PokerStars 3/6 Hold'em (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 8, 6.
1 fold, MP calls, Hero raises, 2 folds, MP calls.

Flop: (5.50 SB) 8, 2, 4 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets, MP calls.

Turn: (3.75 BB) K (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets, MP calls.

River: (5.75 BB) 8 (2 players)
MP bets, Hero raises ...

Final Pot: 8.75 BB

===============

Preflop raise aside....

My question is about the river.
While I am convinced that I very very likely still have the best hand...
I am starting to doubt the benefit of a river raise in situations like this.

Villain is a known bluffer.
So his funky river bet is likely a bluff.
The other option is that he has the final 8.
And if that's the case, he likely out-kicks me.

Is there really value in a raise here - even though I hit my best card?

Please advise.

--CM

Most players are too stubborn to fold here. He calls with Kx, and a ton of PPs, I think.

My thoughts exactly.

and all this time reading your posts i thought you had your hand glued to the raise button....

if he had an eight with a better kicker wouldn't he find a place to toss in a raise on the flop or turn?

while it is obvious to you that you have trips

villain might think you have A high or now a pair > 8s or Kx. There's plenty of value in raising this river

Absolutely a raise. I don't know what this donk-bet means in the 3/6 games, but where I play this is two pair looking to make sure you don't check behind with ace high > 80% of the time. I wouldn't even consider trips as a likely option unless I got 3-bet.

I guess sometimes it starts slipping off

When I go on downswings, I always look towards my agressiveness as the cause.
Just trying to find possible leaks.

Thanks

--cm

Why is everyone in a downswing?

Every single person who plays LHE who I talk to regularly is in a downswing, myself included.

Do we all SAP now, or what?

<------ Not on a downswing



And this is just on Stars. I'm up about the same amount on Bodog over the last month playing half as high.

Moral of the story:

We should all switch to omaha!


--cm

Villain's funky line makes this a very interesting spot on the river. If he's a known bluffer then raising the 8 really does have very little value, though I guess the questing is, how little will he call with? If it's a pure bluff and he's folding to any raise, then obv raising does no good, but what if he has some small pair or Ace-high and will call the raise...in that case there's value even if his bet was essentially a bluff.

Here's the thing, if his only possible hands are a bluff that will fold to a raise or a better 8 then obviously raising makes no sense, but if we can put him on a wider range than that and he's likely to call a river bet when he's beaten even slightly more often than he will if he has the case 8, then raising has value. And really, based on card frequency, the case 8 is pretty unlikely in comparison to some of the other hands I'd put in his range like A5, Kx, or maybe some kind of missed straight draw.

I think raising is good here.

*edit*
P.S. I'm not currently on a downswing. Doing quite well actually, just started mixing in a table of 3/6 along with my 2/4 tables. Running pretty good right now at FR on FT. Don't want to jinx myself though, so I'll just knock on wood and say that I'm happy to be playing and running well right now.