It's $0.10/$0.25 blinds, NLH (online). You have a comfortable stack for this situation, say $40, and your opponent is sitting on $18. You're in late middle position with 7 9 , three players limp in, as do you and the SB, the BB checks. Flop comes 874 rainbow. Everyone checks to the player on your right who bets the pot, $1.50. Seems like an uncomfortable bet, possibly a steal so you call and everyone else folds. Turn is a 3 and your opponent bets the absolute minimum, $0.25. What's your move?

A lot of people like to raise in this situation, and so do I depending on my hand. For me to raise I have to be pretty uncertain about my own hand and my opponent, I like to put in the raise to get a reaction (no, not a physical one). The way I see it, the min bet there is always one of two things: I have nothing, but I still want to give you a chance to fold. Or I have the stone cold nuts. So in my humble opinion this makes raising wrong. If your hand is good, why chase him away? He could always bet again on the river. And if you're dead, well we all know why raising is wrong there.

You call, and the river brings a 9 for a board of 874:3:9 no flush possible, giving you two pair. Your opponent leads again for $1.50, and you call. He shows A5 offsuite, and your two pair take down a nice little pot. (You like my Dan Harrington impression?).

What do you all do when you're heads up and your opponent bets the min on the turn? Do you always raise to try and push him out? Do you call to see a cheap card? Discuss.

I think when your opponent bets relatively strongly and then min-bets, it means something different than what you think.

It either means

1) I have something weak and I want to see a cheap river

or

2) I just hit the nuts and I have absolutely no idea how to play them, so I'll min-bet and hope you raise.

1's much more likely than 2, so you should raise in this situation to keep your opponent from getting a cheap draw. In this particular situation, he had 7 outs to beat you and calling hoping for a bet if he misses the river is not an optimal play.

1 and 2 are exactly what I said.

I pretty much always raise. I dont like giving cheap cards. If he has the stone cold nuts I figure I am calling a $1.50 raise on the river anyway so I will raise that amount or close to it. If he comes back over I fold losing no more than i had if I just call the turn bet and a river bet. You may make some more money if you jsut call call and your hand is best but we dont have a strong hands and villian will pretty much alwyas have a decent amount of outs so I dont mind taking it down on the turn if he folds.

Yes the min bet on the turn means one of those two things. What I don't see very often is someone at micro limits mixing up this play. If you have seen them do it in the past, then I'd say it means the same thing. In this case it meant he was bluffing, and I would assume it would mean the same thing in the future.

FWIW, I hate this play

No, you said it usually meant that they haver nothing and are looking for a fold. I'm saying they have a hand that they want to play, but they're afraid they're behind, so they think thatif they min-bet, you might just call the tiny bet and let them go for a cheap draw or cheap showdown instead of making them call a decent-sized bet.