Paying off on the river

Pacific Poker, 2/4, no reads

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img],K [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
Everybody folds to me, I raise, 2 folds, the blinds call, and the rest folds.

Flop: (6 SB) T [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img],2 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img],K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (3 players)
Blinds check, I bet, both blinds call.

Turn: (4,5 BB) 9 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players)
Blinds check, I bet, SB call, BB folds.

River: (6,5 BB) 5 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB check, I bet, SB raises

Should I call here? I know I reveal the results now, but it doesn't matter really: I called here and lost to a flush.

It was of course very obvious to me that I was beat and I have mostly been folding that kind of hands until now; based solely on the chances of him having a weaker hand than me, this is a clear fold I believe with the pot laying me "only" 9:1. The reason I ask this now is because I've been criticized (by myself mostly) about my high 'Won$AtSD%', it's slightly above 60%; I'm probably not paying off on the river as much as I should.

With no reads it was an obvious bet for me, he could have been calling all the way with many hands. But then he check-raised me, is it TOO obvious that I'm beat here that I just have to fold, or is it ok to pay off just for advertising purposes; perhaps to stop possible future bluff attempts?

If I did have a read on him, would it matter? No matter who my opponent is, and looking at how the hand was played, a check-raise bluff is very unlikely. Should I tend to call more in that spot with a tough opponent to stop him from making tricky plays on me in the future, or should I tend to call more with a weaker opponent because he would check-raise with weaker hands in that situation? Or is it just a fold?

Sorry for this somewhat lengthy post. Perhaps this is simple questions, but not for me. This is a part of my game that I want to improve, and I would appreciate your thoughts on this. If you don't think this hand illustrates the point, feel free to give your thoughts in general about paying off on the river.

[mpitts]

I am probably checking behind on the river. If he had a draw on the flop, both the turn or river would have filled out his hand.

The check raise on the river screams straight or flush. The only hands you beat here are a bluff or KQ/KJ.

When it comes to paying someone off at the river, you really have to do a quick analysis of the hand and try to figure out what you can beat. In your example, the only thing you beat on the river is KQ/KJ or a total bluff. Hard to imagine that the villain in this hand would be check-raising you with any of these hands.

All that being said, I would have probably paid him off on the river too. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[aargh57]

I would've done the same thing especially with no reads. If the guy is really weak then you can probably drop but I think that there may be close to a 10% chance that your good at the low limits. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think calling for one last bet is a huge mistake here.

As to what type of players you should pay off, obviously the more aggresive/tricky the opponent the more you have to call. The more passive the opponent then you can probably drop. The guy could've been going with something like A2 or AT and decided to bluff raise when the scare card fell on the river (even though a bluff c/r is vary rare). Probably not but I think I'm paying off here.

Not betting the river is a terrible idea. This is a very good place to value bet.

[sy_or_bust]

This is a pretty straightforward river bet/fold situation, unless you have reason to suspect something.

[rmarotti]

Easiest. Fold. Ever.

(but not betting the river would be retarded)

[ QUOTE ]
Easiest. Fold. Ever.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can actually think of many folds that are much easier, but thank you for your opinion. It's not about the river bet being obvious, which it of course is. It's not about me being beat, which of course I am. My point was more generally, I'm worried about my high Won$SH%, and that perhaps I'm not paying off on the river enough.

Ok, so I regret me picking this hand as an example, it's an awful example. I've always folded this, and I will continue doing it. But generally speaking, in a big pot, and even if you are sure you are beat MUCH more than the odds the pot is giving you, is it ok sometimes to call only for advertising purposes, stopping possible future tricky plays from my opponent?

And please forget about my hand [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I just want to improve my game.

[rmarotti]

I dont think most online players all the way up to even 10/20 are observant enough for a suboptimal river call to make it worth the 1BB.