NL25 Two Pair -- Good?

[RobAtticus]

Poker Stars - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.10/$0.25 Blinds - 5 Players - (LegoPoker HH Converter (http://www.legopoker.com/hh/))

SB: $9.45
BB: $11.10
UTG: $23.95
CO: $15
<font color="black">Hero (BTN): $15.35</font>

<font color="black">Preflop:</font> Hero is dealt A/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 8/images/graemlins/diamond.gif (5 Players)
UTG calls $0.25, CO checks, Hero calls $0.25, SB calls $0.15, BB checks

<font color="black">Flop:</font> ($1.25) 6/images/graemlins/club.gif 8/images/graemlins/heart.gif 5/images/graemlins/club.gif (5 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, <font color="red">UTG bets $0.50</font>, CO calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, 2 folds

<font color="black">Turn:</font> ($2.75) A/images/graemlins/heart.gif (3 Players)
UTG checks, CO checks, <font color="red">Hero bets $2.50</font>, UTG calls $2.50, CO folds

<font color="black">River:</font> ($7.75) 2/images/graemlins/heart.gif (2 Players)
<font color="red">UTG bets $9.50</font>, Hero ...?

I'm conflicted over this hand. It seems like either a monster or air. I don't have anything on this guy since I've been here for a few hands (&lt;10). I feel like he doesn't make this bet very often with total air, and its more likely a made straight. Thoughts?

[Margin Of Error]

First of all, buyin full and raise preflop from the button.

Flop - raise to $2.50.

Turn - Make a PSB.

River - Get it all in because you are short.

[Pokey]

Preflop looks fine to me: if you're at a passive table, then multi-way you can play for flush value. Just make sure you don't get yourself killed if you flop a second-best hand when the flop comes with an ace.

On the flop you should be raising. You've failed to hit your flush or flush draw but you've got TPTK. Punish the drawers with a pot-sized raise to $3 or so: if this doesn't immediately pick up the pot it should get your heads-up (with position, of course), so that you can feel more confident about your hand when something ugly falls on the turn. At that point, if you think your opponent has a hand you can check behind on the turn and break off a river bluff, or if you think he's drawing you can bet the turn and check behind on the river. (Incidentally, I usually prefer the "bet the turn, check the river" line in your situation -- it has another chance to win the pot, it minimizes losses if you're behind a monster, and it gets more money from drawing hands.)

As played, your turn bet looks great. You've now hit a sneaky-strong hand and you want to punish draws, so you bet strongly. Good choice.

On to the river: at higher stakes you'd have to call this bet, but at uNL you can fold without feeling too bad. Your opponent woke up on a scary river card and bet VERY strongly after having check-called the whole way down -- that's not a line that most opponents take on a bluff. Flushes are possible, straights are possible, and sets are possible (people LOVE to slowplay): against villain's range, I think you're far behind. Versus a complete unknown I'd swear and fold. If he had A2 and spiked two pair on the river, so be it -- I think that trusting huge overbets by unknowns on river scare cards saves you money in the long run at uNL.

[RobAtticus]

Pokey - your river analysis is pretty much what I figured. The rather large bet at 50NL or 100NL would seem like a bluff (from my experience playing at those stakes), but here it feels less like someone making a move on me and more like he has a big hand and figures me for very strong.

He might have nailed a backdoor flush (a hand like A7hh) on me and figures me for the straight, which is ultimately why I folded.

Also, while on the flop I usually do put a raise in here, I find that on flops that contain several draws, I really help my chances of winning the pot if I just call and bet hard on a blank turn. I save money on a flop where I'm only a slight favorite, and I avoid having the pot get bloated real fast when the draw hits. It's just a preference of mine, and basically I'm down at 25NL right now retinkering my game to figure out which plays work and which don't.