Does min betting really work?

Full Tilt Poker Game #6876658649: Table Tope (deep) - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:11:19 ET - 2008/06/18
Seat 1: ltlhulkster ($22.60)
Seat 2: MeanDueceDuece ($13.95)
Seat 3: unequivocalace ($7.50)
Seat 4: CaHottie ($20.45)
Seat 5: MrBadTouch ($9.30)
Seat 6: Rabstar ($21.10)
Seat 7: Don_Nico23 ($11.35)
Seat 8: alexoggy ($1.45)
Seat 9: surfguy66 ($10.35)
Rabstar posts the small blind of $0.05
Don_Nico23 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to unequivocalace [6h Qd]
alexoggy folds
surfguy66 calls $0.10
ltlhulkster folds
MeanDueceDuece calls $0.10
unequivocalace folds
CaHottie has 15 seconds left to act
CaHottie calls $0.10
MrBadTouch folds
Rabstar folds
Don_Nico23 has 15 seconds left to act
Don_Nico23 checks
*** FLOP *** [9h 3d 5h]
Don_Nico23 checks
surfguy66 checks
MeanDueceDuece checks
CaHottie checks
*** TURN *** [9h 3d 5h] 4♣
Don_Nico23 checks
surfguy66 checks
MeanDueceDuece checks
CaHottie bets $0.45
Don_Nico23 raises to $0.90
surfguy66 has 15 seconds left to act
surfguy66 folds
MeanDueceDuece folds
CaHottie raises to $3.15
Don_Nico23 calls $2.25
*** RIVER *** [9h 3d 5h 4c] Q♠
Don_Nico23 bets $0.10...............<<<<<wtf
CaHottie raises to $7.05
Don_Nico23 calls $6.95
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CaHottie shows [4d 4h] three of a kind, Fours
Don_Nico23 shows [2c As] a straight, Five high
Don_Nico23 wins the pot ($18.85) with a straight, Five high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $20.85 | Rake $2
Board: [9h 3d 5h 4c Qs]
Seat 1: ltlhulkster didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: MeanDueceDuece folded on the Turn
Seat 3: unequivocalace didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: CaHottie showed [4d 4h] and lost with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 5: MrBadTouch (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Rabstar (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Don_Nico23 (big blind) showed [2c As] and won ($18.85) with a straight, Five high
Seat 8: alexoggy didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: surfguy66 folded on the Turn


they do it in place of a check, sometimes to get a raise (which we always want to do), but sometimes its an extremely weak bluff to push somebody out of a pot. (and it works)

stupid? pointless? EV-? Should I do it?

You can get a reraise by making a smallish defensive looking bet but minbet is just silly. Just check/raise. Edit: unless you can find an opponent you can annoy into raising.

Some people simply refuse to check. They will min-bet bluff and continue to lead out min-bets with bottom pair, even though they get raised every card. I guess they read the first paragraph of some poker book about aggression being the key to victory, and stopped reading right there.

MIN. BET = LOSE!

Simple as that.

sigh. not true under all circumstances.