When playing poker, I try to avoid lines of play that lead through minefields of tricky situations. But avoiding all tricky situations is impossible. One potentially tricky situation is playing decent-but not great-hands out of position (OOP) in no-limit hold'em.
When OOP with vulnerable hands, you want to maximize your profits against hands that you beat, while simultaneously minimizing your losses against hands that beat you. A vulnerable hand is usually something like top-pair with a medium or low kicker, but somewhat stronger hands can sometimes present the same maximization/minimization problem.
Against hyper-aggressive foes that are apt to bluff the flop, the turn, and the river, check-calling all the way to the river isn't a bad way to extract lots of value. Many hyper-aggressive foes slam on the brakes when they encounter resistance, so remaining passive will usually result in matching up against a much wider distribution of holdings that contain a much higher percentage of hands you can beat. However, things aren't necessarily as straightforward as they may initially appear.
Some hyper-aggressive opponents will increase the size of their bets when they have very good hands, especially on the river, when the pot is the largest. This will put you in some taxing situations since they will occasionally toss in some pot-sized bluffs.
Your toughest opponents will mix these bluffs in with a frequency high enough to make you curious but low enough to ensure that their river bets are profitable in the long run. Meanwhile, they will usually check behind on the river with mediocre hands that they deem to be behind your calling distribution. Talk about a no-win situation! The key to countering this situation is to employ a blocking bet on the river. A blocking bet is a bet made from an OOP player to preempt a foe with position. After check-calling the flop and the turn, go ahead and lead into your opponent on the river with a bet that's less than the amount that your opponent would most likely bet if checked to.
This bet serves two purposes. First, it dissuades most players from bluffing because players are more apt to bluff in position on the river and less likely to do so when their opponent bets into them. Second, a properly sized blocking bet will induce calls from mediocre hands that your opponent would normally check with.
When facing a less aggressive opponent, you'll often maximize your value by tossing in a blocking bet on the turn in addition to the river. Blocking bets against less aggressive foes serve the same purposes as blocking bets against hyper-aggressive foes. But regardless of the type of opponent you face, exercise discipline and fold to a raise. Assume that your opponents won't bluff-raise your blocking bets until they prove otherwise with an abnormally large raising frequency.
When your opponents start floating you and bluff raising, mix up your play. When you have huge hands, make bets that resemble blocking bets. Many players lose value by making bets that are too large anyway. Reduce the size of your bets, and you may be surprised at how wide you make your opponents' calling distributions. Meanwhile, when walking the maximization/minimization tightrope with your vulnerable hands, make your true blocking bets bigger against players who've been raising your smaller blocking bets. The bigger your blocking bet is, the more courage your opponent needs to bluff-raise. Additionally, some players associate bet size with hand strength, and will put you on a bigger hand if you bet more.
Also, consider mixing in some check-calls to balance your attack. But don't get too carried away with check-calling. Being OOP is generally a huge disadvantage in no-limit hold'em. And against many opponents, blocking bets are the primary tool for minimizing the OOP handicap.
