General Bet/fold river question

[sweetjazz]

Daz, I agree with what you said but it is very opponent dependent. Against some very aggressive players, check/call is a very useful tool. Against more thinking players check/call and check/raise on the river has a more limited use. Against a thinking opponent, I tend to check/call with a medium strength hand that can beat most of what he value bets, if (1) I think the range of hands he will value bet is close to the range of hands he will call a bet with and (2) he is tricky enough or my hand is just strong enough that I don't feel good about folding to a river raise.

[Dazarath]

I think we both agree that is it opponent dependent. Of course, if the villain is a clueless LAG, check/call is a great line to get hands to showdown cheaply, while still making money while ahead. Against thinking TAGs, I personally believe it's not a line that should be used too much, unless you mix in sexies with good hands. But in my experience, trying to checkraise rivers after showing lots of strength sometimes just ends up leaving money on the table, especially if you pick bad spots.