Should I bet this river?

[Mano]

Loose 10/20 game - 2 aggressive players, the rest pretty passive. I am dealt 5 [img]/forums/images/icons/diamond.gif[/img] 6 [img]/forums/images/icons/diamond.gif[/img] on the button. 5 limpers to me, I also limp, blinds come along, 8 see the flop.
Flop comes Q [img]/forums/images/icons/diamond.gif[/img] Q [img]/forums/images/icons/club.gif[/img] 8 [img]/forums/images/icons/diamond.gif[/img] . One of the aggressive players in the small blind bets, everyone calls to me. I also call. I believe I have correct pot odds to continue. Anyone disagree?

Turn comes 7 [img]/forums/images/icons/club.gif[/img] . Again, aggressive player bets and everyone calls. The 7 gives me 4 extra outs, and I consider raising for value (since I doubt anyone will be folding at this point) but once again I call. Is this a mistake?

River comes 7 [img]/forums/images/icons/diamond.gif[/img] giving me a small flush, but putting two pair on the board. This time the aggressive player checks, and everyone checks behind him to me. Should I value bet, or just showdown and hope for the best? I will post the results below.

[Mano]

I just flipped over my hand and asked if anyone could beat a flush and everybody mucked. I am guessing several people at this table would have called me if they held an overpair to the 7's, an 8 or maybe even an ace. Still was worried about being check raised by someone holding a 7, but I was later thinking that this was probably pretty weak. Any comments welcome.

[Dynasty]

First, if you post the results immediately, you're not going to get the best possible responses. In problems like this, it's impossible to ignore the posted results once you read them.

[i]Still was worried about being check raised by someone holding a 7...i]

I've got to comment about his. The flop was Qc,Qd,8d and you're worried about somebody having a 7? Since the 7d came on the river, why would you think a 7 stuck around for so long? It's hard for a 7 to even call the turn bet. This is symptomatic of players fearing big hands are always against them and that "no worse hand will call".

On the flop, if you're thinking about folding for one bet, you're making a big mistake. You got a good flop.

On the turn, you picked up a straight flush draw. This is an excellent opportunity to semi-bluff raise and represent a different hand- a slowplayed trip Queens. Your opponents response to your raise should help you play the hand.

On the river, it's hard to imagine the aggressive player checked a Queen. Since nobody else raised on an earlier street or bet the river, I don't think a Queen is out there. As I said above, it's very hard to believe a 7 is beingplayed. So, the main question left is whether or not somebody has a bigger flush.

A river bet here looks tough. But, you're on the Button, everybody has checked to you, and you have a medium-strength hand. That's a betting situation for me.

[Ulysses]

Flop call is a must.

I'd usually raise the turn in this situation, but I'd be thinking of it more as a good semi-bluff than a value bet. I don't think it's a value bet because while all your straight and flush outs might be good, JT might be out there killing the 9s and a bigger flush draw could also be out there. And of course you might be drawing dead to a made full house.

Tough river decision. No reason to think a 7 is out there. Unlikely a Queen is out there in anything but the trickiest of games. So what were people calling all the way with? 9T, TJ, overcards to the 8, pocket pairs, 8s, flush draws. I really don't think anyone has a full house, but a bigger flush wouldn't surprise me at all. I think this is a 50/50 call. I probably bet because any two pair better than Queens and Sevens will probably call and a bigger flush is unlikely to raise me.