Value betting the river

I’ve found myself often checking when checked to on the river when I have a decent sized hand but not the nuts, even if I’m fairly certain the other player has a piece of it and might pay off. I usually do this under the premonition that I could get check raised and lose the pot. Though when checked to on the river, the straightforward player is basically telling you he doesn’t have, or didn’t make, his hand. If a player is drawing and hits his draw, most basic players are going to bet at you to try to get paid. It takes a certain breed of animal to check his made hand on the river in fear of not getting paid, so you can probably guess (unless the player is tricky) that when he checks to you on the river, and has been calling down with no obvious draw on the board, that he would probably pay off a decent value bet.

I’m definitely not making an argument to always bet the river. A lot of times I really like a good check when you aren’t sure of your hand. But too many times I find myself checking two pair when I could have gotten another decent bet out of my opponent. Value betting has become a kind of lost art these days, as most players are either drawing or cautious, but on an average hand, there’s not going to be fireworks.

When thinking about betting the river, these things should be thought (a) who is my opponent, does he draw, did a draw card hit, or is he calling my bets with an inferior pair/kicker and would easily pay me another $10 into a $40 pot; (b) if I get reraised huge, can I believe that player? can I fold?; (c) is there enough out there that risking getting raised isn’t worth it, and I should just take it down?

Any other thoughts on value betting?