Should hero call the river with two pair on this dicey board?

No reason to call 9bbs when you only have 5bbs invested with a bluff catcher. Maybe a 3bb blocking bet costs you less to get to showdown?

(I wish I would fold more in this spot but I justify a call by factoring in villian with over pairs with a nuttier redraw.)

While the river bet sizing isn't as polarizing as an all in, it is close at 80%. It looks like Villain is making an effort to get you to call by not knocking you out but really it makes little difference since its not really an ICM choice here (I'm assuming the pay jumps are slight or none at all at this point). So Villain can have a flush or a set or a straight (with 99 or A9s). But Villain can also have nothing but a flush draw with AK/AJ/KJ or a one pair hand like AA/KK/AQ/KQ with or without a flush draw though they might check that back because you could have a 9.

This is where I get knocked out in tournaments. When I have 2 pair I rarely let it go knowing that there is some decent chance its a bluff.

I didn't consider a blocker bet - that's not a bad idea at all. As played it's a very tight spot with my hand. He can have bluffs of course, but I would expect the obvious Adxx semi-bluffs to start bluffing on the flop. It's also very hard to find hands that check back the flop and then start betting for value on the turn and can continue to bet for value on the river. The impression I got was that he was slow-playing from the flop - but of course I could be wrong.

I don't think this is the right question to ask in spots like this. I think the right question is "how often is villain bluffing, and what bluffs make sense with this line?"

I do like the block bet idea, but would have liked it more if you'd led the turn. I will have to take some time to think about what I think should be done here and why.

IMO my hand has enough showdown value that it just wants to showdown, and doesn't want to start betting on the turn, as it's a disaster to get raised and there are many really uncomfortable rivers where villain can put a lot of pressure on.

I tanked and let this hand go. I just couldn't find enough bluffs that I beat. I certainly don't beat any value, so my hand is clearly a bluff-catcher. As stated earlier in the thread, I believe my opponent was slow-playing from the flop. It is really difficult to find value hands that check the flop, start betting for value on the turn, and can continue to bet for value on this runout. Maybe pocket 9s is the only candidate? They may check back the flop, and then bet turn intending to check back river - but have a value bet once they make the straight? I'm also not sure pocket nines check back the flop, but maybe. I was more concerned with flopped flushes. Villain and I discussed the hand a little afterwards, and I posed the question about what hands in his range play that way. He suggested AQ, but I said that AQ is probably checking back the river, and he agreed (and I also don't see why AQ wouldn't bet the flop).

A very curious hand anyway and I would have loved to find out what villain had - but I was not prepared to pay 9bbs with my bluff catcher to find out.

How many bluffs have you found that make sense with this line capped by an 80% of bet pot on the river?

I'd prob call the river

Still looking for these bluffs that make sense?

The interesting thing on boards like this is that your hand strength of two pairs is usually irrelevant, because this is almost always either a bluff or a better hand. V should not be value betting worse (although some players may unintentionally turn a worse hand with SD into a bluff, and some really good players may do it intentionally -- but I think both cases are rare). So calling here with a pair is pretty much the same as 2 pairs, or maybe even a set. You minimally block V's value here holding the 8 of diamonds. On the other hand, your checking the flop and turn could lead an aggressive V to take a stab at it, and correctly interpret your x/c turn line to be a draw. While the rive did hit your draws with a 9, it missed most the others; so a 9 bb x/f river line is good to continue the bluff.

So if you think V is the type of player that is aggressive and can look to steal IP on a highly coordinated board when you show weakness, then call; otherwise fold. BTW, your line works well against the type of player you are calling when you do have the goods too.

I was on vacation.

What do you think posting like this will get you?

Yeah, my trip was pretty tiring and I've been kind of cranky to everyone today. Sorry.

(Although if this was sarcastic, then I guess let's try to keep a more respectful baseline for how we talk to one another here in mind.)

I have not had a chance to think about it. At a glance most of the best candidates I can think of would generally bet the flop. (I suppose it's possible something like KJ with a diamond does not bet the flop, since they have to continue against a check-raise, but if all the money gets in on this board it's probably very bad for them.)

So to be clear, you have identified one hand but believes that hand usually bets the flop?

This looks like the data driven approach of flipping a coin and then going w/ that result. Probably w/ 3 checks and your stack size, there's enough bluffs in his range to call, but it's super close. So call/fold here isn't some big EV difference, imho.

bluff turn and river big