Am I ever scared of this bet on the river? (BIG bet)

[Chargers In 07]

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Anyone have similar views?

[/ QUOTE ]No I don't think so. You should be pushing the turn. Giving somebody a free card to beat you in a large pot is awful.

[Paul Thomson]

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Anyone have similar views?

[/ QUOTE ]No I don't think so. You should be pushing the turn. Giving somebody a free card to beat you in a large pot is awful.

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this isn't necessarily true if they'll bluff the river a ton or even 50% of the time for that matter. especially if there always folding to a turn bet. (this hand isn't necessarily a good example but i think the concept ur talking about isn't always applicable)

[existential_dred]

everyone at the table thinks you have pocket pair, if not a big pocket pair. most re-raises that come over the top of two pre-flop raises on full tilt micro-limit turn out to be pocket pairs. the only other hand anyone will think you might have is big slick...but most assume you have pocket pair...keep in mind that you are giving away information about how you play big pairs before you decide to call or fold.

i hate the no bet on the turn because of the position i find myself in on the river...

i would have to catch someone bluffing ~30% of the time for this call to be profitable. in my experience on full tilt .10/.25 tables, i don't catch people bluffing with pot matching bets that often. with that said...i probably take my lumps and call for the following reasons.

i feel pressure to call because i don't want to encourage anyone else (paying attention) to take shots at me everytime a scare card hits the board...if i just sat down at the table, i will call because even if i am wrong, i am creating a more manageable table image since people will bluff and semi-bluff at me less. if i have been at the table a while, i might think about the recent hands and decide whether i showed weakness in any previous big hands...if i did, i would feel more compelled to call because i gave the villian reason to believe he could bluff me out.

finally, i find that it is worth rooting out these habitual bluffers on full tilt. why? because they get attached to the pot frequently and bluff/over-represent hands all the time in hopes of getting their money back. even if you only catch a bluffer 10 to 20% of the time, you will find you can trap him over and over again in one session. finding the exploitable donkey at the table is valuabe information and probably worth the negative EV you take on calling the river...

dred