$25 NLHE 6-max: 77 raised pot, my move on the turn?

Full Tilt - $0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

UTG: $27.86
MP: $41.81
Hero (CO): $25.00
BTN: $57.42
SB: $23.50
BB: $15.83

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero has 7:diamond: 7:spade:

UTG raises to $0.85, fold, Hero calls $0.85, fold, fold, fold

Flop: ($2.05, 2 players) 8:spade: 3:club: 8:heart:
UTG bets $1.00, Hero calls $1.00

Turn: ($4.05, 2 players) K:club:
UTG checks, Hero

villain is a 27/18 over 11 hands so essentially no reads.

What do I do here on the turn when he checks to me and why? If I bet, i'm not sure what calls that i beat other than a flush draw, but if I don't bet then I could just be giving him a free card to get ahead.

The real question is why doesn't he bet. I mean the King is a great card for him to continue on. If you do bet what's your plan for the river if he calls the turn and checks the river?

I'd bet here every time.

Basically you know nothing about him, so what to do, and more importantly, why?

When he checks, he tells you that he's afraid you've got the 8, or he has a monster and wants to keep you in the pot. The odds of him having a monster are slim, but he could easily be checking for pot control with any OP or AK, so why bet? You've got a made hand, charge him if he wants to peel one off with AQ kinda hands and at the same time you keep him worried about you having an 8. Should he call your bet, he'll most likely check the river also, in which case you can check behind safely. If he bets the river kinda weak, you could also keep repping the 8, by putting in a raise, that is not adviceable however, as you don't know if he can lay a hand down.

WVHillbilly said:

The real question is why doesn't he bet. I mean the King is a great card for him to continue on. If you do bet what's your plan for the river if he calls the turn and checks the river?

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Exactly what I thought when he checked. If I bet the turn and he calls I think I'm going to be checking back a lot of rivers since I can't really see him calling a river bet with worse and i'd essentially be turning my hand into a bluff trying to push out 99-TT(i actually think maybe some weak opponents can play these this way) or something that beats me.

Yes. I think if you do bet and get called, you generally should be turning your hand into a bluff on the river. I doubt he ever has anything worse than your sevens IF he calls a turn bet. If you're not willing to bet the river if he calls then checks again, I don't like betting the turn.

fwiw I like betting the turn (and following it up on the river) and I don't mind getting called because I know he's going to be folding a ton on the river.

That makes sense. Are you assuming that he folds river a lot because of his check on the turn?

Yeah if he checks turn and river he rarely has a hand he wants to call with on the river. He's got something less than TP and wants to see a cheap SD, so of course we don't let him. If we check behind on the river I don't think we win at SD enough for the turn bet to be profitable, so we turn our 77 into a bluff. It would obviously be nice to KNOW that he's not the type to ch/call turn and river with a hand like TT but in general most won't. If he does make a note and a note on any regs at the table that they have seen you do this.