Blatent bluff, or easy laydown?
 

Villain kinda loose, maybe hyper-aggressive at first glance... not a very good read though.

Party Poker $50 No-Limit Hold'em (6 max, 4 handed) converter

Button ($117.8)
SB ($69.6)
Hero ($47.9)
UTG ($44.65)

Preflop: Hero is BB with T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
UTG calls $0.50, Button calls $0.50, SB (poster) completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($2) K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(4 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $2</font>, UTG folds, Button calls $2, SB folds.

Turn: ($6) T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $5</font>, Button calls $5.

River: ($16) 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">Button bets $40</font>, Hero ????.

Final Pot: $56

My gut told me to call, and that nobody would make a bet that big that wanted to be called... but my brain got the better of me. Which should I have listened to? How often would you say these LHAGs are abusing the scare card?

Re: Blatent bluff, or easy laydown?
 

With no read, absolute easy laydown. Don't try to call down "bluffs" so much. In the end they'll go down against someone with a real hand. Sometimes just give them credit for having enough moxy to bet so much and fold. Pot odds definitely also play a role here, you could be beat with so many hands its not worth it.

Re: Blatent bluff, or easy laydown?
 

Pretty easy fold. Would a blocking bet be out of line against a player thought to be hyper-aggressive? And not so much that he's hyper-aggressive, but maybe because every legitimate draw that he could've been chasing hit?

Re: Blatent bluff, or easy laydown?
 

I guess the problem is that u didn´t draw a line to your mind on the turn. There he already had the str8 or not. So, you should think about your bet there. Should u check there and depending on his bet decide? Should u bet a higher ammount on the turn?
The check on the river made it possible to not have any read on him. Best course of action would be a blocking bet on the end. Get reraised, fold.
Or like u seem to have done, make up your mind on the turn and fold to any big bet he makes.