call, bet, bet, then check -- what does it mean?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) converter

Hero (t1500)
SB (t1500)
BB (t1500)
UTG (t1500)
UTG+1 (t1500)
MP1 (t1500)
MP2 (t1500)
MP3 (t1500)
CO (t1500)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP2 raises to t60</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, CO calls t60, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t200</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, MP2 folds, CO calls t140.

Flop: (t490) 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">CO bets t240</font>, Hero calls t240.

Turn: (t970) 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">CO bets t160</font>, Hero calls t160.

River: (t1290) 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
CO checks....

I've run into this situation a few times recently: someone calls a pre-flop raise, bets on the flop and turn, then checks the river. Two stabs at the pot and now he's giving up? Or, does he think I'll fold a river bet so that the only way to get me to put money in the pot is to check and let me bet? Or, is he just unsure and is trying to showdown for free?

Does the answer depend upon the buy-in?

[Pasterbator]

He puts you on a flush draw and figures you might bluff now that you've missed?

Then again, his betting patterns lead me to believe he's a donk, so check behind and lose to his mid PP. He's not folding it anyway.

[microbet]

My first guess would be:

QT - top pair, that's pretty good - oh, pairing the 4, that's a little scary, oh, pairing the 8 too, yikes. (same thinking for 99)

second guess

AQ or AJ - T84, that didn't hit him, hey don't you want to fold, oh well, I guess not.

As for what you should do, I think it is too costly to try and push him off a better hand. I would check and hope it was the AQ or AJ. I also wouldn't have flat called the flop.

[lorinda]

I think it means he's read your other post.

Lori

[lorinda]

Does the answer depend upon the buy-in?

The answer depends on how many of the players at your table know you'll flat call for four outs.

I know I'm being harsh, but you've just made two very worrying posts.

If you could explain why you called on this flop, and also why you bluffed from UTG+1 in the other post, It may help me to understand what is going on here.

Lori

[valenzuela]

Why not fold the flop???

[lastchance]

Fold the flop. Really, that call is bad, even in position, unless you're trying a delayed bluff, and that's dumb in most low-level SNGs. You don't want to see a river here. On the river, I check, hope he's bluffing, and hope my ace-high holds up. You're not getting called by a hand that you have beat, and no hand that beats you is folding here.

Still, you need to realize that calling this flop and hoping he's bluffing is very, very bad.

[Cactus Jack]

It means he has a pocket pair. He has NO idea what you have. He's not going to put another dime into the pot. If you go all in, you'll take it down. Then, you'll show your hand, how good it is, and he's busy jotting down notes on you. You've had three opportunities to fold and haven't, showed power, then wussed out. He's confused. We're confused. I'm very, very confused. [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

CJ

[ QUOTE ]
I know I'm being harsh, but you've just made two very worrying posts.

[/ QUOTE ]No problem. Your responses have actually made me think a bit more about it than I might have had you simply given an answer. (Not that I mean to encourage harsh answers, but it may have worked here.)

I checked at the end and won the pot. Which seems to be positive reinforcement for bad play from me. (I know I've won other pots this way, too.)