3 hands, 3 questions.

[SocialWelfareIV]

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Do we really think we're good often enough here to bet?

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Betting here is the lesser of two evils.

This isn't an attractive board -- that much we can agree upon. But your opponent won't fold if you don't bet. Will he here? Tough to say. But you'll know for sure if you're beaten if you are raised, whereas you won't know if your hand is good if you check/call.

Betting here and being called by a better hand isn't a horrible play by any stretch. But you put yourself in a position of making a bad play (it's not an abominable play by any stretch given the size of the pot) by checking and then deciding whether or not to call. You put yourself in a position where you might fold the winner, and who wants that?

We're not betting here because we think we'll get paid off by a better hand. We're betting here so we don't second-guess ourselves after making an incorrect fold. For one BB, that's a small price to pay.

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I'm confused by your logic.

In part of your post, you make it seem like you are taking a bet/fold line to get your opponent to fold a better hand. If that's the case, I just don't think an opponent is ever folding a better hand (which at this point is TPTK) for one bet in this spot, ever.

Later on, you say that "You put yourself in a position where you might fold the winner, and who wants that?" Well, obviously no one does, which is why this is an easy call if your opponent bets.

The problem with a bet/fold here is that not much is paying you off -- KJ and maybe 77 in my estimation. On the other hand, you're getting raised and called by a ton of hands that are beating you (a rivered two pair or 1 card straight might just call). The amount of times when you are raised or called with a better hand is going to be so great that a bet is not likely to show a profit in this situation.

[Fantam]

Hand 1: I fold the turn. LAG could easily have Kx.

Hand 2: Raise the turn and get value for your straight. I would prefer to call the river 3-bet, as UTG could have a boat. However, I dont think that capping the river is terrible.

Hand 3: I prefer a raise preflop, although limping is not terrible. I think the flop bet (with the coordinated board) is questionable in such a small pot. I think that you should have bet the river. As you suggested, I think that bet/fold to a raise would be better than checking which invites UTG to bet.