keeping the pot small: smart or just whussy?

[dumb ox]

22. I wanted to see a showdown, as my hand is probably good; but I definitely wasn't putting too much money in the pot with that fragile hand. Though I'm thinking now it would have been better to make a potsized bet on the turn, since he was getting almost 4:1 for his turn call, and there's a few draws out there.

***** Hand History for Game 2465861553 *****
15/30 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) (Tournament 14480950) - Tue Aug 02 14:25:56 EDT 2005
Table Table 13789 (Real Money) -- Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 2: AgentSp (770)
Seat 3: docdork (705)
Seat 4: JWRWIN (500)
Seat 5: Mr_Watt8 (2025)
Seat 6: ROCKIER22 (775)
Seat 7: abctn81 (1015)
Seat 8: jaybird799 (645)
Seat 9: themistius (785)
Seat 10: Stallion052 (780)
themistius posts small blind (10)
Stallion052 posts big blind (15)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to themistius [ Tc, Td ]
AgentSp folds.
docdork calls (15)
JWRWIN folds.
Mr_Watt8 folds.
ROCKIER22 folds.
abctn81 folds.
jaybird799 folds.
themistius calls (5)
Stallion052 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 8c, 9s, 4s ]
themistius bets (45)
Stallion052 calls (45)
docdork folds.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 8h ]
themistius bets (55)
Stallion052 calls (55)
** Dealing River ** : [ 7c ]
themistius checks.
Stallion052 checks.

I like it. No reason to waste many more chips on this. I would have bet a little more, about half the pot on the turn, and called a reasonable river bet (100 or less). I expect to see A9, a small pair, or a flush draw.