seemingly without fail. Whether it's raising the blinds whenever there isn't a caller, or only raising when they have a pair in hand, of course I am going to call (or more likely raise/re-raise) if I have you pegged. I know exactly what I have to represent, not necessarily have, to win the hand. And then there is the player who thinks like that, but can't represent it properly, that's why the all-in river bet with three kings on the board got called by the guy holding an Ace, you totally misrepresented the boat all along, let alone quads, and picked the wrong time and bet to steal.
7. Playing the Wrong Read - It happens, you think you know your opponent, pretty certain of your read that you are ahead, you call their all-in bet only to see they hold the lead. Now it truly is up to the poker gods,luckily you suck-out. No other way to explain this than the gods decided it wasn't your time yet, relax, breathe, and re focus your bonus time at the table on making the top, and not on the guy asking "How could you call with that?
So, five reasons why you can ask the question, seven reasons why you should think twice before you ask it, odds are not in favor of asking the question or screaming "DONKEY!" I hope I've given a few legitimate reasons to take pause and think about it first. Of course, it's always an option for you, you can always do what you want, just remember, I'm taking note of the player who leaves screaming about how bad the call was, their note in my paper clip brigade - "Doesn't recognize appropriate plays, likely to easily fall for slow plays and traps"