Strategy on the River & a quick bankroll question

I have a quick strategy question. You find yourself on the river chasing a flush or a straight. It doesn't happen. What are some strategies in this instance both for online play and casino play possibly to even steal the pot w/ a busted hand? This has happened to me a couple times and I find myself a little bit confused as to what to do.

One other quick question. I'm a member on Poker Stars and just started playing for money online as I was sick of the play money due to the fact I just couldn't test my skill set. I figured I'd start off in the .01/.02 micro stakes games just to get used to it. I only had about 1/2 hour and turned $1 into $4.08 before I had to leave. So I wait until I'm out of a hand and leave the table. They only put $3.08 of the $4.08 onto my bankroll. Not that I care about a dollar I just wanted to know why they did this so I understand how it all works in the online poker room. Been trying to read the fine print ect. but to no avail.

Thanks,
-Ian

most of the time id just check fold, unless you have reason to beleive your bluff will work against this particular opponent. a bluff bet at these stakes is hardly worth it most of the time.

About yr $ it seems very very strange, perhaps you made a mistake. check the hand history.

I don't think I did but I'd like to check. How would I do that on Poker Stars? I can't find any of that information anywhere. If you don't play Poker Stars and don't know don't worry maybe someone else can give me a heads up. Thanks!

Figured it out. It was sitting right infront of my eyes LOL! I'm a dummy. I STARTED w/ $1 won $3.08 and THAT's what got tacked onto my account. Problem solved, simple math error on my part. Thanks for the help!

If anyone has any other strategies for my dilemma on the river feel free to explain!

Sometimes you can bluff on the river on a busted hand but more often than not it will depend on what you and your opponent has done prior to the river

a value bet sometimes works as does an overbet but each time will depend on the opponents and your own play during the hand

inti

okay, there's a lot of difference here in your draws, and position. that need evaluating. First the flush draw as you opp can see the hit. if you bet or called in a manner that your opp put u on the flush draw -bluffing is out of the question. On busted strait draws you have a lot more room, for bluffing. You need to be heads up, multiway pots with busted draws are not lucrative situations. You also need to be able to read there hand, do they have top pair and never folding, will they call with third pair, an under pair=do not bet at them. You need to have some idea what your opp has, or sense weakness, before you bluff the river.

oh and having position can give you a better idea , of how weak or strong your opp is.

This depends a lot on your stack relative to the villian, position, and the villians history... What range can you put him on, is he likely to call a bet on the river, etc.. In other words, it will change from hand to hand.