Very passive game I was in over lunch. A lot of loose play and I play right along. For some reason the table took on the attitude of playing the flop.

200NL 1/2 blinds

I limp in the small blnd with Js 9c. There are 4 others who see the flop.

FLOP: Jc 8d Jd

I am not at all happy with my kicker but gladly will play the hand. Pot is 8 dollars and I put out a 5 dollar bet.

It is smooth called by 2 others. This disappointed me because I thought 5 dollars was enough to get reraised by a better J kicker or even a flush draw.

Turn is a 4d

There is the flush which doesn't make me very happy at this point. I however have a 23 dollar pot and outs. I bet 10 dollars fully expecting a raise. Call and here he comes making it 20. 10 more to me and we both call.

River: Jh

Well I have the nuts now. Do you bet out?

I think you have to bet. No sane player is going to bet with a flush with that board, but they might call a moderate sized bet. Anyone who chases a flush on a paired board is the same kind of person who will call your river bet.
You might even get lucky and get raised by someone with a full house. Anyone with a pair higher than 8 will probably think they have the winner.

Odogg,

I'd take the same line as MadG. Push all-in and pray for a call. I can't see a flush calling but if one of them has an 8 you might get an early Christmas gift!

Aquifex

Heres a similar example from a hand I played today.
EP limps, I limp in MP with [Js], the button limps and both blinds play.
The pot is $5. The flop comes [Jd][9c]. SB bets $2, EP calls and I call
Pot is $11. The turn is the . SB checks, EP checks and I bet $5. Only EP calls
Pot is $21. The river is the . EP now bets $7 (blocking bet). I raise all in which makes it something like $40 to him. He had [8s] calls with his straight.

The moral is dont be afraid to make big bets just because YOU would never call that bet. People WANT to call.

Bet out. As has been said, the hand is very read dependent but the majority of time the read will influence the amount that you bet rather than whether or not you bet. Checking would be the correct option with a pathological bluffer or maniac behind you.

I limp in the small blnd with Js 9c. There are 4 others who see the flop.

FLOP: Jc 8d Jd

I am not at all happy with my kicker but gladly will play the hand. Pot is 8 dollars and I put out a 5 dollar bet.

It is smooth called by 2 others. This disappointed me because I thought 5 dollars was enough to get reraised by a better J kicker or even a flush draw.

Why were you disappointed - isn't this the very best outcome for you?

I would have thought a re-raise would be tricky for you with that 9 kicker - I would read flat calls as meaning an 8, an overpair (or badplayer with underpair), a flush draw (most likely) or a straight draw. I would read a re-raise as probably meaning you are beat (by pocket 88 or Jack with better kicker).

Maybe a hyper-aggressive player would do the old all in trick with AdKd or AdQd but such a player would surely have raised pre-flop and the pair on the board must put him off - he can't view an ace or king/queen as an out.

You must bet at the end. No one else will.

I have had quads three times recently. In general, I play as slow as I can at first and build a little pot and try for some fifth street play. When you have so much that no one else has much, be happy with whatever money you can get in there.

I check at first or make a weak lead smaller than usual bet. On fourth, I might make a bet that is silly in it's smallness, suspictious.

Once I had 7, 6 suited in a very small game against a man with a little over a hundred. If flopped 9,6,6, and I bet $5 into a $!0 pot. He called. It came 6 giving me quads. I checked, he bet $20, I called. it came a deuce and I suddenly moved in about $70. He said you probably have quads before he called.

Yesterday, I flopped the quads to a K,K,10 flop. I bet ten into a twenty dollar pot. He called, an Ace came and I checked he bet 50, I raise 50, he gets about 60 more in.

Once in a big game with me short stacked, the flop comes three Aces and I have the case Ace. It is checked all the way to fifth and another man sets me in. He got hot.

From now on, when I flop a monster hand, I'm playing possum as long as possible. Let them dream up something or bluff at it. I flopped a full with a Q,Q,J flop in first chair and checked it every time and cold called a man who steamed through the pot with nothing.

When you have a monster hand, especially with position, you can play a waiting game all the way to fifth sometimes. When you flop a set, that is not a monster hand and should be protected against draws. Johnny Hughes

Anytime you bet you have 3 ways to win.
1) You have the best hand and it holds up - you do
2) They have the best hand and you draw out on them - no worries here
3) They fold and you get the pot right away - NO!
#3 is called "Folding Equity". The last thing you want to have your opponet do is fold when you make quads. But since this is the river - no more betting rounds after this one, you want to get paid at least something more. I would try to make a bet w/ very little folding equity - a very small bet. Perhaps someone will even take it as a blocking bet, like Iceman wrote about, and pop you back.
Mike