The "Please Don't Call Me" raise on the river

I've noticed a frequent pattern where someone will throw in a large raise on the river. Instinct often tells me they've been raising in the hope of landing a straight or a flush and it hasn't landed and they've got nothing or a low pair and the big raise is about scaring off a call.

Obviously sometimes it's a strong hand but I'm sure it's often just a scare tactic. I would like to call these more often than I do. How do you, if you do, differentiate between the bluff and the genuine strong hand?

All you can do is take all available information, weigh it against the situation you find yourself in, and make a decision accordingly. Hopefully the decision you make will be correct more often than not.

I hate the big river shuv personally Lol.
I tend to be pretty good with my river semi bluffs its been a while since I got caught out,
Learning to control the pot will make your decision alot easier, and more often you wont be facing a huge shuv.

In addition you should always keep in mind if he hits his big draw, does he really want to scare you away?

however... unless the opponent is pretty donkish and has no sense of value or they believe you have to strong a hand to let go.... its often a bluff

to me....if I bet the river and they raise me that is extremely polarizing to their hand. They are either bluffing or have a monster. If they have a medium strength hand they just call your bet most of the time.

This is when I conjure up all my previous memories of how this villain has played other rivers (whether or not it was against me).

Has this player bluffed the river in the past? Are there busted draws that make sense here? How much does this player bet on the river when he has it?

Generally it is hard to make a monster, so they are going to be bluffing a lot of the time...of course that is dependent on your player read.

Harrington says even the most straightforward players bluff 10% of the time...I guess just use all your available info to assign this villain a bluff % and if it seems favorable to call..then call. The more active the opponenet has been, the trickier he seems, the more difficulty I've had in the past putting him on a hand, the more likely I am to just close my eyes and call and hope I'm right. The more straightforward and TAG the player has been, the more likely I am to fold. Even if you call and lose you will learn something about the player..

If you think there is something a bit odd about the big bet on the river, your intuition, based on your observations of a players tendencies should give you a reason to call, fold and on some occasions push. If it is a nit or a passive player fold straight away but if it is a good player with a balanced range/fish who is capable of this kind of play a call or sometimes a shove is often good, how often depends on your own reading skills.