Defending against the donk?

Question

You have the best hand (lets say AK, top pair, top kicker) at the moment, and there's two hearts on the board. Everbody checks to you, you make a pot sized bet, and one person stays in. Let's say you know this guy is probably chasing the flush draw and will call it down. Which would you do:

Bet big to try and chase him out?

or

Bet small, and get out if the 3rd heart comes out?

Imho, with online poker, you are much better off just assuming he will call no matter what and he won't be chased off, hit or miss. What do you guys think? Imho, you can't really chase somebody off a draw until about 2/3 of the way through the tourney, so you are much better off, early on, just protecting your own stack.

Answer 1

Betting small is not even an option. You put in a bet of at least 65% of the pot and make him hit that heart. Only a very bad player would let him draw out cheaply.

Answer 2

If it's online, then protect your stack. Also consider that there is possible flush draw and if you don't have a chance of making it with no suited pair you could be out very fast.

Answer 3

ALWAYS make them pay to chase. But try to be patient because even though they will only hit a small margin of the time, sometimes it will seem like they hit every time. Also if you lose a big pot to a bad beat try not to go on tilt and lose control. This can be the difference in a cash out or an early finish.

Answer 4

maybe i play too many cash games, but the obvious correct decision imo is to make him pay as much as possible to draw out on you...despite the fact that he does have a significant draw, you are still a solid favorite, so if he does call you will have put more money in the pot with the best hand, a +ev decision...also, even though you say most people won't fold a flush draw until late in the tourney, sometimes you will find a good enough player to fold, but the only way you will get those players to fold is by making a big enough bet to chase them off