Okay, let’s get straight to the crux of the matter: making successful hero calls is not easy. You must examine a whole range of factors and how they interact before making your decision. Let’s look at one example. You are 250 big blinds deep at the start of the hand and you have 7s-7d. The button (who has you covered) opens and you call. The flop comes 8h-6h-2h. You check, he bets, you call. The turn is the 5s. You check, he bets, you call. The river is the Kh. You check, your opponent bets and the decision whether or not to make the call is on you. So what factors should be incorporated into your thinking?
1. Why did you play the hand so passively?
Reasons to play a hand this passively include the fact that your opponent is a maniac bluffer or exceptionally aggressive and will routinely semi-bluff raise and pure bluff raise on any street. When you are playing deep-stacked against this sort of opponent you are forced to play a hand more passively, as the risks involved in playing a big pot are far higher.
2. Hand reading
In most cases this is the most important factor to consider. What does your hand look like in the villain’s eyes? What level is the villain thinking at? Will he understand that the bulk of your range is a weak one-pair type hand? What is the villain trying to tell you? Does it add up?
3. History
Does the villain have some crazy history with you? Did you just make a huge call on him in the last hour? Are you seen as crazy/solid/weak? These are important considerations.
4. Image
Does your opponent see himself as having a clean image? Is he good enough to attempt to abuse this? Is he just another idiot without a care in the world?
These are the basic considerations to make in general play. When making a big hero call you should also factor in madness, timing and bet sizing. Is the guy a nut job? This should have a significant bearing on whether or not you make that hero call. Did he bet super-fast without thinking on the biggest river scare card in the history of poker? Did he pause on the flop for a long time, probably thinking about how to extract the most money (with air we know we have to bluff, with monsters we need to pause and think)? Does his bet look like it wants a call? Does his betting make sense? Was he betting to price out a draw? Is he trying to make his river bet look like he’s milking you? Balance all the information you have at your disposal and call or fold accordingly.