Let’s take a look at this Allen Cunningham hand from the WSOP:

.
This is pretty remarkable, considering Loecke gave Cunningham a decent price to call, but Cunningham knew he was beat, and let it go. Obviously Cunningham had an excellent read on his opponent — that he was a tight player, who wasn’t prone to value-bet bluffs on the river. Cunningham probably would have snap-called a looser player — as all of us should.

The hardest thing you’ll do in poker is make a big laydown on the river. It’s easy to call, to pick off the random bluff and pat yourself on the back for that great call. But if you make calls of big bets on the river a habit, you’ll find yourself broke before you know it.

A good player wins more than three out of four of their showdowns, and the ones they lose are small pots.

Think about this more as you move up in stakes. The better players tend to bluff less — the worst thing you can do in poker is becoming a calling station. I’m not saying you should fold every time you face a bet on the river, but if you have a nagging feeling that you’re behind and you’re going to lose the hand, you’re probably right.