bleh.... i felt he was strong but still bet kind of small on the river. what do you guys think? all-in too much? (considering the small action on turn?)

hes probably raising pf with AK or KK. only thing i would be worried about is A9. id push

i'm not afraid of losing, just about not getting called. i'm wondering how much i should worry about that.

if you felt he was strong i would push river (if he has you beat you're going broke anyway). especially on a board like this, there's a decent amount of "good hands" he could have that you beat (flush, straight, or even trips if he's bad).

i would also pot the flop or bet at least $5-ish fwiw

Your worries were justified when he only holds a straight on a paired flush board, unless he is a complete moron (which is quite possible) your river bet was good.

it's PP 50NL, lots of players would call allin with straight imo

i guess my flopbet is kind of low, i learn slowly...
i have this idea that setting the standard with a weak bet on flop will make him feel strong later on in the pot. maybe that's decent thinking, maybe not. if there's a point to it i'm quite confident it would only apply vs amateurs! =O

its not really decent thinking, its too simplistic, actually if he has some brains a weak bet then sudden action later screams monster, anyway... on the river i think its a definitelly push all-in, specially since you betted that scarecard on the turn, push.