I think what makes this hand interesting is that the only tight-solid opponents in the hand don't come in voluntarily - one kills (H/F, 12$) in the HJ seat, the other is in the BB.

in a 9 handed must move game, 3 players limped in front of me and I saw the nice looking AT53 in the CO seat.

my first intention was to raise, for a bunch of reasons:

1) letting the solid players see the flop for free is not in my best interest.

2) raising would put pressure on the BTN to fold, giving me a better chance to be last to act on future streets.

3) my hand should play fairly well in a multiway raised pot in position because of its diversity - it can hit many different flop in many different ways.

In spite of all that, I decided to limp along - it was the beginning of the session and I was still feeling out the opposition. without strong reads, I wanted to keep the pot initially small so a move on the flop could have a stronger effect...

...BTN folds, SB completes being a 1/3 in, BB completes being 2/3 in, HJ (killer) checks his option...

Flop (7 players, 7 small bets): 469
(second nut low draw with counterfeit protection, bottom end of an open ended straight draw and backdoor nut flush draw on a rainbow board)

SB checks, BB bets, everyone calls in front of hero!

so we have a bet from the rock-solid BB and 4 calls, including one from the rock-solid killer...

had the solid players voluntarily came into the pot, I would like this spot a lot less. but with only loose players voluntarily putting money into the pot, I thought my low draw should have higher value than usual, and with position I was going to fight for this growing pot...

hero raises, SB folds and everybody else calls...

Turn (6 players, 9.5 big bets): J

checks to hero, hero checks behind...

River: 7
checks to the solid killer in front of hero who also checks, muttering "i'll take my quarter", but hero still can't resist the temptation to bet...

thoughts on this mess?

first, a KITN for the player in the HJ seat for "muttering" anything. granted, he's probably telling the truth in which case makes it easier on hero, and thus, making our decisions easier, but still. and, if HJ does have the nut low, then lol to him for not realizing that "getting quartered" in a 6 handed pot would've still yielded him a profit.

should hero bet holding the worst of the possible straights? i don't think so. this is a good spot for someone with the nut straight to go for a c/r if they can put someone else (you in particular) on the nut low, and imo, you played the hand as if you flopped a low draw and thus, should be betting the river when checked to esp. due to the amount of players involved, so, in other words, i wouldn't take a "check" as a sign of weakness in this pot. keep in mind, that anyone else w/the second nut straight will likely check this river, too. so, i would take the information that the HJ gave you and use it prudently, and check.

I like raising preflop for all of the reasons you mentioned. I think the flop raise is poor, 2 is your only gin card. Having raised, the turn check behind is clear (although I would've bet the Jc). River bet is mandatory and checking, especially in an 8/16 game with mostly non-tricky and non-good opposition is seeing ghosts. This is classic value that many players miss.