Villain's basic stats are in the hands below. He also had 41% Attempt to Steal and a 76% Flop c-bet over 291 hands

So first the history. A few orbits previously I had the following hand with villain:

PokerStars - $0.25 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $26.21 (VPIP: 19.60, PFR: 15.60, 3Bet Preflop: 7.92, Hands: 255)
Hero (BB): $29.32
UTG: $24.65 (VPIP: 15.36, PFR: 9.22, 3Bet Preflop: 4.92, Hands: 296)
UTG+1: $26.10 (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 15)
MP: $26.65 (VPIP: 38.46, PFR: 7.69, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 16)
MP+1: $25.81 (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
CO: $7.75 (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
BTN: $27.99 (VPIP: 23.08, PFR: 7.69, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 13)

SB posts SB $0.10, Hero posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has A 7

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, SB raises to $0.62, Hero calls $0.37

Flop: ($1.24, 2 players) 4 8 A
SB bets $0.78, Hero calls $0.78

Turn: ($2.80, 2 players) 9
SB bets $1.76, Hero calls $1.76

River: ($6.32, 2 players) Q
SB checks, Hero checks

SB shows 6 9 (One Pair, Nines)
(Pre 41%, Flop 4%, Turn 11%)
Hero shows A 7 (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 59%, Flop 96%, Turn 89%)
Hero wins $6.04


So from that hand I noted that villain c-betted with air and then basically turned his hand into a bluff on the turn (and not a very good one)

So now to this hand:

PokerStars - $0.25 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $26.19 (VPIP: 18.56, PFR: 14.67, 3Bet Preflop: 6.11, Hands: 339)
Hero (BB): $32.41
UTG: $28.31 (VPIP: 20.64, PFR: 15.90, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 736)
UTG+1: $25.00 (VPIP: 25.81, PFR: 19.35, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 62)
MP: $23.28 (VPIP: 53.33, PFR: 26.67, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 15)
MP+1: $29.42 (VPIP: 14.29, PFR: 9.89, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 91)
MP+2: $25.00 (VPIP: 18.68, PFR: 12.09, 3Bet Preflop: 2.44, Hands: 92)
CO: $13.31 (VPIP: 24.19, PFR: 17.74, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 62)
BTN: $10.77 (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 40.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)

SB posts SB $0.10, Hero posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has 5 7

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, SB raises to $0.62, Hero calls $0.37

I was on the fence about calling since I don't have much high-card value with this holding but I figured that versus an aggressive opponent there's enough implied odds, I'm in position and the price is relatively cheap.

Flop: ($1.24, 2 players) 5 T 3
SB bets $0.78, Hero calls $0.78

I know from the earlier hand that villain is c-betting pretty much his entire range on the flop. I also know that I'm likely to face further bets on at least the turn so might just need to grit my teeth and call down, depending on the board texture.

Turn: ($2.80, 2 players) 9
SB bets $2.02, Hero calls $2.02


River: ($6.84, 2 players) 4
SB bets $5.00, Hero ??

That large river bet is very polarizing. The board doesn't really favour many nuttish hands apart from sets. It's also unlikely to have been good for my BB calling range. Is this worth a call or is the whole thing just spew?

I think h1 v is just betting for protection/value. You can have some floats and can call with 8x. Most regs will know that they will have to barrel rivers to have a chance to get you off an ace. Maybe he just wasn't sure what to do with his hand so he just figured betting couldn't be that bad, which it isn't, I could see myself doing the same.

V is primarily concerned with getting you off a 10, river is therefore bad to barrel on. I think sometimes players will barrel anyway with their missed draws because it kind of "feels right" but I think they will give up with random air. Either way, its easy to see this is super spew for him to barrel here especially without even overbetting. I would probably size that river the same with my overpairs so that gives him a ton of value combos, like 40 or something. Seems like a pretty standard fold, even a spot to make hero folds with Tx. The history you have is inconclusive even if he was trying to bluff you like you said, one spazz usually means very little about a reg's normal strategy. Its possible he was c-betting slightly wider otf but its not going to matter much in this scenario. A common leak is to use questionable information to override your normal strategy which is what I think happened here. If you just ignore the history it seems like an easy fold doesn't it?