Quote Originally Posted by a500lbgorilla
Do you see my reasoning here?
You make good points. I guess I've gotten burned recently assuming my near nut hand is invincible to players who just call. And knowing the results may have slanted me a bit toward skepticism of Spandel's play, only because it rings true to my recent experiences. In other words, a few days ago I would have played it the same way. lol....

I've recently been reminded that calling big bets is a sign of extreme strength (maybe moreso than raising) - most non-fish know intuitively that you don't call a bet unless you are quite sure you have a better hand or good pot + implied odds drawing to a better hand. Based on the board and preflop betting this is definitely not a drawing situation, so the guy must have been pretty sure of himself. Smooth calling sends a message of weakness to your opponent, thereby encouraging your opponent to continue on betting the next street. I think there may have been a failure to realize this.

Then again, you're right because the guy didn't bet on the river. Why not?? He probably was a fish that got lucky. Thanks for your comments. and now that I think about it you probably did play this right post flop, my only concern is the preflop raise with 77 in early position.