The donk-lead is a bet made by the out-of-position player directly into the preflop aggressor rather than checking to them. While historically considered an amateur play, solver studies have shown that donk-bets have a legitimate place in GTO strategies in specific board texture and range composition situations. The primary function of a donk-lead is to deny equity to the opponent and build the pot when the OOP player has a nut or range advantage. Executing donk-leads correctly requires a deep understanding of range interactions on each street.