[zipppy]

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If you bet the flop and your opponent doesnt fold you are completely in the dark as to where you stand.



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Not necessarily. Are you assuming that your opponent calls? Perhaps if they call you don't know where you stand. Also, if the villian didn't hit this flop he may be willing to fold to a c-bet, which of course also shows where you stand.

Basically, betting or check/raising will extract more information than calling a bet.

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I doubt a riverbet would make villain fold better pairs (what are you representing?). Hero had top pair on the flop which and wants to show it down. Villain shows weakness on turn and then suddenly strength on the river, meaning he is either strong (like rivered two pair) or bluffing, the latter being reasonably likely since hero has shown so much weakness (checking three times).

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If you take the line the hero does until the river and check/raise, many opponents will fold a better pair (though probably not kings).

I agree, though, that the villian is usually bluffing on this river. If this is true, however, check raising will both get some better hands to fold and bluffs to fold. It depends somewhat on what you want your table image to be like.

Also, it would help to know (as someone else pointed out) what reads there might have been on the villian.