TightlyWound said
I guess what I was asking myself at the time was would he risk losing value with big hands like trip 8s, AK, & KQ, by not leading out on the river. I was value betting and I assume he understood that so I think he would have to have a pretty tight range of value hands. Would this be correct to assume?  That was my reasoning and therefore I doubted he would check the river after the turn had just gone check check.  

I agree that it should have been a pre-flop fold.

But you called so let’s think it out from there. If he flopped a big hand it is not inconceivable that he would check so he could possibly get two streets of value after the turn and river. He was the preflop raiser whereas you just called from late position so it is reasonable for him to believe his range should be better than yours, meaning he might check a highly positive flop for him out of concern that he will drive you out with any bet. The fact that you just called his preflop bet and did not reraise indicates you either have a medium pair or if you do have a king it shouldn’t be A-K so if villain hit the flop hard he probably doesn’t want to raise postflop since he wants to keep you on the hook.

As for what happened after the river, I think it is important to ask what your image is in this situation and what his image is. Has he been making big check raise bluffs after the river? Have you shown a willingness to fold to big bets like this? Without knowing this I would say that you are value betting kind of thin against a player you say is aggressive. You have good showdown value (top pair) but not a monster (your top pair has a mediocre kicker, plus the board is paired) so I think I would say it would have been best to just check it down after the river (but I already know he check-raised you so it’s possible I am being results oriented). One thing you didn’t say is whether the third spade hit on the turn or river, but even if it did not I kind of think just getting to showdown inexpensively is best. Your hand is good not amazing.

Once he check raises it seems he either has you crushed (A-K, K-Q, A-8, 8-8, 6-6) or has complete air (A-Q or something bizarre since you say he is a bad player and raised utg). Would he really check raise the river with QQ, JJ, 10-10, 9-9? You have that beat, but a check raise seems bizarre with those holdings since he should prefer to get to showdown cheap and hope you don’t have the king you do. I suppose he might raise UTG with A-Q, stab after the flop, slow down after the board pairs on the turn (plus he has to be worried you might have a king), and then turn A-Q into a bluff with the river check raise if he feels it is the only way to win the hand.

You say he is a bad player, so the question is just how bad? Does he just overplay hands a bit or is he a completely spewy player who defies logic? You say he is loose aggressive which sounds like he is unpredictable, which also makes me think just checking it down on the river is best since you have a good, not amazing hand.