River call?

[RiverMel]

Online 2/4. I'm in cutoff with A/forums/images/icons/club.gif A/forums/images/icons/diamond.gif . EP (pretty straightfoward player) limps, I raise, all fold to limper who calls.

Board is:

T/forums/images/icons/spade.gif 8/forums/images/icons/heart.gif 2/forums/images/icons/diamond.gif

EP checks I bet, he calls.

Turn: 5/forums/images/icons/heart.gif

EP checks I bet, he calls.

River: 9/forums/images/icons/club.gif

EP bets. What do I do here and why? Seems to be fairly decent. There are 7 big bets in the pot at this point including his river bet. /forums/images/icons/club.gif

[Toro]

It is quite likely you got the best hand, raise!

[Bob T.]

The board is too scary to raise, and I am usually not folding, so I call. I would only fold if I know that this player only plays this way with a made straight, and there aren't that many people, that I am that sure of.

[JTG51]

Looks like either a bluff, or you lose. Raising doesn't make much sense. I think it's an easy call unless you have a great read on the opponent.

[RiverMel]

I call, he turns over QJ. He was calling with 2 perceived overcards and a gutshot draw. So he had 4 outs after the turn.

I didn't think he was wiley enough to bluff on the end, which made me think that my call was a bit iffy. I also didn't think he would have been calling with a pair of tens and then try to force a call on the river. Basically I was fairly sure he had made the straight or maybe two pair (T9?) or a set but still thought the pot odds were decent enough to make the call. Sounds like people agree, but what about in light of the information that I didn't think he was bluffing or just holding a pair on the board? If I was really sure about both of those, my call would only be good against AA, KK, QQ, or JJ, which he very easily could have played just like the betting went, but are very unlikely holdings in general. /forums/images/icons/club.gif

[Homer]

I've seen players do this with top-pair against a preflop raisor. I think they are thinking that you might call with unimproved overcards on the river, but won't bet with them. I've also seen players do this on the river with nothing, taking a stab at pushing you off of overcards.

There is a good enough chance that one of these two things is taking place that you should call.

After looking at the results...make a note that this player didn't try to checkraise you on the river. If he acts similarly in the future, you can be more certain that he is a straightforward player, and thus might be able to lay a hand like this down if a similar situation arises.

-- Homer

[RiverMel]

After looking at the results...make a note that this player didn't try to checkraise you on the river. If he acts similarly in the future, you can be more certain that he is a straightforward player, and thus might be able to lay a hand like this down if a similar situation arises.

Cool, thanks. That's a very helpful comment, I need to start making use of player notes like this. /forums/images/icons/club.gif